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ROBERT TRIGAUXTimes business columnist Robert Trigaux shares his first-person account of the Grand Old Party's grand old party.
11:42 p.m., Tuesday night:
While the Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger prepared to wow Republican delegate inside Madison Square Governor Tuesday night, New York's police were busy rounding up hundreds of protesters lying in nearby Manhattan streets.
It's no surprise. Throughout Tuesday, the police could be seen frequently across midtown. They were prominently equipped with plastic handcuffs, each officer carrying about a dozen. The protesters had advertised their interests. Tuesday was A31 (as in August 31) day for protesting. This certainly won't be the last of such events as the convention leads up to George W. Bush's speech Thursday night.
Look who got her photo -- six inches high -- in Tuesday's New York Post newspaper. Florida's very own Rep. Katherine Harris, who played such a controversial role in the 2000 elections, was caught on camera leaving the General Motors party at Tavern on the Green.
In fact, the New York media was busy Tuesday, publishing quite an array of Florida-driven convention news. New York magazine, a sassy publication, ran a convention issue speculating on the 2008 race among Republican candidates for the White House. We've already heard plenty about possible runs by Sen. John McCain or Rudy Giuliani, the ex-New York mayor who's been dubbed (up here at least) America's mayor. Even foreign-born Schwarzenegger might gather steam enough to overcome laws that prevent his running.
And what of Jeb Bush, whom New York magazine calls the smarter brother? Well, the magazine handicaps various political figures using what it calls the Google meter. That involves popping the name of each potential 2008 candidate -- along with the phrase run, president, and 2008 -- into the Google search engine and counting the total Internet hits. Jeb's number: 3,570. His momentum, warns the magazine, is down. The dynasty issue is emerging as a problem," the magazine concludes. Of course, Jeb's winning extra credit points in Florida fo skipping this convention and helping victims of Hurricane Charley. Soon he may have Hurricane Francis on his plate, as well.
Incidentally, McCain's Google meter is 6,250.
Sleep time. Bright and early tomorrow I am heading to Greenwich Village to see, supposedly, The Line. It's supposed to be a symbolic line of people linking arms from Wall Street north to 34th Street, near Madison Square Garden. That's a long, long line if it happens.