Randy Sutter attended the RNC as a guest, and sent back these reports. We've added a post-script linking to an analysis of Donald Trump's acceptance speech published by the Star Tribune on July 24.

Tuesday, July 19

The Republican National Convention has convened. As expected, my perspective is from the top of the Quicken Arena, at the same elevation as the Jumbotron. Having kicked things off, the members of the Rules and Platform Committees were called to meet during the day on Monday, and the rest of us listened to speeches by Cleveland leaders and RNC officials, interspersed with some live rock music. All the real work went on in the Committee meetings. 

Committees

National conventions, unlike our district and state conventions, are not opportunities for grassroots activism. It is just a few representatives from each state that are selected before the national convention that have a chance to influence the party platform and the convention rules. These representatives met several days ahead of the convention to do their work. The vast majority of the delegates have only a chance to vote up or down on the work of those committees. If you have the chance to attend a national convention, it is like having a ticket for the Super Bowl -- you come for the pageant and the energy and the excitement around you.

One lesson that I'm taking away is if we want to influence how our national party is run, we really need to pay attention to who we elect as our MN party chair, our national committee woman and man, and the delegates we elect to the national convention at our CD and state conventions. 

David Asp was a delegate to the Republican National Convention for CD3. Here are few excerpts from the daily notes and photos he sent from Cleveland. He also sent some insightful details about the rules committee and the “conscience clause” proposal, which we’ve placed separately on the SD49 website HERE.

TUESDAY, JULY 19
Yesterday was the first day of the Republican National Convention. We dealt with convention business in the early afternoon before moving into convention speeches last night. The theme for Monday was “Make America Safe Again,” focusing on homeland security, national security strategy, and foreign policy.

Photo - David Asp preparing to start the convention with Chris Tiedeman, Jen Niska, and Keith Downey.

Monday’s speakers featured Melania Trump, along with notable speakers like Sen. Joni Ernst, and Sen. Tom Cotton. In my opinion, the most interesting speech of the night came from former-Mayor Rudy Giuliani who argued for a stronger national security policy.

The Minnesota delegation is seated in the back of the arena in front of the media booths. If you’re watching coverage of the convention, you may see familiar faces walking around behind the news anchors.

Here’s a picture of the convention floor showing where the Minnesota delegation is seated:

David Asp was a delegate to the Republican National Convention for CD3. Here are few excerpts from the daily notes he sent from Cleveland, detailing his work on the Rules Committee.

MONDAY, JULY 18

Welcome to my first convention update from the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, which begins today.  When I was asking for your vote to be a convention delegate in April, I pledged to provide daily updates from the convention.  This update provides my perspective on the rules committee, and – in particular – the “conscience clause,” which has received significant attention during the weeks leading up to the Convention.

Background

The Republican National Committee (“RNC”) has three representatives from each state – the party chair, national committeeman, and national committeewoman.   As I’ve focused on learning more about how the RNC operates during the last few weeks, I’ve come to appreciate the work of our three RNC representatives – Chair Keith Downey, Chris Tiedeman, and Janet Beihoffer.  The RNC has its own standing rules committee, and Janet ably represents Minnesota on that committee.  

The Republican National Convention (“the Convention”) itself, has its own rules committee composed of one female and one male from each state and territory represented at the Convention.  Our Minnesota delegation elected representatives to the Convention committee after the state convention in May.  I was elected as the male representative, and Rep. Cindy Pugh was elected as the female representative  

Every four years, the Convention adopts standing rules that govern the operation of the RNC.  In 2012, the convention passed a rule allowing the RNC to change certain rules between conventions, but those changes are subject to review by the Convention committee and, ultimately, the Convention itself.  So our job on the Convention committee was to pass rules governing the party (as well as rules for the convention itself), and send those to the full Convention for consideration.  The rules committee will meet again briefly today, and -- after that -- the entire Convention will consider the rules.

The Conscience Clause

The Convention committee considered several amendments relating to whether Convention delegates should be bound to vote for a presidential candidate based on the results of primaries and caucuses in their states.  

Doug Seaton attended the Republican National Convention last week as a Delegate, and captured his impressions on the plane ride home to MN.

Minnesota’s delegation represented the diversity of Republicans here – men and women from all geographic areas of the state, a wide range of occupations, ages, and ethnic backgrounds. There were supporters of Rubio, Cruz and Trump, as well as those who’d initially supported others from the starting field of 17 candidates.

As the convention ended, people were united on principles. And while we may have started this year supporting one of the 16 other credible Republican candidates, Donald Trump emerged as clearly the most popular of the Republican candidates. He is the one we’ll support and work to elect in November as our best choice to reflect these principles.

We are united in defense of:
Liberty
The Constitution
Limited government
Free enterprise
The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness

We are united in support of:
Competence in the War on Terrorism
Our military
Our police officers
The rule of law

We are united against:
Rule by bureaucrats or Union bosses
Crony capitalism
Those who seek to pander to race and class hatred & divisions

 

Minnesota Congressional Districts 3 and 5 cover Minneapolis and its suburbs north, west, and south of Minneapolis.  Republicans in Congressional District 3 held their convention on April 23, endorsing Erik Paulsen unanimously for re-election to a fifth term as U.S. Representative. 

