GOP delegates taking pride in their fashion

ST. PAUL, MINN.—The Texan delegates were easy to spot at the National Republican Convention because of their matching cowboy hats and shirts.

On the first day of the event, the Floridians all wore a shirt that highlighted some of the tourism destinations of the Sunshine State.

And Pennsylvania? Well, they had the Terrible Towel to wave around when they cheered — only in this case it said McCain, not Steelers.

At an event where 45,000 people came together for one cause — to officially nominate their presidential and vice presidential candidate — each state found its own way to stand out.

“It kind of gives a sense of unity and state pride amongst all this national pride,” said 22-year-old Kimberly Peticolas, a Colorado delegate, who at the time was wearing a Western-style shirt that was red, white and blue.

Walking through a crowd of delegates and alternates, trying to figure out who to interview could be overwhelming — there were so many interesting, enthusiastic people to choose from who want the opportunity to speak proudly about their state, as well as the Republican presidential ticket of Arizona Sen. John McCain and Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin.

Dennis Lennox was the lone person sitting in the Michigan delegation section hours before Day Three of the convention started.

He revealed that he is the youngest person on his delegation at 24, and he felt it was an exciting year to be representing Michigan.

“We’re one of the fortunate states this year because we’re one of the battleground states,” Lennox said. “It’s been great.”

The Michiganders commemorated their time at the event by signing their state sign that designated their seating area.

While Michigan delegates had possibly been outshone by the state sitting behind them, Texas, in the state pride department for the first two days — after all, everything is bigger in Texas — the Michigan delegates stepped it up a notch on the third day.

On the day self-proclaimed hockey mom Palin spoke, Michigan delegates wore RNC hockey jerseys, complete with their names on the back.

And as Palin talked about being “just your average hockey mom” before she ever entered the political arena, it was Michigan who stood out and even got a laugh out of Palin.

“Hockey moms, hockey moms,” Michigan delegates chanted, some of the women holding up signs that said things such as “Hockey Moms 4 Palin.”

This prompted an impromptu moment from Palin: the line reprinted and replayed around the world.

“You know what they say is the difference between hockey moms and pit bulls?” Palin asked, pausing briefly. “Lipstick.”

Outfits made a statement during the convention, it helped choose who would get on the big screen, who the media would flock to and, in Cindy Baker’s case, who would be approached with an interesting proposition.

Throughout the convention, Arizona delegate Baker was wearing a red, white and blue fluffy hat that attracted a lot of attention.

To her surprise, she was approached by someone at the Smithsonian Institution who wanted to know if she would donate her hat to the museum.

“I guess they have a presidential exhibit,” she said, still clearly surprised by the request.

Convention tradition

Baker and fellow Arizona delegate C.R. Waters just wanted Alaska pins.

But, after the surprise announcement of Palin as vice presidential pick, those proved hard to come by. The delegates were usually either out of pins or swamped by reporters.

But, in the three days they had been trading at that point, Baker said she had made good progress in her collection, displaying pins from Idaho, Alabama and Oklahoma.

“We’re going around trying to trade,” Baker said, showing the Arizona pin for the year, which featured the American flag and the Arizona flag.

Arizona delegate Gail Griffin said she hadn’t been trading pins, so much as being handed pins as she waded through the convention crowd on a daily basis.

But one of her favorite pin-trading moments came when a dad brought his two little girls over, who were apparently trying to collect all 50 state pins.

Griffin laughed as she remembered apologizing to the girls because she was all out of Arizona pins for the day.

Well, apparently she was wrong.

“There’s one right there,” one of the girls said, pointing to the pin Griffin had on her lanyard.

Griffin couldn’t deny that she had one left, so she gave it to the girl.

Peticolas said she hadn’t done much trading at the convention, but a done lot of collecting of political pins and buttons for the last six years.

“I just think they’re fun,” she said, her favorite being the Ronald Reagan one she has where he’s wearing a cowboy hat. “They show pride.”

Katie Evans is covering the Republican National Convention for Wick News Service.