A Political Weekend
Justin Katz
With a few exceptions, it was a weekend of two political events. Of course, there's the Republican Northeast Conference, which I liveblogged here, here, and here, with the following video footage (thus far):
- The first evening brought introductory remarks, including from RIGOP Chair Gio Cicione and Governor Jim Douglas of Vermont.
- Governor Carcieri kicked off Saturday morning.
- Rhode Island politico turned RNC Chief of Staff Ken McKay talked horse race.
- Former Congressman and U.S. Senatorial Candidate from Connecticut Robert Simmons revved the crowd.
- Congressional Candidates Justin Bernier (CT), John Loughlin (RI), and Charles Lollar (MD) introduced themselves, with Lollar emerging as somebody to watch on the national scene.
- My personal favorite was Congressman Thaddeus McCotter (MI), who turned his speech into a Q&A session, providing answers that few could have matched even if written.
- Former New Hampshire Governor John Sununu got down into the nitty gritty of politics and clearly had a profound effect on the crowd.
The other event of the weekend was Glenn Beck's book signing in Providence, which Marc previewed and Andrew covered. The notable thing was the huge crowd of fans juxtaposed with the almost non-existent handful of protesters. (Guess which the Providence Journal emphasized.)
On other topics, Monique looked at Attorney General Patrick Lynch's travel record, and Marc responded to Mark Patinkin's experience traveling to the site of actual Communism.