DEL.ICIO.USIn Denver, GOP staffs ‘war room’ near enemy territory
Cox Washington Bureau
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
DENVER — The Democratic Party’s national convention is not just for Democrats. Republican heavyweights are here in force as John McCain surrogates, and the party has a fully staffed “war room” to respond quickly to Democratic criticism from the convention podium.
Besides raising questions about Democrat Barack Obama’s fitness to be president, the Republicans are also trying to fan whatever flames of disunity they can find during the four-day gathering of Democrats here this week.
Rick McKay/Cox Washington Bureau
Republican staff members monitor the goings-on at the Democratic convention in a war room set up not far from the convention site.
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McCain Victory 2008 Chairwoman Carly Fiorina was the lead-off McCain surrogate on Monday, followed on Tuesday by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, with former New York Mayor Rudy Giluliani set for Wednesday and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty arriving Thursday, the final day of the Democratic convention.
All four have been mentioned as possible running mates for McCain, who will accept the GOP presidential nomination next week in St. Paul, and all have the task typically assigned to vice presidential candidates - attacking the presidential nominee of the opposing party.
At a lunch with political reporters Tuesday, Romney said Obama would raise taxes and restrict trade, undermining the country’s economy. “Barack is a fine person, but I don’t think he’s ready to be president,” he said.
At a news conference following the lunch, Romney took even sharper aim at Obama, saying his national defense policies would “make America a weaker nation.”
The Republicans are playing on Denver’s reputation as the “Mile High City” to focus their criticism of Obama and running mate Joe Biden with the slogan: “A Mile High, An Inch Deep.”
On Monday, the GOP hosted a “Happy Hour for Hillary” in downtown Denver, encouraging disappointed supporters of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton to support McCain in the general election.
The “Happy Hour” event coincided with the Republicans releasing their first “Not Ready ‘08” memo of the week, contending that the lingering bitterness of Clinton delegates to the convention “has shown anything but a united party,” as the Democrats claimed in their opening night session.
The GOP’s “Not Ready for ‘08” response center is set up in office space a mile or so from the convention hall. The goal is to be ready with rapid responses as rapidly as possible.
“We’ll be monitoring every word that comes from the podium, looking factual inaccuracies, responding with what’s appropriate,” said Republican National Committee spokesman Danny Diaz.
“It’s important because you can’t let a news cycle, much less an hour or two hours, go with an attack that is a distortion of your candidate’s record,” Diaz said. “Reporters are now not writing for the next day. They’re writing for the next hour, the next two hours, because they have blogs that need to be updated. (And) they’re going on TV. They’re doing radio interviews.”
At the heart of the GOP operation is the “war room,” a cluster of computers and televisions and a tangle of yellow cables that brings it all to life. The room opens at 6 a.m. and shuts down when the evening convention sessions end.
Diaz knows the Democrats will run a similar operation next week when the GOP holds its convention in St. Paul.
“I’m sure they will, and it’s their right,” he said.
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