Sunday ... heading to the Republican National Convention

It's 6 a.m. and SWAC Daughter and I are in the Richmond Airport waiting for our flight heading out to the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-Saint Paul. We still have over an hour until it leaves.

I am a stickler for being on time so we left my parents' home in Midlothian with plenty of time to spare. Thunderstorms moved through the Richmond area overnight so we drove in rain to the airport but it had stopped by the time we got here.

Check-in was easy enough since it was still early and hardly anyone was in the airport, and the security line, usually backed up, was non-existent with a dozen staff people on duty waiting for the crowd. After a quick stop at Caribou Coffee, we are now sitting in the terminal watching other planes take off and land, and catching up on the newspapers.

I picked up a Richmond Times-Dispatch which had the headline, "State GOP energized ahead of convention." Tyler Whitley seemed to have picked up on the enthusiasm of Virginia's delegation as they head west to the land of "Little House on the Prairie" and the Mall of America. The next five days are going to be exciting for Republicans.

While keeping an eye on the hurricane in the Gulf, the headlines also are reporting New Orleans is being evacuated. Our prayers and thoughts are with those folks and all those along the path of this monster hurricane.

We are scheduled to be in Minneapolis by noon their time keeping in mind they are an hour behind Virginia. Activities will begin almost immediately after arrival in what promises to be a busy week. More on those events later.

Check out our first Postcards from Minneapolis in the Waynesboro News Virginian in today's paper and reprinted below.

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Delegates get ready for GOP convention
By Lynn and Katy Mitchell
For The News Virginian
Published: August 30, 2008

Editor’s Note: Throughout this week’s Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul, local Republican blogger Lynn Mitchell, known as SWAC Girl, and her daughter, Katy, will be filing updates on the activities for The News Virginian.

It is finally here and we are on our way to the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul. As the Virginia delegation prepared to leave, their excitement shot through the roof Friday, when presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain announced that his running mate would be Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. My daughter and I shared in that excitement as we prepared to head to the land of “Little House on the Prairie” and the Mall of America. We packed, repacked, checked for cell phone chargers and camera cords and made sure the laptop was ready to go. I am an alternate delegate representing the 6th District of Virginia; my daughter is a guest of the convention.

We will arrive in Minneapolis around noon today, allowing time to settle into our room at the Radisson University Hotel on the University of Minnesota campus. Looking at maps, we appear to be several miles from the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, but shuttle service for convention goers will be available on a daily basis.

Today’s events begin at 2 p.m. with a reception featuring singer Lee Greenwood followed by a screening of the movie “An American Carol,” a film by director David Zucker that is described by the Weekly Standard as “a frontal attack on the excesses of the American left from several prominent members of a growing class of Hollywood conservatives.”

“Until now,” according to the Standard, “conservatives in Hollywood have always been too few and too worried about a backlash to do anything serious to challenge the left-wing status quo.”

The convention Delegation Party will begin at 6 p.m. at the Minneapolis Convention Center, followed at 8 p.m. by a Virginia Delegation Welcome Party and Arcade Night at our hotel that will run until 11:30 p.m. Breakfast each morning in our hotel will offer an opportunity for the Virginia delegation to meet before heading out for the day’s activities. Monday’s events include the Circus Juventas, followed by the first session of the convention that begins at 2:30 p.m.

I am a little nervous as I hear of protesters who plan to try and disrupt the convention. We are also keeping an eye on Hurricane Gustav as he barrels toward the U.S. coastline, and on Hannah who is coming in behind him.

The long-awaited convention has finally arrived.
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Katy Mitchell, 20, is a business administration student at Blue Ridge Community College in the transfer program with plans to complete her studies at James Madison University. A gymnast from age 6 to 16, she was home-educated in grades K-12. Her interest in politics began at age 12, when she helped her brother assemble yard signs and worked GOP headquarters with her mother during then Texas Gov. George W. Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign.

Lynn Mitchell, 55, grew up in the Richmond area, moved to Augusta County in 1996 and spent 16 years educating her children at home. She is vice chairwoman of the Augusta County Republican Committee and 6th District representative of the Virginia Republican Party’s Central Committee. Known as SWAC Girl in the Virginia political blogosphere, she is ranked as the state’s most influential blogger on BlogNetNews.com/Virginia.

John McCain for President - Sarah Palin for Vice President