GC pols await Republican convention

Optimism among GOP followers contrasts with measured hopes among Democrats

The Republican National Convention is a week away, and yet local politicians and activists have placed their bets on what will transpire in New York between Aug. 30 and Sept. 2.

While area Republicans, including Grant County's lone delegate at the convention, Mike Massey, believe that their party will strengthen a lead on the polls after the convention, Democrats are hoping the national Republican leaders give honest answers to the issues that concern the nation.

Anabel Romero-Juarez from the Grant County Democratic Party, said she hoped the message in New York was a positive one. She said that it was a time where the administration could step up to the plate and address important matters.

"I would like to see if they are going to be honest about issues people have been asking questions about," she said.

A big part of that responsibility, she said, will fall on the shoulders of the Republican nominee, President George W. Bush, as he will have to realize he is on one of the biggest spotlights of his career.

"He is really going to have to prove himself," she said. "I don't think he has the grounds to be forceful or to be honest."

She added that she expected the president to stand up to defend his positions particularly from the members of his party that have criticized him.

"He is really going to have to prove everybody where he really stands," she said.

The view from the other side of the aisle was diametrically opposed. Tom Dent, chairman of the Grant County Republicans said the president would likely deliver a strong message of leadership and freedom.

"This president is committed to delivering freedom for all Americans," Dent said.

Dent predicted the president would renew his vow to combat terrorism and to repeat his desire to stand firm on the war on terror.

Massey said he is excited to represent the Fourth Legislative District at the convention, and to have a chance to share his views with other delegates.

Massey said that while most polls are showing Bush on a tight race with Kerry, the president knows what he needs to do and the American people would recognize that come election time.

As opposed to the major national polls showing little or no bounce upward for Democratic candidate John Kerry after his party's convention, Dent said that polls would show a major spike in favor of the President after Sept. 2.

Bush, aspiring to be the first incumbent Republican to win the presidency since Ronald Reagan beat Walter Mondale in 1984, is in a unique situation that many other two-term presidents did not have to deal with.

"Sept. 11 set the president's agenda," Dent said. "It defined his presidency."

Because of this, Dent said, Bush's agenda would be one focusing on continuing what he began after Sept. 11.

"We are going to continue fighting terror and we are going to solve the problem," he said. "We are not going to wishy-wash around."

Bush will not be the only speaker at the convention, and Dent said he expected the other speakers to highlight an economy on the upswing, which he said slowed down before the president took office, and an inclusion of all layers of society.

"We are going to hear that the Republican Party is the party of the people," Dent said.

Massey said that on issues that might affect the state, he expects a focus on energy issues.

"It's what is hurting the economy," he said. "The high cost of electricity and fuel, plus a national government not supporting the completion of the Columbia Basin Project.

When asked about how a Republican could say the government is not supporting the project at a time when the GOP is in power, Massey said that the Bush administration does not have Washington state allies in the U.S. Senate.

"(The Bush administration) cannot push a U.S. bill without a Republican U.S. Senator in this state," he said. "Our economy is suffering from that."

Massey added that the president needs that Republican presence in the Senate to do what he needs to do to improve the economy.

Besides passing the energy bill, Massey predicted that another item on the president's to-do list for a possible second term is to get judges that can help the economic situation on the country, as he said activist judges are placing too many regulations on the financial climate.

Dent said it was "awesome to have Massey in New York, as it cements Grant County's place as a major voice in the state Republican party.

"Grant County is a player and we are going to continue to be there," he said.