D.C. Area Activists Find Plenty to Smile About

Allen, District Make Presence Felt at Rally

MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 3 -- A slew of senators, governors and military veterans fired up a crowd of GOP activists from across the country, including members of the District's tiny delegation to the Republican National Convention, at an indoor rally Wednesday afternoon.

"Ladies and gentlemen, patriots all, are you all ready to win?" shouted former Virginia governor and U.S. senator George Allen to an enthusiastic crowd.

"Yes!" hundreds of activists screamed back.

The prominent speakers, standing in front of a blue banner that proclaimed "Country First," received the biggest applause and standing ovations when detailing the heroism of Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, and defending Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, his running mate, against what they called media attacks.

Allen, who has been advising McCain's campaign for several months on economic and energy issues, has been speaking as a surrogate for his former colleague at speeches and media interviews this week. He said he first met Palin in Washington in 2004, before she was governor but was "already a force in the Alaska Republican Party."

On Wednesday, Allen spoke about McCain's support for oil drilling, lower taxes and ridding the Capitol of "wasteful pork-barrel spending."

"Anybody who pays taxes, works for a living, cares about their families . . . they ought to be for John McCain," he said.

About a dozen members of the District delegation attended the rally at the Hyatt Regency, a few blocks from their hotel, before heading to the Xcel Energy Center for the third night of the national convention, which included a much-anticipated speech by Palin.

"I thought it was a great rally with some great speeches," said James Kadtke, District delegation chairman. "It really put things in perspective and distinguished the two candidates."

The 35-member District delegation includes influential Washington insiders, several of whom have worked in the White House and on Capitol Hill and K Street. But at the rally, and in many places at the convention, the delegates are known simply as die-hard Republicans engaged in a seemingly uphill battle to win votes in an overwhelmingly Democratic city.

"There are Republicans in the District of Columbia?" joked North Dakota talk-radio host Scott Hennen when introducing the delegation at the rally. "You could meet in a phone booth!"

The District's Republican activists took the jokes in stride, as they always do.