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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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There won’t be many freshmen lawmakers on the stage at the Republican National Convention, but South Carolina Rep. Tim Scott said their best surrogate is vice presidential pick Rep. Paul Ryan.

In an interview with POLITICO on Tuesday, Scott said his fellow freshmen in the House were thrilled with the choice, settling any doubts that Mitt Romney was supportive of their conservative agenda.

Continue Reading “I believe that the selection of Paul Ryan actually brought the base together. It answered all the questions we had before the convention started, which is really good news for the ticket,” Scott said.

Scott, who also called Romney “a true conservative,” said a Romney-Ryan ticket “reaffirms the fact that the position and the plan that we had in the House for creating jobs in America is a real plan.”

“It simply says that the Path to Prosperity, that Ryan was the chief architect of, has real substance in it and it gives us an opportunity to not only win as a party but to win as a country,” he said.

Scott said he considered Ryan an important messenger for the views of the historic 87 member freshman class. Roughly half of the class is in Tampa, and Scott said more will arrive as Ryan and Romney are set to speak later in the week.

“You still feel the camaraderie of a class of 87 original freshmen. I think what you see here is electricity. When you are around these guys, you understand and appreciate they have a vision for America. They are excited about the opportunity to be a part of the equation,” he said. “The presence of the freshman class in Tampa simply says that we believe in the ticket, we believe in the nation and we believe in the message.”

Scott disputed the portrayal of Romney as an unemotional, out-of-touch businessman. But he did list Ann Romney as one of the speakers he was most looking forward to hearing and thinks she’ll be able to connect voters with the Romney family.

“I think you are going to feel the Romney family and I think you are going to understand how that team compliments each other and how they’ve worked so well for four decades,” he said. “Success at home can be a strong indicator of success in other places. So I think we’ll hear just a fantastic speech from her.”

As for the path of Hurricane Isaac, Scott said the RNC was handling the situation appropriately by keeping an eye on the storm and remaining sensitive to the needs of the Gulf Coast but also continuing business in Tampa.

“I think [Louisiana Gov.] Bobby Jindal made the right choice to stay home and make sure his folks are taken care of,” Scott said. “But I think it’s important for us to continue to make the case for why America will be better with Mitt Romney as president. I think you can do multiple things at the same time and still give credence and appropriate respect to the folks in the Gulf Coast.”

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