Already? Convention fatigue sets in - Politico
On the final day of the Republican National Convention, thousands of reporters, aides, delegates, members of Congress and donors could have been mistaken for the walking dead.
With droopy eyelids, attendees grasped bottomless cups of coffee and counted down the minutes until it would all be over — even though the main event, Mitt Romney’s speech, was just hours away.
Continue Reading “It’s a lot of coffee and to some degree it’s just putting one foot in front of the other,” said Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas). “It’s been a good convention but I’m delighted it’ll all be over and I’ll be happy to head back to Texas before daybreak tomorrow.”One Republican Senate aide said he’d averaged around 2½ hours of sleep every night, between the speeches, the nonstop parties after the speeches, and the very early delegation breakfasts.
“Everyone is just kind of in a daze,” the aide said, noting he’d caught himself dozing off during more than one meeting. “I have not been this exhausted in a long time and I’m pretty sure I’m just going to sleep for the next four days.”
A television journalist said she had gone through “about eight pounds of make up” trying to cover up any hint of exhaustion-induced-under-eye circles.
It’s not that the convention hasn’t been a good time, attendees said, but the schedule and late nights quickly become overwhelming even for the most seasoned convention goers.
“My wife and I have a little secret to make the convention a success: you leave before everybody else does so you can get a little bit more sleep,” said 70-year-old Sen. Jon Kyl. “Some of our younger staff I can’t account for, but I’ve been to conventions before and know how it gets.”
Kyl, who is retiring this year, said he thinks the conventions go on a little too long, forcing people to stretch their limits.
“I’d favor shortening it by a few days,” he said.
Republican donor Foster Friess was one of the few attendees on Thursday who looked well rested. Although he’d been out until 2 a.m. the night before, he said he’s been getting his normal six hours of sleep and just “sleeping in a little later.”
“The best tip I can give to avoid the craziness would be to stay home and watch it on TV,” he said. “It’s so frenetic because there are so many competing things to go and you have to prioritize one over the other to get to the various venues and scramble around.”
“For someone from Wyoming like myself, my life is a little slower than this,” he added. “Three days ago I was on my horse out in the wilderness.”
Freshman Rep. Sean Duffy was running off of pure adrenaline, beyond excited to be a part of the Wisconsin crew there to see Rep. Paul Ryan accept the vice presidential nomination.
“It’s going to be wearing, you are going to get a few bags under your eyes on the last day, but it’s been incredible,” Duffy said. “I was on the floor with the Wisconsin delegation last night and it was incredible. Wisconsin is usually in the back corner where you can barely see the stage. And now we’re up in front with our VP from Wisconsin, Reince Priebus is the chairman of the convention, and Scott Walker is here. To be there last night was emotional.”
Rep. Allen West was equally energized, but he attributed part of that to staying away from alcohol (he doesn’t drink) and exercising every morning.
“I ran 6 miles this morning and swam a few laps in the pool where we are so I’m always ready and charged,” he said. “You can just feel the energy here, and anyway, you can sleep over the weekend.”
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