CLEVELAND: On a highway south of Cleveland, a driver steadied her cellphone on the steering wheel to take a picture of a passing Toyota 4Runner.
The black SUV, decked out in star decals and Donald Trump for president stickers, drew the gaze of motorists Sunday as it headed toward Cleveland.
American flags pinned to car windows fluttered on the roads leading into downtown ahead of the Republican National Convention this week.
As the city’s skyscraper appeared on the horizon, airplanes could be seen dragging banners across the cloud-patched sky, carrying messages that reminded visitors and residents of the politics of the coming week. One flapping advertisement, which read “Rescue Unborn Children,” hung over the city like the debates that would ensue between liberals and conservatives over the next four days.
At the Doubletree Hotel near the edge of Lake Erie, Ohio delegates sworn to vote for John Kasich — at least on the first ballot at the presidential nominating convention — shuffled into the lobby. At the counter, they grabbed a room key and were directed around the corner to a conference room where Republican volunteers waited to greet them.
Each was given a welcome packet, including a copy of Trump’s Crippled America, a “Make America Great Again” ballcap, beer glasses emblazoned with the billionaire’s name and an itinerary for the week.
Jeff Halley, the Republican director of the Gallia County Board of Elections, didn’t wear the hat he found in the welcome bag.
He brought the one he’s been wearing for months.
“I was a Trump fan before it was cool,” said Halley, a guest at the convention.
The man from southern Ohio didn’t plan on attending the presidential nominating convention in Cleveland. But when his county party chairman had an extra ticket for the celebration, Halley was the first choice.
“He figured if anyone deserved to go, it’s me,” said Halley, the only one wearing a Trump hat on a bus loaded with Ohio Republicans headed to a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert on the eve of the convention.
At the show, a line of lucky Republicans huddled in a corner beneath the stands at Jacobs Pavilion, waiting their turns to take a photograph with the surviving members of the band.
Standing between the band and the anxious crowd were the state’s top Republicans: U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, state party chairman Matt Borges and state Rep. Ron Amstutz, among others.
The concert was scheduled to end around midnight. And the delegates, who received Pedialyte and an “anti-hangover” elixir, were scheduled to gather back at their hotel at 8 a.m. for breakfast with Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel.
Little Italy excursion
Earlier in the day, a shuttle whisked delegates 20 minutes away from the hotel to Little Italy, where they enjoyed the cuisine and intimate conversation with Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, who did not address the group as a whole.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever had deep fried meatballs, but it was amazing, said Carolyn Adams, an alternate delegate from Marblehead.
Daqueayce Swain, a junior at Baldwin Wallace University who is studying public relations with a focus on politics, was shadowing the group as an honorary delegate. He said this was his second time meeting DeWine, who has recently confirmed his interest in running for governor.
“When I met him this time, I told him he’ll be running against me in 2018. He just laughed,” Swain said of the friendly banter.
The delegation also flowed in and out of a yacht party near the hotel featuring a performance by the Doobie Brothers.
Re-examining safety
In a crowd earlier in the day, Cincinnati-area delegate Sherri Carbo couldn’t shake the thought of a terrorist attack in Nice, France, where a truck plowed into a celebratory gathering on Bastille Day, killing more than 80.
More than the recent rash of gun violence between black men and police, it’s terrorism that worries Carbo, who has a license to carry a concealed weapon but left it at home. She figured if tensions flare between races or even Trump’s fans and enemies, there would be little she could do with a handgun that thousands of armed and ready officers can’t handle.
In a pre-convention survey published by the Columbus Dispatch on Saturday, one third of delegates said they expect violence during the political proceeding.
Carbo wasn’t among the fearful. But that was before the attacks in France.
“I would answer differently now,” she said Sunday. “It was because [the truck attack] was such a simplistic thing.”
Time to vent
While awaiting the shuttle to Little Italy, Donald and Judy Miller took a break on a couch in the hotel lobby.
The Millers drove from Fostoria to Cleveland on Saturday “to beat the traffic.” Having represented other presidential candidates at past nominating conventions, Donald Miller wasn’t too happy with Ohio’s governor. Kasich wasn’t in Cleveland to greet the state’s guests and had no plans to go near the Trump-controlled convention inside Quicken Loans Arena, Miller said.
“I’m very disappointed,” he said of Kasich avoiding the convention, a sign of turmoil in a political party that isn’t all-in for its presumptive nominee. “And I’m not the only delegate who is disappointed.”
Miller penned a letter voicing his disapproval and sent it to Kasich, who actually was in town.
In fact, word of Kasich’s absence was greatly exaggerated.
Governor’s dance card
Kasich drove into Cleveland on Sunday morning to check up on security before heading to Cincinnati in the afternoon to speak at the annual meeting of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. There, he delivered a message of unity and peace, contrasting sharply with Trump’s divisive tone on race relations as America strains to reconcile recent shootings of police and black men.
And he won’t be gone for long. His campaign staff issued a release late Sunday that shows he’ll appear in Cleveland three more days to help Republicans other than Trump.
He’ll be thanking those who supported his failed presidential bid and campaigning for down-ticket candidates, like Sen. Rob Portman, who also is avoiding Trump.
Kasich will speak to the Ohio delegation plus those of four other states: New Hampshire, where he came in second behind Trump in the primaries; Pennsylvania, where he grew up, and fellow Midwestern states Michigan and Illinois. He’ll also speak to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the International Republican Institute and make appearances on behalf of some political action committees.
But he will not set foot inside the Q.
“At this point, he does not feel like he can endorse Donald Trump,” said Chris Schrimpf, Kasich’s political spokesman. “And he doesn’t feel that it would be right to go inside a convention with a host that he cannot yet support.”
“The governor will always do what he think is right,” Schrimpf added.
Beacon Journal reporter Doug Livingston will be in Cleveland with the convention through the acceptance speech. He can be emailed at dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com