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The Michigan Daily-Thursday, September 4, 1980-Page 9-A
:)P in Detroit:
flections of a
ident reporter
By JOYCE FRIEDEN
r Republican Convention
ind went last July, and now:
e hullaballoo is long since
will be put out of the collec-
iblic mind for another four
But for those of us who were
there, especially fellow collegiate
reporters, being a part of the con-
vention proceedings has left its in-
delible mark on our psyches.
As far as "hard news" goes, no
startling developments occurred.
The pick of the presidential nominee
came as no great surprise, although
the mystery surrounding Reagan's
choice for a running mate caused a
last-minute flurry of excitement the
night of July 16.
That is not to say convention
proceedings were dull - far from it!
For me, what could have been an
unbearably uninteresting three days
was enlivened by the celebrities,
both media and non-media, that I
happened to glimpse.
For example, imagine yourself in
the lobby of the plush Pontchartrain
Hotel, watching Liz Taylor walk by.
The world-reknowned "beauty"
about whom so much has been writ-
ten is wearing an offensive red-and'
white dress accompanied by an
overly tacky bright red plastic belt.
Her outfit was a disappointment, tot
say the least.
{p
anew
beginnns
Another time I found myself- on,
Detroit's Kennedy Square, watching
the annual hot-pants contest (spon-
sored by The Detroit News, a
questionable comment on their
judgment of what makes good public
relations). Where else could you find
74-year-old Nick Feldman riding his
10-speed and wearing a sign saying,
"Thank you GOP from a:
Democrat"? It certainly gave a lot
of Good Humor ice cream vendors
pause.-
AT THE CONVENTION
headquarters of NBC radio and
television, located on the main floor
of Cobo Hall, visitors were greeted
by a tasteful wall-sized cartoon
mural of John Chancellor and David
Brinkley. That mural and others
adorning the studio, I found out
later, cost upwards of 16,000 to have
done. Mr. Proxmire, I have a new
candidate for the "Golden Fleece
Award".. .
NBC's studio tour proved fruitful
in many other ways. I saw where
and how both radio and television
news were put together, and chatted
briefly with the president of NBC
News. Too bad he didn't get me a
job.
Lest you are beginning to think
this space is being used for nothing
more than a gossip column, I hasten
to say that I gained valuable
political insights from the conven-
tion as well. The way some of the
proceedings were conducted said a
lot about the Republican Party.
TAKE THE "Youth for Reagan"
delegation rally, for instance. The
first thing I saw on entering Ford
Auditorium was the "Let's Make
America Great Again" banner that
stretched across the top of the stage.
Indeed, the rally proved to be a
return to the "good old days" as
clean-cut young men and women
gave standing ovations to all four
speakers - George Bush, John Con-
nally, Robert Dole, and (last but not
least) Ben Fernandez.
Fernandez, the first Hispanic
Republican presidential candidate
and the least famous person on the
podium, typified Republican ideals
in his speech. "The American
Dream can come true - it did for
me," proclaimed Fernandez to the
adoring crowd (Fernandez made his
first million in the field of elec-
tronics and then "retired" to run for
president).
"Poor people choose to be poor,"
See CONVENTION, Page 17
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The Grand Old Party Daily Photo by DAVID HARRIS
ew days in July, the usually docile downtown area of Detroit became a wild, chaotic hellbroth of GOP conventioners.
the roaring Republicans toot their horns for a new beginning.
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