Page 10 The Advocate News (Wilton-Durant, Iowa) Thursday, September 6, 2012

OpiniOn
Republican party takes national stage in Tampa

hile Ill admit I didnt watch very much of last weeks Republican National Convention in real time, I did spend the weekend listening to speeches online as I wanted to attempt to write a bit about some of them in this weeks column. Surely I didnt listen to them all, but I picked out some of the key players to listen to: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Ann Romney, former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, mystery speaker Clint Eastwood, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Speeches range from 20-40 minutes so its impossible to recite them all for you. Instead, I thought Id just let you know what I heard while listening. In this online age, its simple to look these things up and we can all watch for ourselves. I felt coming into the convention that the Republican party owed the public a couple things. First, Ryan needed the national stage to introduce himself a bit and make a splash. Next, I felt that the entire convention needed to focus on humanizing Romney, who can come off as robotic and not sure of his convictions. To begin with Ryan, Ill be honest and say that he lost me several times but would then come back with a one-liner here and there to bring me back. Yet often times when he was trying to make a point, hed lose me with his analogies or zingers. He said under President Obama, our country has seen four years of the runaround and that America needs a turnaround. Good line but then he followed that up with this: Ive never seen opponents so silent about their record, said Ryan. Call me crazy, but I never saw George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, or many other high ranking officials from the last Bush presidency represented. Bill Maher said on his weekly show that its as if the Republicans went to sleep in 1988 and awoke today with Obama in the White

House. Maybe hes onto something there womens vote, which has been pushed away since Republicans have begun a love affair by the Republicans in recent policy battles with Ronald Reagan. I can understand why the in this country. She said that women hold party chose not to have the Bush hierarchy in America together and that moms are the attendance speaking but be careful Mr. Ryan. best of America. Id agree with that! Ill guarantee that Bill Clinton speaks at the She also ended her speech with some great Democratic Convention. lines about Mitt. She said that no one will Ryan said instead of worrying about jobs, work harder or care more, and that if he gets Obama worried about healthcare, namely elected, this man will not fail. Her speech Obamacare, which he said has no place in did have power. a free country. Again I would hope that Ryan However the show stopper was Rubios looks around the world and speech. Of course, he was sees there are several free given the opportunity to countries with nationalintroduce Romney and I ized healthcare. thought he made a fairly One former high rankgood speech. The main ing Bush official that spoke thing to do is give Romney was Rice, who I thought the stage and Rubio stole it did a nice job. She said the from him with his personal By Derek Sawvell U.S. was a compassionate story about his Cuban denation of immigrants and scent and that his family then finished her speech with what I thought instilled in him that there was no limit to was the best quote I heard in all the speeches how far he could go in life as an American. I watched: He talked about the American Dream, or A little girl who grows up in Jim Crow as he referred to it, the American Miracle Birmingham, the segregated city of the South in a way that I understand and Ive been where her parents cant take her to a movie someone who has been hard on the American theater or to a restaurant, but they have her Dream in this very column. absolutely convinced that even if she cant If Rice made the best quote, perhaps the have a hamburger at the Woolworths lunch following from Rubio is second best: He talked counter, she could be president of the United about his dad being a bartender and said my States if she wanted to be, said Rice. dad stood behind a bar in the back of a room That one was a home run. for all those years so one day I could stand Christie made an interesting speech. I feel behind a podium at the front of a room. he has aspirations to run for president either in I thought Romney did a fair job in the 2016 or 2020 depending on how the upcoming beginning of his 37-minute speech, talking election goes. But he said some meaningful about his parents, wife and kids. It humanized things. him a little bit. But then when talking about He said that politicians should choose Neil Armstrong landing on the moon, he said respect over love and that they should stop when the country needs someone to do the tearing each other down and work together on really big stuff, you need an American. I big things. Boy I hope Congress was listen- have a question Mr. Romney: Was this a shot ing. And with 10-12 percent approval ratings, at Obama? Was this fuel for the birthers out it should be taking notes! there? (And Id ask that to him if given the Ann Romney looked as elegant as Ive ever chance, not an empty chair) seen a presidential candidates wife look. She He did give us some substance. He said clearly looked the part. She went right after the that by 2020, hed create 12 million jobs and

Case in Point

gave five steps: 1. By 2020, America would be energy independent by taking advantage of its own resources. 2. give citizens the skills they need for jobs of today and careers of tomorrow. 3. make trade work for America by forging new trade agreements. 4. assure every job creator that investments wont vanish and put America on track to a balanced budget. 5. champion small business by cutting taxes, deregulation and repealing Obamacare. There you have it. No real blueprint on how to get there but its something. Hell be pressed on it in the coming days. The rest of his speech did what all his others do: attacked Obama. Thats fair game, but I really thought that with the biggest national stage of his life, hed spend less time on tearing down Obama and more time on telling me the independent voter more about who he is. Remember Mr. Romney, you dont have to win that crowd. Your base will vote for you no matter what you say. You have to win the independents out there watching on TV. Lastly, I have to say I was most disappointed in Eastwoods speech. It didnt help that the party dubbed him the mystery speaker and let him talk on the biggest night, just minutes before Romney. He only spoke for 11 minutes but they seemed like the longest 11 minutes of my life. The first three werent bad but it was clear he had no material. And he had the empty chair where an invisible friend (whom he called President Obama) was sitting. He then talked to the imaginary person and of course was left to try and explain to the crowd what he was doing while he was bumbling and stumbling. It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. At one point, apparently his imaginary friend said shut up to him. Next time Clint, take the advice.