Meeting a week later, the Republicans in Congressional District 5 endorsed Frank Drake as their candidate for the U.S. Congressional seat currently held by Rep. Keith Ellison.  Drake is currently the co-chair of Edina Precinct 04 in Senate District 49.

At our recent convention, 121 Republicans in Senate District 49 were elected Delegates and Alternates to upcoming conventions.   All 34 precincts are represented.

MN Republican State Convention Delegates

• Andy Hollenbeck (BLM P-16)
• Lew Coffey (BLM P-17)
• Patricia Lee (BLM P-17)
• Barbara Sutter (BLM P-18)
• Randy Sutter (BLM P-18)
• Rebecca Maddox (BLM P-19)
• Eldon Spencer (BLM P-21)
• Beth Beebe (BLM P-22)
• Vince Riehm (BLM P-22)
• Paul Ericson (BLM P-23)
• Mike Lehmann (BLM P-24)
• Penny Walters (BLM P-25)
• Pam Tucholke (BLM P-27)
• Greg Beam (BLM P-28)
• Mark Lapham (BLM P-28)
• Jay Corniea (EP P-08)
• Faisal Deri (EP P-08)
• Thor Anderson (MTK P-1B)
• Ryan Love (MTK P-1C)
• Dino Balafas (Edina P-01A)
• Suzanne Fuluvaka (Edina P-01B)
• Dean Lerum (Edina P-02)
• Wayne Wenger (Edina P-03)
• Nancy Carlson (Edina P-03)
• Doug Seaton (Edina P-03)
• Frank Drake (Edina P-04)
• Steve Wise (Edina P-05)
• Grant Johnson (Edina P-07)
• David Clynes (Edina P-07)
• Susan Covnick (Edina P-08)
• Stephen Neuger (Edina P-09)
• Lee Zimmerman (Edina P-10C)
• Marsha Chamberlain (Edina P-11)
• Linda Presthus (Edina P-12)
• Michael Zerr (Edina P-12)
• Lynn Swon (Edina P-12)
• Max Rymer (Edina P-13)
• Michelle Jesse (Edina P-14)
• Don Teigen (Edina P-15C)
• John Metil (Edina P-16)
• Barbara Malzacher (Edina P-16)
• Judith McCabe (Edina P-17)
• Sara Amaden (Edina P-18)
• Abdiaziz Hirsi (Edina P-18)
• Bob Maginnis (Edina P-19C)

Final preparation is underway for our Senate District 49 bi-annual endorsing convention.  Every two years, Republican delegates and alternates that were elected in Senate District 49’s caucuses come together to endorse candidates, elect delegates and alternates for Congressional District and State conventions, and debate resolutions to the Minnesota Republican Party Platform.   This year, we meet at Olson Middle School in Bloomington on Saturday, April 9.

The Resolution Committee has consolidated and formatted the submitted resolutions.  The Convention Rules Committee has updated the rules for running the convention.  The Candidate Search Committee is wrapping up its interviews with potential candidates.  Registration, Credentials, and Convention Planning teams have met to ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible.

If you are were elected a precinct delegate or alternate in Senate District 49 and you haven’t registered yet, please go out to the SD49GOP website.  To register, please CLICK HERE.

 - Volunteers Needed This Week

There is still work required to assemble the delegate packets and the name tags on Thursday evening, April 7,  and to set up the auditorium on Friday evening, April 8.  If you can lend a hand, your help would be appreciated.  Please contact Randy Sutter at 952-835-8917 to get the times and places we’re working.

This Saturday, April 9th, our Senate District will hold its annual Convention. It will be attended primarily by the Delegates and Alternates elected at the March 2016 caucuses from those precincts lying within the boundaries of House Districts 49A and 49B.

Included in the purpose of our Convention is

• Election of Delegates, First Alternates, & Second Alternates to the Third Congressional District Convention (April 23rd) and the Fifth District Convention (April 30th)
• Election of Delegates, First Alternates, & Second Alternates to the Republican Party of Minnesota State Convention (May 20th & 21st in Duluth)

 The Bylaws of Senate District 49 call for a Delegate Nominating Committee to meet ahead of the SD 49 convention. 

Platform resolutions are an important part of the proceedings of our Senate District 49 convention.  Several resolutions were submitted, considered and approved during the March 1 caucuses.  These have been carefully transcribed and, where appropriate, consolidated with similar resolutions for further consideration by the delegates at the upcoming convention. 

The rules of past conventions have permitted additional resolutions to be submitted as late as 30 minutes after the convention has convened.  These last-minute additions have added to the difficulty of treating resolutions in an orderly, well-organized way.  This year, we are implementing a change to the process of accepting Republican platform resolutions.  Our objective is to avoid handling the resolutions at the end of the convention agenda, rushing their consideration and risking adjournment without debating or voting on some or all of them.