GOP convention script goes straight to rewrite

[September 02, 2008]  ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Republican National Convention script, Day One: Take your seats, 2:39 p.m. Call to order, 2:45 p.m. Recite the Pledge of Allegiance, 2:49 p.m. Singing of the national anthem by Miss Minnesota 2008, 2:52 p.m.

Republican National Convention reality, Day One: A major hurricane. Political speeches curtailed. A sitting president's visit canceled. Revelations that the surprise female running mate had retained an attorney to deal with a scandal -- and that her 17-year-old daughter was pregnant.

"We're here in the appointed place. And we're here at the appointed time," said RNC Chairman Mike Duncan, opening the proceedings with the usual prepared remarks. Most everything else in the Republican script, however, was headed for rewrite.

The modern political convention is a well-rehearsed affair and, by extension, something of a pseudo-event. No longer do delegates gather in thickets to make back-room deals that could affect the outcome. The smoke-filled room is no more, and predictability reigns.

Not here. Not now.

For the first time in decades, the outcome of a major American party's convention is in doubt -- not as to who the nominee will be, but whether unscripted events will help or hurt John McCain's efforts to get his message out as robustly as Barack Obama did in Denver last week.

Clearly some improv is in order.

"It's like a good musician. You can play it by ear," said Dan Dyer, a Republican from Gwinnett County, Ga., whose wife is a delegate. "You have to adapt to the situation."

Last week in Denver, Barack Obama and his Democrats thrilled 91,000 people in an outdoor stadium with intense music, lavish flourishes and a Greek-style set that Republicans derisively dubbed "Barackopolis."

Not so St. Paul. Hurricane Gustav's landfall Monday and its potential political fallout, paired with the announcement that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's 17-year-old daughter was pregnant, changed the GOP production's sets, characters and backdrop. In the process, John McCain's political operation scrambled for a second draft.

"We're obviously calling audibles," said Mark Salter, McCain's closest aide.

The resulting quarterbacking, still coming together early Tuesday, may have appeared off the cuff. In reality, though, each step toward a new script opens new possibilities.

-President Bush's absence. McCain is trying to distance himself from the unpopular sitting president but couldn't exactly disinvite him. Gustav solved that problem seamlessly while giving Bush a chance to rewrite his own bad script -- the one that unfolded in 2005 during Katrina. White House officials have held out the possibility Bush would make a televised address to the convention from Washington, but the decision appears to rest with the McCain campaign.

-McCain's "Country First" message. What better way to apply politics to life than to summon party faithful to spurn partisanship and think about the greater good? McCain's main soundbite -- "take off our Republican hats and put on our American hats" -- became a ubiquitous talking point.

-Palin's mere presence on the ticket. It helps McCain hijack the narrative, appeal to undecided women and reclaim his image as a contrarian who just might do anything -- as long as it was the right thing.

"By and large, the rule is that if your convention spins out of control, that's a bad thing. It implies that if you can't stick to your script, you may not be able to control anything," said Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University.

But "this," he said, "is a whole different ballgame."

The only truly unscripted things were the news about Palin's attorney and her daughter's pregnancy. Yet even the management of the latter situation was calibrated -- both to kill rumors that Palin's youngest child was actually her daughter's, and to emerge when most of America, including TV's leading anchors, had their eyes fixed squarely on the Gulf Coast. What's more, the Palin family's conservative-friendly response presents a useful subplot for the GOP base.

"It locks in that we're the pro-life, pro-family party," said Scott Reed, a Republican consultant close to McCain.

Finally, the script retooling helps McCain avoid having to match Obama's public show. A key question -- how could he match Obama's eloquence and charisma? -- has been neutered.

Now, McCain doesn't have to match his rival. Instead, he can focus on his favorite, ostensibly apolitical theme -- dedication to a cause greater than yourself.

The forced reduction of GOP stagecraft this week dovetails perfectly with the outbreak of unexpectedness. Already, the Republicans had built a smaller, less elaborate stage -- a backlash to Denver's laserium-like set and a political statement that McCain isn't quite so Hollywood.

Now, if McCain appears via video from an area affected by Gustav, the more intimate setting could actually become a more powerful forum because it appears more authentic -- even though it is just a different sort of stage. In a way, random events are helping McCain to carve himself in sharper relief.

Delegates attending the opening session Monday seemed unfazed. McCain, they say, is showing his ability to react to events much as a president might. And they don't mind some unpredictability in their spectacles, either.

"I love it. I've been to three, and everything is scripted down to the minute. Maybe this one will be more interactive and off the cuff," said Betti Hill, 54, a Republican committeewoman from Helena, Mont.

Interactive and off the cuff: Now that would truly be something new. Do we really need these conventions, other than for procedural requirements? In the age of image politics, the answer, alarmingly, is probably yes. If you start with the premise that a candidate is a brand -- not necessarily a good thing, mind you -- then brand extension is a natural way to build buzz, and to win.

But the connection between pre-election politics and post-election policy is forever flimsy. It's as gossamer as the bond between script and reality during convention week. Everyone likes a good show, but the real world is the one we have to live in. Whatever randomness it might serve up.

[Associated Press; By TED ANTHONY and RON FOURNIER]

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