RNC Thursday Afternoon
Edition Aug 30, 2012

Exclusive to the LEHIGH ACRES GAZETTE

From Dick Allen, Political Analyst, Chicago, IL

Ann Romney

So I get back to the Sheraton a little late after last nights session, only to find that my wife had left me a message to call her and not to worry about the time.This is quite an unusual request, because she knows when I go to conventions, getting back to the room means ” the Last call has been served up”. What’s scary is she may ask me how the convention was going, and I knew I would be at a loss of words trying to explain to her “My Great Republican Revelation”.

As I’m dialing the number, I find myself searching for the right words to break the news to her. After all, she too was born and raised In Chicago. Because of my business I often work with members of “the Dark Side”, but that’s simply business, like this assignment. Who would have ever thunk…..

She answers the phone and quickly asked me if I’m sitting down, I expect the worst on her end. But she has no idea what I had coming at her. “Honey”, She said, “The girls took me to see that new Obama movie 2016. And when we got home, we watched the Fox News Channel and tried to find you on TV during their convention coverage. Do you know, they actually show the convention speakers and the videos, not like NBC who shows some things, but mostly shows the analysts, sorry honey, telling us what we were supposed to have just heard. 0h, by the way, I’m afraid I’m going to have to cancel out your vote this year! That Gov. Martinez lady from New Mexico made a convert out of me. And that movie, it’s just plain scary”.

“Hello, are you still there?”, she asked. I’m not sure exactly how I replied to her. But I’m sure there was a “Yes dear…. We will talk about what I get home,” somewhere in the conversation that followed. I told her that I was too tired to talk shop now.

If she only knew!

Some local police officers directed me to where the “real” demonstrators were. There appeared to be less than 100 “Occupy” protesters in a park about a mile from the convention center. I ran into a couple from Freeport, IL who worked for Sensata Technologies, a company that closed and let go 170 employees because their jobs were outsourced to China. They were likable folks in their 50s who I found out were not married to one another. I approach them because  they were probably among the oldest  people who were protesting, as most appeared to be In their mid-20s. I asked them who the President of the United States was when the company closed and all those jobs were lost. Their answer was not Bush! I asked them if they thought that perhaps they may be protesting at the wrong convention since Romney had not been elected yet. But they told me they got a free room and a bus ride to be here. I wonder if Sensata Technologies had sent them on a paid vacation, but I didn’t ask. The protesters chanted “We are the 99 percent” and carried homemade signs. The signs referred to the groups message that 99 percent of America doesn’t shear in the wealth of America.

Returning to the hotel, I came across the Ron Paul protesters. Professional signs,and quietly handing out brochures, they were quite a contrast to what I have just seen.