Tuesday's GOP convention notebook

Palin keeps low profile

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, John McCain's choice for vice president, kept a low profile Tuesday as the Republican national committee tried to get back on track in the wake of Hurricane Gustav.

Although Republicans rushed to her defense following the news that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, Palin herself stayed out of the limelight on the second day of the convention, a time when vice presidential candidates typically make the rounds of key state delegations.

In fact, Palin cancelled a planned speech Tuesday afternoon to a Republican group of anti-abortion activists, an event that had attracted a lot of media attention.

The only official word of Palin's activities came late in the afternoon when the McCain campaign headquarters in Virginia sent out a press release saying the vice presidential candidate met privately with first lady Laura Bush and McCain's wife, Cindy.

The press release did not provide any details of where or when the meeting took place and what happened during the meeting. But the press release included a photograph of the three women together, smiling.

Chambliss applauds Palin pick

U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., acknowledged on Tuesday that some Republicans had "ambivalence" toward John McCain's presidential campaign, but said his choice of Sarah Palin as running mate has electrified the party's base.

Speaking to the Georgia delegation here for the Republican National Convention, Chambliss said the governor of Alaska was a great pick for the GOP ticket.

"When he made that choice, wow," Chambliss said. "Man did the enthusiasm rise to the level of where now people are feeling good about where we are."

Chambliss also said he is taking nothing for granted in his re-election campaign this year and feels the need to reintroduce himself to Georgians.

"Believe it or not, since 2002 we have had a million new voters come into our state," he said. "You take those million new voters, plus the Obama factor, which we don't know what that's going to be, and you combine that, there's every reason for us to be concerned about our campaign. We are concerned about our campaign."

Chambliss faces former Democratic lawmaker Jim Martin in November.

"Georgia is a red state, not because we have that many Republicans," Chambliss said. "Georgia is a red state because we believe in conservative values."

On a lighter note, Chambliss said everyone back home is watching Tropical Storm Hanna. Chambliss hopes that sucker comes right to Georgia.

"We hope Hanna comes our way, but only after the winds die down to about 15 mph and drives that rain directly to Lake Lanier," he said.

Palm Beach's Woody Allen

Sounding remarkably like Woody Allen, Brooklyn College graduate Sid Dinerstein entertains a succession of reporters who stick microphones at him beside the Florida delegation's prime spot on the floor of the Republican National Convention.

One moment, he's holding forth on Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin: "My wife and I were high school sweethearts, married 41 years. She brought us to tears" in her acceptance when Arizona Sen. John McCain asked her to join the ticket.

The next moment, there's another microphone and Dinerstein — a delegate from Palm Beach Gardens and chairman of the Palm Beach County GOP — is off and running on the differences between McCain and Democratic candidate Barack Obama's commitment to Israel's survival.

"He's amazing," said Peter Feamon, a delegate from Boca Raton, pointing out that Dinerstein is an articulate Jewish guy from New York City who holds traditional conservative views which he expresses articulately and always with a smile.

Political opponents can't dismiss him as a redneck with a gun rack in the back of his pick-up (Dinerstein drives a Mercedes) or a right-wing evangelical, said Feamon.

"Democrats don't know what to do about him," he said.

Bait and switch

Republican convention organizers, trying to get the GOP gathering back on track, hastily put together a news conference Tuesday afternoon featuring Democrats supporting John McCain for president.

But to lure reporters to the event, organizers told news organizations that the event was to answer questions about the still-evolving program for the convention. When reporters discovered they had been mislead, most of them left the event.

Among the Democrats featured at the news conference was Mark Erwin, a Charlotte, N.C., developer who served during the Clinton administration as U.S. ambassador to the Indian Ocean nations of Seychelles, Comoro Islands and Mauritius, an area of the world best known for sandy beaches and tourism.

"We need a leader who's been there, done that," said Erwin, repeating a slogan popular with tourists.

Aaaron Gould Sheinin contributed to this report.