Convention, Day 1

I came up to Minneapolis/St. Paul on Saturday and spent the majority of Saturday and Sunday in orientation, getting a behind the scenes look at the convention site and doing some cool Minnesotan things (like Mall of America and the Minnesota State Fair). Today kicked off the first day of convention, and although much more abbreviated than originally anticipated, it was a great day.

I spent the morning doing some volunteer work around the Twin Cities area. One of our projects was a Mississippi River clean-up. We removed an invasive species (buckthorn) that has taken over the banks of the Mississippi. Following this, we headed over to another part of the Cities where Homes for Our Troops was giving the keys to a newly custom built home to Sergeant Marcus Kuboy. Homes for Our Troops is a bipartisan organization that builds homes for injured veterans. Sergeant Kuboy was hit by an IED in March of 2007 and suffered massive injuries, including 28 broken bones and a brain injury. After spending 10 months at Walter Reed Medical Center and another 6 months at the Minneapolis VA, he is getting along better, and Homes for Our Troops expressed their gratitude for his service to our country by building him a home and turning over the keys today. At the ceremony, Governor Tim Pawlenty spoke about Sergeant Kuboy's sacrifice and thanked him for everything he had given. It was a great opportunity to be part of this ceremony and show our support for not only Sergeant Kuboy, but Homes for Our Troops and all those in the military that serve this great nation of ours around the world.

After the morning spent giving back to the local community, we headed over to the Xcel Center. After quite an adventure getting to the complex (protesters surrounded our bus and the National Guard and local authorities had to escort us around downtown St. Paul), we headed to the floor to make sure that things were running smoothly. When it was determined that everything was, we were able to watch the proceedings as official business was taken care of. In addition, First Lady Laura Bush and Mrs. Cindy McCain addressed the convention in response to relief efforts to Hurricane Gustav.

Although today was not quite what everyone expected for the first day of the Republican National Convention, it was a day that we were able to celebrate being Americans! My thoughts and prayers are with all those in the Gulf region and I am anxiously awaiting the initial evaluation on the damage Gustav has done.

In the meantime, we are on stand-by up here, waiting for word from Chairman Mike Duncan that the convention can reconvene.

Hopefully I will have an update for you soon!

Lynn McRoberts