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Zac Farber, a junior at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., gives his impressions of the on-going Republican National Convention.

Hurricane Gustav subsided, the Republicans were able to step off the political tightrope of balancing convention festivities with catastrophe sympathies Wednesday night and turn their efforts toward calming the storm surrounding their vice presidential nominee, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska.

The Republicans tried to turn Palin’s string of scandals—firing a state trooper, soliciting pork for her hometown, mothering a pregnant 17-year-old—into minor peccadilloes.

In an effort to quash the media frenzy, Bristol Palin was offered as a sacrifice to the eager cameras. The teen posed with a baby (her mother’s), a fiancé (her own) and the wholesome Cindy McCain, providing photographic evidence that the Palins are a happy family. (more…)

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Zac Farber, a junior at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., gives his impressions of the on-going Republican National Convention.

Do not let the politicians fool you; it wasn’t their convention. The stage may have been reserved for Minnesota elected officials, failed presidential candidates and White House residents, but hogging the limelight from the politicians under the klieg lights Tuesday night were the 100,000 balloons pinned to the rafters; the three-story, high-definition video screen featuring—for much of the night—a billowing image of the American Flag; and the Xcel center convention floor itself—a blur of flashbulb photography, elbows, press credentials and power ties.

Neither was the convention for the delegates. Given front-row seats to the spectacle, the dilettantes were rewarded for their interest with supporting roles in the kabuki. Their part is to look like average Americans and to hoot and holler—political knowledge is optional. Asked for her favorite part of Sen. John McCain’s education policy, fifth-grade teacher and delegate from Marshfield, Wisc., Jeanie Moore replied, “Well, actually, I guess I would have to delve in to it more, but from what I hear he is right on.” At the first commercial break, the House minority leader John Boehner of Ohio took the opportunity to ask the delegates to face the rear and stand still for the “official convention photo.” Opportunity for purchase to follow, he told them, as if he were a carnie at the end of a thrill ride. (more…)

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