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60 °F Forecast | Road Cams Sunday, September 19, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend September 3, 2004 Local delegate finds New York a study in contrasts By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune Two weeks before terrorists attacked the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, state Sen. Jason Atkinson and his wife stood on top of Tower One during a visit to New York. Three years later, the Central Point legislator has returned to the city as an Oregon delegate at the Republican National Convention at Madison Square Garden, a few blocks from Ground Zero. "To be here in light of that — it is hard," said Atkinson during a phone interview Thursday. Atkinson and Donna Cain of Rogue River are the two Oregon delegates from Jackson County. Surrounded by protesters and 36,000 police, the GOP convention has been a study in contrasts for Atkinson. Advertisement "The thing that’s striking about this one is that you step from one world into another world when you walk inside the convention hall," he said. Although he hasn’t been accosted by any of the demonstrators, he has talked to them and was surprised at the depth of their emotion. "I don’t know why some of them are as angry as they are," he said. New York, known for its traffic, made provisions to ensure everything ran as smoothly as possible for the convention in spite of the demonstrations. "If you can imagine Times Square having a lane of traffic shut down just for delegates to get to the convention," he said. "It’s a real heightened sense of this is New York — a real heightened sense of terrorism." Once Atkinson steps into Madison Square Garden, the world may be different, but it’s every bit as boisterous. "You have that hot group of people — sweating, euphoric, pep rally/sports event/good American politics all wrapped into one," he said. Once he gets past the demonstrators and police, Atkinson said, the atmosphere changes dramatically. "It’s kind of like going to chamber of commerce greeters," he said. Atkinson said the convention has showcased the Republicans and President Bush as the party of optimists who have a plan for the future and are the party of the people. He said speeches by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sen. John McCain showed how successful an immigrant and veteran can be in the GOP. He particularly liked the speech given by Georgia Sen. Zell Miller, a Democrat, who denounced Sen. John Kerry. "It was a great good old American, old-fashioned speech," said Atkinson. Unlike the Democratic convention’s effect on Kerry’s ratings in the polls (which was a few points), this convention will give Bush a significant lead, Atkinson believes. "I think that the momentum and the bump the president will get tonight will probably be able to last 60 days," he said. Charlie McHenry, a Central Point Democratic Party activist, thinks otherwise. "I think that any bump that President Bush gets out of the Republican Convention will be short-lived," he said. In contrast to the Democrats, the Republicans have resorted to personal attacks, McHenry said, which he believes is an unbecoming tactic that won’t be lost on the American public. Still, he acknowledges that attack campaigns have been successful in the past to persuade some voters. "The Republican Party convinced voters that (former) Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia pretty much jumped on his own grenade just to ensure that he would be a triple amputee," he said. Given the president’s National Guard stint, McHenry said it’s really not that difficult to say who the real national hero is. McHenry said Bush’s record as a president just doesn’t stand up to scrutiny, and under his administration the country has been more divided than it has been in a long time. "The country has never been this polarized," he said. "But I think the facts on the ground — the war in Iraq, the economy and the effect on people’s pocketbooks — will be the determining factors in this election." Donna Cain could not be reached for comment at the convention. However, as reported in a recent Associated Press story, she was one of many delegates wearing bandages with a purple heart in protest of Kerry’s emphasis on his war record. "That’s all he talks about," the secretary of the Oregon Republican Party told AP. "He doesn’t talk about his record since then, in 19 years in the Senate." Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities