GOP event thrills locals

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008 | 3:39 p.m.

As a Republican Party committee debated which of the delegates from Nevada could attend the GOP national convention, at-large delegate Sharon E. Petty was packing her bags regardless of the outcome.

“If I had to sit in the nose-bleed section on a guest pass, I didn’t care. I was coming,” said Petty in a phone interview from St. Paul, Minn.

Serena Goldstock, a first-time alternate delegate from the southwest part of the valley, shared Petty’s enthusiasm about attending the convention. Then John McCain upped the ante when he named Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin his running mate.

“Just to be a part of history, to be here with it being official … and be a part of the history process of having the first female vice president is just an awesome experience,” she said.

The national convention gives the GOP’s superstar career politicians another platform to address its supporters and the watching nation. But it also shines the spotlight on average Joes for a week as working class firefighters, teachers and college interns hobnob with the party’s power brokers and help officially select the party’s presidential candidate.

For weeks leading up to the convention, members of the Nevada delegation weren’t sure if they would have a voice in choosing the party’s candidate.

The Republican National Convention committee decided on Aug. 28 that the 34 Nevada delegates and 31 alternates could attend the Sept. 1-5 convention and could cast a ballot. The committee came up with a list of delegates that largely mirrored the McCain slate put forth by the state party, but that also included four delegates supporting Texas Rep. Ron Paul.

Paul’s supporters argued they were shut out of the delegate selection process at the state convention after Paul, a former presidential candidate, inched out McCain for second place in Nevada’s January Republican presidential caucuses.

Rather than being banished to the upper deck of the Xcel Center in St. Paul because of the dispute, the Nevada delegates sat 10 rows from the podium where Laura Bush, Cindy McCain, Fred Thompson and John McCain spoke.

Goldstock, 31, arrived in the Twin Cities on Aug. 28 to avoid the crowds. But many of Nevada’s delegates, alternates and guests learned only that day if they were allowed to cast their votes.

“We’re glad that Nevada can take part in the RNC with all the other states,” she said. “I know a couple of people who were bumped from delegates and alternates down to guests and they still had guest passes for them. They could still partake in the convention itself, which was nice of (the party) to do.”

Being a delegate to a national convention was already somewhat overwhelming before the additional confusion, said Petty, a Henderson resident and vice president of finance for the gaming development company Rotate Black Inc.

Petty, 64, worked on campaigns for Nevada Sen. Bill Raggio, Govs. Paul Laxalt and Robert List and former Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott. But the national convention is a much larger political arena.

“You get to see exactly how things work at a higher level,” she said. “I feel so very lucky to be here. It’s a very humbling experience.”

Speaking by phone on Sept. 2 from the St. Paul Hotel where the Nevada delegation stayed, Petty described the convention as a non-stop whirlwind of lectures and meetings on a continuously changing schedule. The confusion about the Nevada delegates was followed by the potential disaster caused by Hurricane Gustav, which forced the RNC to reorganize its schedule.

“We (Nevada delegates) have been changing our schedule and events and speakers, as we speak, because the national things keep moving. It’s like a constantly moving target,” Petty said. “It’s informational overload first of all. Because the veterans are putting on something; the Jewish contingent is putting on something; the Hispanic delegation is putting on something. There’s so many different venues that you have the opportunity to go to.”

The Nevada delegates and guests also attended a luncheon with Guam delegates and were surprised by a guest appearance from McCain’s mother, Roberta.

“She was really nice and she’s not used to speaking or being in front of groups, but she just wanted to stop by and thank everybody for their support for her son,” Goldstock said.

The luncheon also included speeches from three former prisoners of war including Jerry Coffee, who spent time with McCain in a Vietnamese prison camp known as the Hanoi Hilton.

“He explained to us their form of communication. They used different knocks that would signify letters,” Goldstock said. “This wasn’t Morse code or anything like that. And all these years later, he was still on the podium knocking out the different words such as ‘Minneapolis’ and ‘St. Paul,’ so it’s still ingrained in him.”

Despite the hectic schedule, Petty said the experience was worth it and looks forward to being a delegate again.

“Do yourself a favor and at some point be a delegate for your party. It’s wonderful,” she said.

Jeff Pope can be reached at 990-2688 or jeff.pope@hbcpub.com.