RNC Day 1.5 - Getting Ready to Let the Leash Off with the Grumpy Old Party

September 2, 7:55 PMPop Culture ExaminerDominic Patten

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IT'S THE NOT SO ODD COUPLE 

Outside everybody is talking about Alaska Governor. and Vice-Presidential nominee Sarah Palin's personal and political revelations, but inside the revived GOP convention in St. Paul tonight get ready for a live screening of Grumpy Old Party.

President Bush is the youngest of the big three speakers on Tuesday, but don't worry he always has a bone or two to pick with someone. You won't get the Hollywood high wattage that the Democrats had in the crowd and onstage at their convention, but once Fred Thompson and Joe Lieberman get started, it is going to be one of the longest Tuesdays with Morrie that anyone has ever had.

Bush, who ditched his Monday night slot to be on hand if Hurricane Gustav had hit the Gulf Coast harder, will be talking to the folks via satellite from the White House - which is always a good backdrop. But you knew that once the storms dispersed that W, the most partisan of politicians when he needs to be, would be doing a bit more than dialing it in. He may have a 30% approval rating across the country, but he is probably almost triple that to the Republican delegates. His job is to transfer that love to John McCain, the man he defeated for the GOP nomination in 2000.

Here's what Bush is expected, from excerpts released by the White House, to say about his old rival -

 "Last year, John McCain’s independence and character helped change history. The Democrats had taken control of Congress and were threatening to cut off funds for our troops. In the face of calls for retreat, I ordered a surge of forces into Iraq. Many in Congress said it had no chance of working. Yet one senator above all had faith in our troops and the importance of their mission — and that was John McCain. Some told him that his early and consistent call for more troops would put his presidential campaign at risk. He told them he would rather lose an election than see his country lose a war. That is the kind of courage and vision we need in our next commander-in-chief."

 That sounds kinda Mission Accomplished to me, and I mean that in the best way. Still, no matter how well Bush does his political job tonight, the party's sitting President is not the biggest attraction this year.

The man in the spotlight tonight is the man with lots of friends and no party, Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut

You might know him, he was the Democrats' VP nominee in 2000 and he is the man who John McCain wanted to be his running mate in 2008. Lieberman will throw some red meat the Republicans' way just by his very presence on the stage tonight.

Before Lieberman, it's former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson echoing more of the convention's "Country First" theme. If you want a Law and Order repeat performance from Thompson, switch the channel. This is going to be a rip roaring exhortation of John McCain and the increasingly embattled Sarah Palin.

Then Joe Lieberman will walk on the stage at the RNC.

Politicians love poaching people from the other party for their conventions. The Bush people were positively salivating over Georgia Democrat Zeb Miller's tirade against John Kerry and the Democrats in 2004. Politicians love it but most of us could care less, and it makes boring TV.

Until this topsy turvy year, most of which has been neck and neck in the polls.

Rumors whirled around that Colin Powell was going to endorse Barack Obama during the Democrats' convention in Denver, but in the end all they got was former Congressman Jim Leach, a Republican from Iowa and a convert to the Obama movement. Not really much of a get. The sitting Senator from Connecticut, the man who publicly chastised Bill Clinton for his infidelities, the man who has been a strong supporter of the war in Iraq, and the Democrats' 2000 VP nominee is a golden get.

Lieberman's a prize but not an unexpected one.

He may have made it back to the Senate in 2006 as an Independent after his own party turned on him for his support of the administration's policy in Iraq, but Lieberman has been at McCain's side for most of the campaign so far. McCain couldn't convince conservatives in the GOP that the Connecticut Senator, whose support of abortion rights was a pill they just weren't prepared to swallow under any circumstances, was the right guy to run with, but he can make sure they give the turncoat a rousing primetime welcome. After all, it doesn't really matter what Lieberman says, it is the poaching of his pedigree that matters and the GOP beat the Democrats, who have an eight point poll lead over McCain right now, hands down on that.

The GOP essentially lost a night of their John McCain mini-series on Monday due to Hurricane Gustav. Not wanting to celebrate, and Republicans do like to celebrate, while New Orleans and the Gulf Coast were under such threat, the McCain gang scaled everything way way back. The storm has passed and tonight expect to see the GOP start to rev it up and to loosen the leash.

On Wednesday, Governor. Sarah Palin will face her fans, her critics and the nation and rally the RNC troops. She needs this speech to be flawless to overcome the rising doubts and controversy and get her back on the historic track she briefly ruled when McCain announced her as his running mate last Friday. This will be her true vetting.

By the time John McCain accepts his party's nomination on Thursday the GOP hopes to be well and free of all hindrances and on the hunt after the Democrats.

If you watched the DNC last week, hit the reboot button,

The big show is about to begin