Published: September 28, 2008 12:24 am            

Cayuga's Kelly Fitzpatrick serves as alternate delegate at GOP convention

Experience of a Lifetime

CAYUGA — Kelly Fitzpatrick has come a thousand miles since last year, both politically and literally.

The Cayuga resident had not been politically active, other than voting, until he decided to become active in the local Republican Party after watching a televised interview with presidential hopeful Duncan Hunter.

Since then, Fitzpatrick has campaigned prior to the March 4 Republican Primary, then attended his precinct caucus where he was elected as a delegate to the county-wide convention. At the county-wide convention, he was chosen as a state delegate, and at the state convention in June, Fitzpatrick ultimately was picked to go to Minneapolis-St. Paul as an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention, held Sept. 1-4.

He and wife LaRue flew to Minnesota for the GOP convention where they had the experience of a lifetime, Fitzpatrick said.

As an alternate delegate, Fitzpatrick was not guaranteed time on the convention floor, but the delegate he was teamed with, Mamie Stafford of Athens, made sure to switch places several times throughout the convention to allow him to experience being down there.

“That was her option and I’m glad she did,” he said. “That way I got to participate in the whole process.”

Outside of the XCel Center, protesters and anarchists tried to disrupt the convention, even to the point of rioting, but no one gave them any significant problems, he said.

“We were heckled and cursed and told we were going to hell,” he said. “Overall, they had way overkill on security. The other people were super-fabulous. It was a great experience.”

The couple witnessed an anti-war march one day while they were relaxing in a nearby city park, Fitzpatrick said, which was interesting to see. Another time, a demonstrator offered to trade for his cowboy hat, which he refused.

“Those people weren’t really causing any trouble,” Fitzpatrick said. “The anarchists did.”

Although their experiences with the protesters were hardly enough to raise an eyebrow over, Fitzpatrick said seeing the massive police presence was a different matter.

“I’m from a small town — not even a town, a community,” Fitzpatrick said. “When we got back to our hotel, I looked out of our hotel room (window) and there’s two bridges crossing the Mississippi River. One of them comes in at the entrance to our hotel and the other is about two blocks down. Our room was on that side.

“Coming across that bridge looked like somewhere between 500 and 1,000 people. It looked like there was about 30 police down there in their riot gear blocking that exit off to that bridge.”

What resembled a convoy of other police officers arrived in police vehicles, vans and Suburbans arrived to set up position, and another group followed, prompting the group marching across the bridge to disperse, he said.

Later that night, the couple learned that more police were set up in riot gear, with protective concrete barriers set in place, near the other bridge, in position to prevent possible trouble.

“What we found out was, they were having an anti-war concert one block from us,” Fitzpatrick said. “Later during the week, one of the other delegates told us that Laura Bush spent the night in the hotel that night.”

Coming face to face with such a large security presence was almost surreal.

“When you looked out the window and saw that, it was like, ‘this can’t be happening in America,’” Fitzpatrick said.

Each day, they and other delegates had to pass through multiple layers of security and checkpoints to enter the convention center, he said, and were allowed access only to certain portions of the building and the floor, based on their credentials.

Still, the overall experience was one he’ll treasure, Fitzpatrick said.

“It was one of those experiences you’ll cherish forever,” he said. “You’ll never forget it.”

One of the interesting parts of being there was the opportunity to attend the various receptions held for the delegates.

The first night that the Fitzpatricks were in the Twin Cities, they attended a reception hosted by the Minnesota delegation, which offered food, drink and plenty of historical tidbits, including scale models of the White House and Air Force One and an exhibit celebrating Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday.

Each day began with a delegation breakfast at the hotel, with keynote speakers such as Laura Bush, John Cornyn and David Dewhurst, as well as logistical information about what events would occur that day.

There were other speakers throughout the days, as well, some of whom Fitzpatrick remembered as being especially noteworthy or motivational, such as John Werner, who told the story of Bud Day, imprisoned in the infamous Hanoi Hilton at the same time as McCain.

It was during the first breakfast meeting that Texas delegates learned that Republican candidate John McCain had asked that the convention be toned down out of respect for those living in Gulf Coastal areas affected by Hurricane Gustav, he said.

“I had mixed feelings about that,” Fitzpatrick said. “I was completely sympathetic with the people who were in the pathway of that hurricane. But I was a little bit concerned that the presumptive nominee made the decision instead of the Republican National Committee. I would have felt more comfortable if the Republican National Committee had made that decision.”

Under the scaled-back format, the delegates and alternates were officially seated and the rules and platform were approved in quick fashion, he said, but without going through what the platform actually contained, which seemed to be another strike against grassroots politics.

During breakfast the following morning, when a national party figure commended the Texas delegates for building a platform that maintained the conservative principles supplied by McCain’s people in a rough draft, Fitzpatrick said he realized that the delegates wield only so much power.

“Grassroots — the people who believe in government of the people, by the people, for the people — just experienced a process driven from the top down, not the bottom up,” Fitzpatrick said. “Those were my lows.”

It was a powerful lesson, he said.

“I got into this to make a difference and we’ve just got more to work on,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’m sure the Democratic Party is the same. That’s what your convention is about, the person nominating your candidates.

“I was like, ‘Okay, this is a great big, made-for-prime-time, Republican pep rally,’ and there’s nothing wrong with that. We need to inspire people to actually get up and go vote. Americans need to vote.”

Now back home, he plans to continue his political activism by urging people to vote in the upcoming Nov. 4 general election. It was something said by former U.S. Secretary of State Roger Williams that really struck a chord, Fitzpatrick said.

“America is the greatest nation in the world, and Texas is the greatest state in America,” Fitzpatrick said. “So Texans have a duty and a responsibility to set the standard for the world because we’re driving the nation that inspires the world.

“That was pretty powerful. It makes you stop and think,” he said. “We do have a responsibility to be the best, to strive to set the example, not only for Texas and America but we influence the world. That was pretty powerful. That hit home. It makes you want to stand up and do more.”

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Beth Foley may be contacted via e-mail at bfoley@palestineherald.com

        

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