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Jo Freeman: There’s Plenty To Do at the RNC – If You Have the Right Credentials
by Jo Freeman
Every national nominating convention has plenty of auxiliary events, some authorized, some not. Getting space can be a challenge; getting the word out even more so. But they do it nonetheless. Press were given a RNC 2024 Master Event Calendar, which was updated a few days later. Events began on Sunday and ended on Thursday. The actual convention sessions were just one item on the list. The calendar said if an event was Open or Closed to press, and also whom to contact to register. I’m going to describe some of the events, including a couple I went to, and a couple I was turned away from.
Since my focus is on women, I obviously wanted to go to those events – if I could.
The National Federation of Republican Women is the largest grassroots Republican women's organization in the country with hundreds of clubs. Founded in 1938, its members made the phone calls and knocked on the doors that elected Republican candidates for decades. It’s Tuesday luncheon featured Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders. The Master Calendar said it was SOLD OUT and they wouldn’t let me in. I was able to get into their lounge at the Fiserv Forum Wednesday evening, where I was repeatedly asked if I was a member, and if not, would I join. “I’m press,” I said. “I can’t join anything partisan.” I then said: “What brings you here?” On hearing that, finding anyone willing to chat with me was like pulling teeth.
Moms for Liberty met in a concert hall that afternoon. I had pre-registered, and I got in. From high in a balcony seat I listened to several people talk about the evils of transgenderism. It’s webpage says WE BELIEVE Power Belongs to the People. Sound Familiar? With a focus is on parental rights, it wants to “STOP WOKE indoctrination.”
Tuesday I went to “The New Mavericks” reception co-hosted by the Black Republican Mayors Association and the Georgia Republican Party. They honored Sen. Tim Scott, four Congressmen and two Georgia delegates – all male. There was only one mayor on stage, from Aurora, IL. The chair of the Georgia Republican Party was the one white man on the stage. At that event, women served; they didn’t speak. The RNC reported that 55 delegates to the 2024 convention are Black, up from 18 in 2016.
I missed the Independent Women’s Forum toast to “Women Who Make Our Country Great” because I went to Convention Fest: The Official Delegate Experience, which was held in the streets outside the Fiserve Forum and Baird Hall as well as some space inside Baird. To get to that one you not only needed a credential of some sort, but a USSS pass (which I have).
Concerned Women for America parked its pink bus across from the Baird Center the week before the RNC. No one was home. When Convention Fest opened on Tuesday afternoon, they set up a pink tent, from which its leaders preached to whomever passed by. It calls itself “the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization” but its focus is evangelical Christian. The slogan on the side of its pink bus captures this emphasis: “She Prays, She Votes.” A prayer precedes each sermon.
Julia Sneden Wrote: A Look Back at Boomers and Welcome To the Other Side Of the Hill
Julia Sneden wrote: As the Boomers moved into adulthood, they proved themselves able to make huge changes in laws and customs. They have immeasurably furthered tolerance among people of different races and religions. The causes they embraced have brought about new attitudes toward same-sex relationships, single parenting, women in the work force, the environment, and physical fitness. New marketing strategies were developed to entice Boomers. (Remember when you could buy shoes without a company's logo on it, or a shirt without the designer's name on the pocket?) more »
Jo Freeman Reviews Elizabeth Warren's New Book: Persist ("I have a plan for that")
Jo Freeman writes: If you enjoyed listening to Elizabeth Warren during the 2019/20 Presidential debates or if you applauded her on the campaign trail, you will love this book. It’s one very long campaign speech. In six chapters she entertains readers with stories of her youth, her family, her dog, her plans, her policy proposals, and a few insights... Not until the final chapter on being “A Woman” does she begin to tie her experiences together. She ran into a lot of glass ceilings and broke some of them, but never escaped the “discrimination that lasts a lifetime.” She talks about care giving and abortion, as well as the consequences of unequal pay and limited job opportunities for women... As her final story, Warren writes about a little girl she met on the selfie line in St. Paul Minnesota, in 2019. That girl told her “You better win... I’ve been waiting for a girl president since.... since... since kindergarten.” more »
Jo Freeman Reviews Mazie's Hirono's Heart of Fire: An Immigrant Daughter's Story
Jo Freeman Reviews: Mazie Hirono's first four years in the Senate were relatively uneventful, as she dug down and learned the job. When Trump became President, Hirono pulled out her sword. His acts, appointments and words represented everything she disliked. There’s a lot on the Kavanaugh hearings where, as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, she questioned Kavanaugh about his alleged sexual assaults. There’s also a lot on immigration (one of her pet issues) and the “Chinese virus.” Hirono’s political career coincided with the rise of political women from bit players to major leaguers. Her stories illustrate the forward steps as well as the backward ones. This book is a tribute to success, both hers and that of other women. more »
Julia Sneden Wrote: On Becoming Eponymous*
Julia Sneden wrote: When my daughter-in-law announced that if their expected child were female, they’d name her Julia, I was caught completely unprepared. I think I stammered an ungracious "...uh...are you sure you want to do that to her?" Even worse, I may have followed that with: "Oh, you don’t have to do that!" Whatever I said, I'm sure it was the wrong thing, because of course I should have said something conveying gratitude and love and the fact that I was thrilled and honored. Alas, I am almost never eloquent on short notice. more »
