Republican National Convention

Former Sen. Fred Thompson has recorded a robo-call on behalf of Republican U.S. Senate challenger Jeff Beatty.

The 30-second call features Thompson, the Tennessee Republican who ran for president this year, touting Beatty's experience and judgment as the reasons why Massachusetts voters should elect him to replace U.S. Sen. John Kerry this year.

"Hello friend, this is Sen. Fred Thompson calling to ask you to please vote for Jeff Beatty for United States senator to replace John Kerry," Thompson says. "Jeff is an American hero who served in the Delta Force and the FBI. He's a former teamster and small businessman with the kind of common sense we need. Jeff won't coddle special interests; he's a leader who will protect your family your jobs and your country. Please vote for Jeff Beatty Nov. 4."        

This isn't the first time this year Republicans have turned to Thompson's baritone. Thompson, who is well-known for his role as New York District Attorney Arthur Branch on Law and Order, also narrated Republican presidential nominee John McCain's biographical film at the Republican National Convention.

The Beatty campaign said the robo-call will begin running Wednesday. Check it out below.

It started as a hotel tryst during the Republican National Convention.

But as the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports, it ended with Colorado GOP delegate Gabriel Schwartz being drugged and waking up to find at least $50,000 worth of money, jewelry and other items had been stolen.

The theft occurred on Sept. 4, after Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin delivered her vice presidential acceptance speech.

While Republicans were trying to ridicule Gov. Gregoire last week for attending the Democratic National Convention the week before, the Gregoire campaign gave Rossi some grief for skipping the Republican National Convention by way a of a web video.

Implying that Rossi was aligned with President George W. Bush in skipping this year's RNC in an attempt to, in Bush's case distance himself for the party's sake and in Rossi's case distance himself for his own sake, the Gregoire camp uses the video to try to further tie Rossi to the unpopular Bush.

 "What else do they have in common?" the video asks, then lists a number of mainly social issues where Rossi and Bush have similar stances.

"On every issue George Bush and Dino Rossi are the same," the video claims. "We deserve better."

At the Republican National Convention this week, most of the buzz was over Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska), the first woman to be named as a Republican vice presidential candidate.

In the Maine delegation, this gave many a reason to remember former Sen. Margaret Chase Smith, the first woman to be nominated for President on the floor of a convention.

In 1964, Smith placed fifth of nine candidates in the initial round of balloting at the Republican National Convention in 1964, with 27 of 1,308 votes. She refused to drop out for the second round of balloting, so Barry Goldwater’s nomination was not unanimous.

Patrick Eisenhart was the lone self declared Ron Paul delegate in the Maine delegation at the Republican Convention in St. Paul.  Although it was reported that twenty of Maine's twenty one delegates went for McCain.  The report also noted that "Patrick Eisenhart attended the convention in support of Ron Paul. Since Paul's name was not put in nomination, he did not vote."

Mr. Eisenhart provided additional comment to the story noting, "As can be verified by any member of the Maine delegation, I cast my vote for Ron Paul. Unlike that of Alaska, Maine delegation leadership elected not to read my vote for Ron Paul. Perhaps that is what led you to believe there were no votes for Ron Paul."

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- One constituency in particular has proven especially fruitful for the Republican Party through the years: Prominent football coaches. For whatever reason - a natural sympathy for autocratic leadership, perhaps? - the G.O.P. has had no shortage of sideline generals to showcase through the years, a tradition that the party renewed when former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs addresses the Republican National Convention.

ST. PAUL—Eight years after he first ran for president, Senator John McCain of Arizona accepted his party’s nomination Thursday night with a speech that touched necessary bases, but was considerably less well received than the one his vice presidential pick, Sarah Palin, delivered the night before.

Snowe and McKernan: Olympia Snowe and John McKernan at the Maine Republican Convention in May. Politicker file photo.MINNEAPOLIS -- U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe said she would not take a job in presidential nominee John McCain’s administration if given the opportunity.

“No,” she said when asked by PolitickerME Wednesday. “I like what I’m doing in the Senate.”

However, had she been offered the vice presidency she would have “seriously considered it,” though she was never asked.

Snowe and U.S. Sen. Susan Collins are both close to McCain. Several Republican leaders have speculated that they would be on the top of McCain’s list for a cabinet job, if the Republican is elected.

U.S. Sen. John McCain and U.S. Sen. John Sununu

MINNEAPOLIS--U.S. Sen. John Sununu (R-Waterville Valley) issued a statement minutes after U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) finished his nomination before the Republican National Convention.

"John McCain's strength as a leader comes from personal experience and hard fought battles in which he has usually prevailed," Sununu said in a statement. "He's not afraid to stand alone, but he's also willing to reach across the political aisle."

MINNEAPOLIS--New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley issued a statement on the last night of the Republican National Convention arguing that U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is not the type of maverick McCain says he is.

"Sen. John McCain cannot run from his record," Buckley said in a statement. "He certainly has not been a maverick during the last eight years when it came to supporting the failed policies of the Bush administration. He has marched in lock step with George Bush as he has erased the budget surplus, led us into a costly and unnecessary war, and demonstrated a complete misunderstanding of the economic realities faced by middle class families."