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Johnsons attend GOP Convention
By Steve Moyer
Nevada Daily Mail
A Nevada couple spent last week at the Republican National Convention in New York City. Carl and Cindy Johnson took part in the convention held in Madison Square Garden, scene of President George W. Bush's nomination for a second term.
The Johnsons both enjoyed the convention and said they were impressed by the friendliness of the people they met.
"I met more people than you could imagine. Everyone was extremely friendly, even the famous ones," Cindy said. "They were very nice and seemed glad to have their picture taken with you."
Some of the people the Johnson's met, or saw as they made their way to the Fox News Channel's booth, onto the set of the "Today" show or "The View," were Tony Snow, Rudy Giuliani, Senator Bill Frist, his wife and son, Al Roker, Merideth Vieira, Greta Van Susteren and other notables.
The Johnson's had time during the day to sightsee as the convention, except for the first day, only conducted business in the evening.
"There were lots of things to do, not that we did all of them. They gave out schedules of book signings and other events with the material we got when we registered," Cindy said. "We did see the 'Today' show and 'The View'."
Security for the event was very tight, the Johnsons both said that the arrangements for security impressed them.
"There were a lot of security personnel around," Carl said. "We had to go through a screening before we got to the door and through a metal detector. After that there were 11 different places they checked our IDs."
"Considering the amount of people in attendance, to have only four people disrupt it was impressive. The worst and scariest was when that guy tried to get to Cheney," Cindy said.
The convention hall was decorated with signs and standards bearing George W. Bush's name and likeness and there were the obligatory convention speeches from each delegation that cast their ballots, each of them beginning with "The great state of" and including the phrase "next president of the United States."
"They all had their speeches and some of the delegations, like Texas and Oklahoma had costumes so you could tell which group they were with," Cindy said.
The Johnsons said that it made them feel good to be part of the process.
"You feel really honored to be there and we're really happy to live in the United States," Cindy said.
"It's a privilege to take part in something like this," Carl said. "To be there and express our feelings without worrying that the government will come after you, whatever party you belong to, is what makes being an American so special."