They're ready for the party

This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press July 29, 2000.

By THOMAS FRANCIS
Valley Press Staff Writer

The Antelope Valley's contingent of Republican delegates is cruising into Philadelphia this weekend to merge and mingle with GOP fellows and pledge support for Texas Gov. George W. Bush as the party's candidate for U.S. President.

It's the Republican National Convention, the Grand Old Party's biggest party, and a select few have invitations to "The Floor," which, come convention time, turns a sports arena's middle into a swirling sea of banner-waving, confetti-showered party loyalists.

Each congressional district sends six delegates - three are alternates - to the floor. In the Antelope Valley-centered 25th Congressional District, the first-string delegates are Bush campaigner Sharon Runner, former Palmdale City councilwoman Shelley Sorsabal and Lancaster businessman Frank Visco.

"I was up at 5:30 this morning," Sorsabal said Thursday, four days before the convention's start. "I never do that. So I guess you could say I'm excited."

Sorsabal has never attended a convention.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," she said. "I just like the chance to experience what it's like to be at a convention and on the floor."

Visco has experienced it six times before, but he says the novelty never wears off.

"There's a lot of time between conventions. You get rejuvenated," Visco said. "There's a lot of pageantry, a lot of patriotism, love for America. There's everything there that makes this country great."

It is the second go-around for Runner, a delegate at the 1996 Republican National Convention in San Diego. That convention was a relatively somber occasion, though, because the Bob Dole campaign was already looking doomed.

But with Bush on the ticket, Runner believes victory is finally within the party's grasp.

"There's a lot more optimism this time," she said. "There's a real chance that Bush is going to win, especially now that he has Cheney as vice president. It's quite a bit different than the Bob Dole convention."

Runner's husband, Assemblyman George Runner, R-Lancaster, will attend the convention as an alternate.

As Republican activists, the Runners have been among the most energetic Bush campaigners in the Antelope Valley. Before this spring's primary, they took the Bush message door to door in Lancaster, hammering yard signs in dozens of lawns.

But Bush and the Republican Party still have some stumping to do in California, with the Democratic Party entrenched in the north and solid in Los Angeles. It is the largest slice of the electoral pie, but the GOP plan is to win big enough that the Golden State doesn't matter.

"Bush can win without California, definitely," said George Runner, though he added that the California delegation would still fight bitterly to win the state for Bush.

None of the delegates, though, have the party tenure of Lancaster resident Mary Miller, a registered Republican for 50 years, during which she was also an activist.

This year, Miller is attending the convention as an alternate.

"I'm very excited because after 50 years this is the icing on the cake," said Miller, who was last at a convention in 1964 when Barry Goldwater was the Republican nominee.

"I was only a guest that time, though. Now I'm an alternate delegate and I get to go on the floor," she said.

Miller knows that most of the delegates on the floor mill around during the speeches. She promises to be a captivated listener.

"I participate," she said. "I'm going all the way there and I'm going to listen, sit there right through the speeches. I enjoy it that much."

The third alternate is Mel Alfarero, a Chatsworth Republican activist.

The convention takes place Monday through Friday. The Valley Press will report from Philadelphia, providing daily updates on the Antelope Valley delegation.