Republicans Gather To Plan Future

2007 North Carolina Republican State Convention - Charlotte

This year's convention turned out to be an exciting event. Though I had been approved as an alternate for the state convention during our county convention, I had not originally planned to attend. 3 different reasons presented themselves at the last minute. First, Senator Fred Smith asked if I could help out with his booth at the convention, and I was glad to do so. It was important because Fred was launching his new book, "A Little Extra Effort" (shown below).





Second, due to personal reasons our great County Chairman, John Stallings, had to bow out at the last minute. John has always made sure that Bertie County is not one of those counties that have no representation at all. I agree with John this is important and I was glad to help make sure Bertie County was "present".

Finally I have been doing a lot of thinking about the issues that impact our area and have decided to run for public office a second time. It will be a tough fight, and probably a miracle to win, but I think that we can win an important battle just by participating. One reason is that our whole region is suffering from too much government and too much dependence on socialism. America is not a socialist country but Eastern North Carolina is the closest thing to soviet communism that you will find.

I believe we need to start arguing passionately against this. So I am going to run again, this time for U.S. Congress. It is especially important since the biggest problem with socialism is that the bureaucrats stop doing what is in the interest of the people and do what is in the interest of the bureaucrats. Our schools in Eastern Carolina are suffering tremendously because of this as the teacher unions foster big staffs of people doing a lot of make work while our children get no education. It helps that working to improve education will be a major part of this coming battle. I needed to talk with a lot of people about this decision and to ask for support. The convention was a great place to do a lot of this.

So three good reasons found me leaving early Friday morning for the drive to Charlotte. When I got there I parked across the street from the Charlotte Convention Center and went straight to registration in the lobby of the convention center.

This was one of the best laid out facilities where we have held the state convention. Registration was convenient to the hall with all the booths, and that hall had the entrance to the floor of the convention and the dining room which was right next door.





While at the registration area I ran into some friends from last years convention at New Bern, Julie, Millie and Molly McKim. Last year they were there to support their brothers run for State Senator. This year they were back to being Macon County Delegates. The man in the middle of the McKim family in this photo is Marcus Findley, a businessman who was running for State Republican Party Chairman.





Above the convention floor, only half populated as is typical for Friday of these events. Below are some friends that I ran into on the floor as I was looking for the Bertie County section (always hard to find since it is so small!) They are from left to right, Joe and Rachel Sturz, Nancy Cleveland and Zan Bunn.



After finding the location of our county section (a single chair since I was it!) I went back out to the hall with the booths to pitch in at the Fred Smith for Governor 2008 booth. It was easy to find, it was the booth that had the huge crowd in front of the equally huge banner. Fred was autographing his book for attendees at the convention, and everyone wanted his autograph! Below Kim Cotten, President of the Young Republicans tells a story to Fred while Morgan Dickens, one of Fred's volunteers (on left) listens in.




Below you can see a part of the long line, which circled around to the right, behind Jonathan Hill. These were the folks waiting patiently to talk with Fred and get their book signed. The line was constant all day. It was an amazing spectacle and the hit of the convention.



Some of the other booths for people I support were also there. Below is Bob Crumley who is running for Attorney General. Great man.




Also at the convention was Dale Folwell, who is running for State Treasurer. Dale is one of the most successful legislative leaders the North Carolina Republican Party has ever had. He will make an excellent Treasurer.




Between sessions at Fred's booth, I tried to keep up with the actions on the convention floor. Friday is mostly procedural, but like all of the functions of democracy, it can be fascinating. Below is Bill Miller, convention master of ceremonies. Bill is an expert at Parliamentary procedure but has this great knack of making it fun.



Below is one of many party officials who made reports that have to be made at the convention to validate the actions of our party.



Afterwards I went over to the hospitality events at the Hilton. I had plans to meet some friends for dinner, however I needed to drop off my camera and some bags of material that I had picked up during the afternoon. I tried to make a quick trip back to my car where it was parked, however the street that the parking garage was on from the exit of the Hilton was an overpass with no access, a problem you sometimes encounter in modern city planning. In going through a building to get to that street level, I got turned around and headed out the wrong way on the street. When I asked a local police officer, he gave me directions that sent me even further in the wrong direction.

After asking directions a second time from a gentleman in a book store, I returned straight to the parking garage. His directions were excellent . . . . however it was too late to make it back for dinner with my friends. I was still planning to go back to the Hilton to spend more time in the hospitality suites, however once again I got tricked when the street I wanted to turn on was an overpass with no access. After going the long way around a block, I came upon the entrance to the freeway that led to my hotel rather than the Hilton. That looked too inviting. It had been a long day, so I cancelled the Hilton, got on the freeway and went back to my hotel to call it a night.

Day one of the convention was over.