Georgia delegates rally around Palin

Minneapolis — Monday’s deference to Hurricane Gustav was proper and good, but Tuesday was the day this party got started.

Georgia delegates to the Republican National Convention said there is important work to do the rest of this week.

Doug Chalmers, an alternate delegate from Georgia who leads a lawyers’ committee for McCain, was eager to get back to business.

“Yesterday was, frankly, rather dead for a variety of reasons, and all of a sudden everyone thinks he has the momentum back,” Chalmers said. “Things are starting to roll.”

Delegates feel good and are “galvanizing around Sarah Palin,” Chalmers said of McCain’s pick for vice president.

The day’s energy here appeared to move toward anger at what delegates say are unfair attacks against Palin, the governor of Alaska. The revelation Monday that Palin’s 17-year-old, unmarried daughter is pregnant threatened to overshadow the first convention session. But Palin’s experience and readiness for office has become sore spot between the McCain campaign and the media.

McCain canceled a planned interview with CNN’s Larry King, scheduled for Tuesday night, over an interview Monday between the network and a top McCain aide. McCain campaign officials said Campbell Brown’s questioning of Palin’s readiness to serve was “over the top.”

“There’s no small amount of outrage against the attacks that have been leveled against her, and we are thrilled to have the chance to respond,” Chalmers said.

Georgia Republicans heard from friends and family back home who were equally upset over what they regarded as unfair treatment of Palin. said delegate Shawn Davis.

The anger seemed to be more directed at the media, rather than the campaign of Democratic nominee Barack Obama, he said.

But Obama had his time and his convention last week in Denver. It’s Republicans’ turn, said Liz Haulsmann, a delegate from Johns Creek.

“It’s extremely important that we have the same opportunity to show the contrasts and show our positions on issues and show the American people the differences,” Haulsmann said.

Earlier Tuesday, Georgia’s delegates met for lunch. Before dining on pork chops, though, a series of McCain surrogates helped drive the point home: McCain-Palin is a winning ticket.

McCain’s son, Andy, told Georgians that his father has been thinking about this race since he lost the South Carolina primary in 2000, which doomed his campaign and cleared the way for Bush to win the nomination and the White House.

“He’s been actively pursuing this dream for the last two years,” Andy McCain said.

Former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer said McCain “could not have made a better choice” than Palin. And former New York Gov. George Pataki revved the crowd by imploring them to go home next week and make sure Georgia remains in the Republican column.