Voter ID: what's the reason? 'A compelling behavior'

Editor: Recently, there have been proposals on a voter identification law. If the proponents of the proposed law want to require voters to have a photo ID when they vote, then all registered voters should have a photo ID voter registration card so no qualified voter is discriminated against. The United States Constitution requires that all voters are at least 18 years of age and are a citizen of the United States of America. No state or local government or special interests are allowed to discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sex, national origin or political affiliations. States are allowed to deny convicted felons the right to vote. Resident immigrants, even though they are legal residents of the United States, are not allowed to vote. The only immigrants who have the right to vote are naturalized citizens. Immigrants are required to live in the United States a certain length of time before they are eligible to become a naturalized citizen. Anyone who is born in the United States, regardless where their parents originated from, is a citizen of the United States. If the proposed law is designed to prevent unauthorized persons from voting, then I am in favor of the proposed law. If the proposed law is going to discriminate against certain races, ethnic groups, political affiliations, religions, or age groups, then I oppose the proposed law. Paul Adams Stanwood
Editor: For many voters., campaign season is about to start. The Olympics and the drought seemed obvious reasons for avoiding a toxic political climate. However, voting, particularly for women, is a hard won ancestral rite; our grandmothers had to wretch the US Constitution from its original intent. We understand being without power. So, if you need an invitation to vote, here it is: please vote. Voting can become a compelling behavior, a consuming yearning of the human heart; so the Arab Spring has shown. When the climate is as hostile to voters as it now is, heres a brief lesson in the manners of electoral politics. First, phone calls. Live human beings calling you to ask for your vote are not the enemy. They should be treated with ordinary courtesy. They are a great source of political information. If you are called from a party you hold in disrepute, a simple request to be taken off their calling list will suffice. Feeling put upon by a political phone call, sighing deeply, and/or sneering, mocking laughter, well, it is simply unseemly. Do not do it, especially in front of the children. Voting early and making a decision about

Durant Public Library news

Summer is over and so is the Summer Reading Program at the Durant Public Library at 402 Sixth Street in Durant. Winners of the prizes were: Judy Frisch, Night Out Package; Kayden Johnson, Night Gift Basket; Ariana McCoy, gift card to Barnes & Noble; Sarah Schemmel, gift card to Subway; Grace Paustian, marshmallow contest count winner (279 marshmallows). The Durant Book Club will meet Sept. 19 at 10 a.m. in the Hill of Beans Bistro. This months book selection is A Cup of Friendship by Deborah Rodriguez. All are invited to join the discussion group and to stay for lunch afterwards (optional). Story Hour will be held Saturday, Sept. 15, at 10 a.m. Participants will color insects and will make mobiles. All are welcome! The library is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 2 to 7 p.m. and Thursday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. For more information about any of the programs, call branch librarian Kim Olson at 785-4725.

candidates is the surest way to end political phone calls. Undecided voters are a high target for repeat calls. If someone knocks on your door to talk politics, you have the chance to engage in a First Amendment activity with deep historical American values. They can be greeted with a smile. We can be grateful for the luck to live in a free country and honor the door knocker as a delegate for Democracy. Shouting at them, slamming the door in their face, might indicate a fondness for authoritarianism. It can also be a test: which do you value more, the football game or the electoral process? Having urged you to vote, vote early, but not often, I would be remiss if I did not urge you to vote for the re-election of President Barack Obama. In fact, a straight Democratic Party vote makes most sense this year. Suffice it to say, President Obama has governed with civility, intelligence and heart. Details are available at www.barackobama,com , or give me a call for a conversation, 319 643-5548. Identify yourself and I will not hang up on you, but no yelling. Clara Oleson Springdale

Turning back the clock

Editor: The Wilton Chamber of Commerce provided an exciting weekend of fun food and top-notch music. It was certainly a crowd pleaser as it was the largest attended Founders Day we have ever seen! From the parade line to the early seated spectators, the carnival and to end both evenings with our own fabulous Wilton XLs, Crazy Delicious and Flight 61, the weekend was most enjoyable and complete. It definitely was a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight! The teenagers of the 60s danced to the Rock n Roll music the night of Aug. 24, and truly turned back the clock! It was a successful weekend! Thelma and George Nopoulos Ambassadors for the city of Wilton

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