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RNC 2012 rules fight: What happened, why it matters

The last three evenings were occupied with an election night watch party (disappointing results, but some good conversation late into the night that only confirmed my conviction that Oklahoma is much the poorer that someone as principled, intelligent, and sincere as Shane Saunders won't be serving in the state legislature...

Posted by Michael Bates on August 30, 2012 11:04 PM

Mitt Romney's RNC power grab

I hate to have to miss the Republican National Convention this year, but it's especially tough to miss the convention's Rules Committee proceedings the week before the convention. I was one of a handful of reporters and bloggers covering the 2004 and 2008 Rules Committee proceedings, and I suspect I...

Posted by Michael Bates on August 26, 2012 9:46 PM

Paulestinians sweep Oklahoma CD 5 convention

I received word from Chris Medlock that Ron Paul supporters won all three national delegate slots and all three alternate slots at the Saturday, March 31, 2012, Oklahoma 5th Congressional District Republican Convention. Medlock reports that turnout was light (only about 200 delegates), and that runoffs for each delegate slot...

Posted by Michael Bates on April 1, 2012 1:13 AM

Out of the mouths of babes: RNC edition

Toddler walks into the room where I'm working on compressing some digital video. "I want to watch another movie. Can I sit on your lap?" We look at some short videos from our trip to San Antonio: Video of lorikeets, dolphins, and the toddler telling Grandma about his day at...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 24, 2008 8:40 PM

RNC corrects Oklahoma vote total

I received a note today from Oklahoma Republican Party chairman Gary Jones, passing along the word that the Republican National Committee is correcting Oklahoma's vote in the official record of the roll call for the Republican presidential nomination. As BatesLine reported the night of the roll call, Sen. Jim Inhofe...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 21, 2008 12:04 AM

PLANiTULSA prep, the RNC, and St. Paul's epistle to the Tulsans

In addition to all the writing I did for BatesLine during the Republican National Convention, I managed to turn out three pieces for this week's issue of Urban Tulsa Weekly: The cover story about the upcoming PLANiTULSA citywide planning workshops. The folks at the City of Tulsa Planning Department and...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 14, 2008 12:06 AM

Blogger lunch at Babani's

I mentioned a lunch for bloggers on Wednesday of the Republican National Convention. It was organized by HotAir's Ed Morrissey, sponsored by Verizon, and held at Babani's, a Kurdish restaurant in downtown St. Paul. The food was delicious and plentiful, and my taste buds wanted more of it than my...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 12, 2008 12:41 AM

Blogging Oklahoma delegates at the Republican National Convention

Splitting my time between experiencing the Republican National Convention and writing about it, I didn't get around to linking my new blog acquaintances until last night, and I'm only now getting around to linking the Oklahoma delegates who were there and blogging. Although the party's over, it's worth going back...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 6, 2008 12:21 PM

Bloggers I met at RNC 2008

Here are links to and a few notes about the bloggers I had the pleasure of meeting this week at the Republican National Convention. (If I met you but left out your name below, it's because I didn't get your business card. Drop a reminder to me at blog at...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 5, 2008 8:03 PM

John McCain on school choice

From Sen. John McCain's acceptance speech in St. Paul tonight: Education is the civil rights issue of this century. Equal access to public education has been gained. But what is the value of access to a failing school? We need to shake up failed school bureaucracies with competition, empower parents...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 4, 2008 11:22 PM

Greater health care freedom, coverage

I was sitting down in the Media Filing Center to begin to clear out some of by back blog, but as I sat down a convention staffer brought by Texas Congressman Michael Burgess. Burgess was here to talk about health care policy. He is an obstetrician and gynecologist, and in...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 4, 2008 5:19 PM

Obamphaloskepsis

Sarah Palin's speech was a big hit with the delegates. A couple of lines painted Democratic nominee Barack Obama as something of a navel gazer: But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 4, 2008 1:13 AM

Oklahoma didn't vote

I stayed around after the speeches ended for the roll call of the states -- the actual, required vote on who will be the Republican Party's presidential nominee. Arizona passed first time around, and everyone from Nebraska on through the end of the alphabet passed, so that Arizona could put...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 4, 2008 12:27 AM

Code Pink protesters at the Republican National Convention

As they say on The Daily Show, and now, your moment of zen:...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 3, 2008 8:16 PM

My tank is full

I've spent all morning and the beginning of the afternoon eating and listening. I've finally had the time to stop taking in and starting processing and writing about what I've seen and heard. First stop was a joint breakfast of the Oklahoma and Louisiana delegations, way the heck out in...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 3, 2008 2:57 PM

Day 1 and 2 roundup

Just a few notes on what happened today and yesterday: I had a terrific time at a National Review event. It was fun to spot such luminaries as former Education Secretary Bill Bennett and former U. N. Ambassador John Bolton. It was even more fun to talk politics with NR...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 2, 2008 10:38 PM

Rules committee ratifies recommendation

The convention was called to order long enough for the presentation of colors, Pledge of Allegiance, National Anthem, invocation, reading of the official call for the convention, and approval of the permanent convention committees. Once those committees were officially approved, the committees, which had conducted their business provisionally last week,...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 1, 2008 3:46 PM

Convention about to begin

Some links as we get ready for the abbreviated opening session of the Republican National Convention, beginning at 2:30: RedState's Adam C has a nice summary of "Minnesota Nice" and the political profile of the Land o' Lakes -- the state that has the longest streak of voting Democratic in...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 1, 2008 1:33 PM

Troops' families rally in St. Paul

On my way down to the Xcel Center from Cathedral Hill, I came across a rally of about 50 red-shirted folks gathered around the Grand Army of the Republic monument, carrying American flags and placards saying: "Support our troops AND their mission!" "VICTORY over Terrorism -- Let Our Soldiers WIN!"...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 1, 2008 12:04 PM

Coburn to speak at RNC

John Hart, communications director for Sen. Tom Coburn, released this statement earlier this afternoon: Dr. Coburn is honored to have the opportunity to speak at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday night, September 2. Dr. Coburn was invited to speak early in the process but wasn't listed on the initial...

Posted by Michael Bates on August 21, 2008 6:39 PM