TAMPA FL – It isn’t the way Lower Pottsgrove Township resident and Board of Commissioners President Jonathan Spadt thought he’d start the first day of the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa: hunkered down, waiting for Tropical Storm Issac to blow past the Sunshine State’s west coast.
Jonathan Spadt reads a newspaper Saturday in Ybor City FL, next to and imitating the pose of a statue of Florida newspaper columnist Roland M. Manteiga.
Well, maybe not quite “hunkered down,” Spadt noted in an e-mail following his arrival Saturday (Aug. 25) in the city. The stormy weather – Issac is predicted to become a Category 2 hurricane by its Tuesday (Aug. 28) landfall – forced Republicans to cancel convention activities today (Monday, Aug. 27). Many social gatherings were still being held, though: the hospitality suite opened on time Saturday; a welcome party occurred Sunday.
Festivities aside, there is serious business ahead. Spadt, who is attending the convention as a member of the Pennsylvania delegation, and about 50,000 other people who arrived for the event are there to nominate, serve those who nominate, or watch the nomination, of Mitt Romney as the Republican candidate for president of the United States in the November general election.
As a newly chosen area leader for Republicans in western Montgomery County, Spadt will work to coordinate the national party and Romney campaign efforts with those of GOP volunteers locally. Identifying and rounding up people with time, talent and resources to help with the election are on his list of tasks.
The convention, which was scheduled for four days, now must be squeezed into three.
Although it will officially convene today, the convention will immediately recess until Tuesday afternoon. “Our chief priority is the safety of the residents of Florida, of those visiting the convention, and all those in Gulf Coast states who may be impacted” as Issac’s sustained winds of between 96 and 110 mph and strong storm surge bear down on the Gulf Coast, convention President and CEO Bill Harris said.
Editor’s note: At The Post’s request, Spadt has agreed to keep our readers updated by e-mail of Republican convention activities and the Pennsylvania delegation’s role in them throughout this week.
Related:
- Local At The Convention: These The Best Seats Ya Got?
- Local At The Convention: Just Getting In An Experience
- Local At The Convention: Finally, Things Get Under Way
- Local At The Convention: Storm-Soaked Delay Today
- Township’s Spadt Heads To GOP Convention As Delegate
Photo by Mary Lou Doyle
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[...] Local At The Convention: Rain-Soaked Delay Today Lower Pottsgrove resident Jonathan Spadt sends the first of several e-mails chronicling what’s happening – or not – this week at the Republican National Convention in Tampa FL. [...]
[...] Local At The Convention: Rain-Soaked Delay Today Lower Pottsgrove resident Jonathan Spadt sends the first of several e-mails chronicling what’s happening – or not – this week at the Republican National Convention in Tampa FL. [...]
[...] Local At The Convention: Rain-Soaked Delay Today Lower Pottsgrove resident Jonathan Spadt sends the first of several e-mails chronicling what’s happening – or not – this week at the Republican National Convention in Tampa FL. [...]
[...] Local At The Convention: Storm-Soaked Delay Today [...]
[...] Local At The Convention: Rain-Soaked Delay Today Lower Pottsgrove resident Jonathan Spadt sends the first of several e-mails chronicling what’s happening – or not – this week at the Republican National Convention in Tampa FL. [...]
[...] Local At The Convention: Rain-Soaked Delay Today Lower Pottsgrove resident Jonathan Spadt sends the first of several e-mails chronicling what’s happening – or not – this week at the Republican National Convention in Tampa FL. [...]