TERRE HAUTE — While delegates have a vote during a national convention, Terre Haute attorney James R. Bopp Jr. has a much more involved role as part of a committee that has molded the official platform for the Republican National Convention at Minneapolis/St. Paul.
The convention starts Monday and runs through Thursday, when Sen. John McCain of Arizona will make his acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination at St. Paul’s Excel Energy Center.
Bopp, 60, is a national committeeman and is one of three Wabash Valley residents who as delegates are attending the national convention. The convention will host about 2,380 delegates and 2,227 alternate delegates. Randall P. Gentry of Terre Haute is attending as a delegate, and Richard M. Bramer of Sullivan is attending as an alternate delegate.
Indiana has 57 delegates, three of whom are automatic delegates, including Bopp, a member of the Indiana Republican State Central Committee, and 44 alternative delegates. Bopp arrived at the convention site a week ago.
“We develop the platform for the party, which will then be offered for ratification at the convention. I would say generally that it is a thoroughly conservative document that I think McCain can run on,” said Bopp, a member of the GOP Platform Committee.
He has attended five national conventions as a delegate, with the past three as a member of the platform committee.
“One of the areas that was of particular interest to me is language about Obama’s opposition to the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act [passed by Congress in 2002], which protects infants that are born alive after an abortion, to make sure they receive the same care that any newborn infant would receive, and Obama opposed that,” said Bopp, who also serves as general counsel for the National Right to Life.
“I think that demonstrates how callous he is to human suffering by the weakest among us, and I also think it demonstrates how thoroughly and radically pro-abortion he [Obama] is. Such a law was passed by Congress and it was passed without opposition. It was good enough for [U.S. Sens.] Barbara Boxer [D-Calif.] and Ted Kennedy [D-Mass.], but is not good enough for [Sen.] Barack Obama,” Bopp said.
Another part of the GOP platform involves energy, Bopp said. President George Bush already has lifted an executive ban on offshore drilling; however, a Congressional ban remains.
“The platform includes the need to make all efforts to increase the supply of oil by drilling now in the United States that is currently severely limited by the Democrat Congress. The platform takes a very strong stand on the need to increase our domestic energy supply in order to reduce costs,” Bopp said.
“It calls for off-shore drilling and on-shore drilling and particularly points out certain areas, including Alaska, where drilling needs to be done,” Bopp said.
Bopp said he thinks the McCain campaign “has been the most accommodating in terms of allowing the platform members, who represent grassroots Republicans, to make sure that the platform reflects our conservative views.”
Gentry, 40, is a delegate in the Eighth Congressional District. He is secretary of the Vigo County Republican Party and was part of a transition team for Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett. Gentry is currently the vice chairman of the Indiana Parole Board, appointed twice to the board by Gov. Mitch Daniels.
“I have not been to a national convention or to Minneapolis, so it’s all new, like being a baby,” he said. “The convention offers a lot of opportunities to network with other states and delegates. We will be teamed up with Hawaii and spending a lot of time with those delegates. We have several different programs for us to attend and break-out sessions.”
Gentry said he had been offered to sit in a “VIP skybox” for McCain’s acceptance speech.
“I have already met McCain when he was at Indianapolis. I just want to take in the sights and sounds. It is a new experience and I want the opportunity to meet other people from other states. I hope to come back with maybe some new ideas on how to do things with the local party and maybe make some new friends in other states. I take it as an honor and at the same time, a learning experience,” Gentry said.
Bramer, 43, is a deputy Indiana Attorney General and is the GOP vice chairman for the Eighth Congressional District. Bramer had been a national delegate in 2000.
He is going as an alternative delegate after he agreed to fill a vacancy. Bramer said he plans to take in a different side of the convention this time around.
“To be honest, last time I took so much time on the convention floor and spent all the time at the convention center. When I came back each night, Jack Kemp and Tim Russert, I found out from others, had been sitting at the hotel bar, so you miss the luminaries that don’t go to the convention center and hang out at the hotel” early in the convention, Bramer said.
“I will go to the convention center, but I want to see other areas and see the city [of Minneapolis] one evening,” he said.
Security at this convention, like in other Republican conventions, is tight, Bramer said, especially as President Bush will attend.
“We have been advised in writing to remain somewhat anonymous as delegates,” Bramer said. “We have been told not to wear credentials outside the convention hall. It is for the security and safety of the delegates.
“It is not really scary, I am 6-foot, 4-inches and 230 pounds, so they will have to get me with the first shot,” Bramer joked. “That’s something that comes with supporting that Second Amendment principle.”
Bramer said he also has met McCain, in Philadelphia and in Indianapolis. Bramer said McCain and the Republican party are “a lot closer to my point of view of where we need to be than the other side. Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden do not reflect Sullivan County values; John McCain does.”
“McCain respects his country, respects the Second Amendment, he is pro-life and respects the military. I am not saying that the other side doesn’t do those, but there is no question with John McCain spending five and one-half years in a prison camp in North Vietnam, there is no question of his service to his country and his commitment to serve his country,” Bramer said.
Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.
Local & Bistate
Related Photos
-
Joseph C. Garza
Discussion
TH attorney helps mold Republican Convention platform
James Bopp Jr. is a GOP national committeeman, one of 3 Valley delegates
- Local & Bistate
-
-
Montford Point Marine
In 1943, 19-year-old Ezell Odom was on the sandy beach of a tiny South Pacific island about 7,000 miles from his parent’s home in Terre Haute.
-
K-9 officer Shadow honored as a hero
A Terre Haute K-9 officer injured in the line of duty has been honored as a hero by the Indiana Veterinary Medical Association.
-
Freezin’ for a Reason
Hundreds lined up outside Hulman Center amid frigid air to participate in a warm-hearted cause.
-
Even as law, right-to-work dominates crackerbarrel
The flames of the right-to-work debate were gone, but the coals still seemed to smolder.
-
Vigo School Board to give OK on bonds for DeVaney project
The Vigo County School Board will meet at 6 p.m. Monday in the administration building, 686 Wabash Ave.
-
Bridging the gap to ‘forever’
They can be taken from their homes by strangers for reasons they may not understand, with no possessions other than the clothes they are wearing.
-
Students showcase keen problem-solving skills at Rose-Hulman
For the 16th straight year, Honey Creek Middle School students came out on top in the Wabash Valley MATHCOUNTS competition at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
-
Ivy Tech to celebrate Black History Month
Ivy Tech Community College will celebrate Black History Month with a series of events at its campuses statewide.
-
Whitney Houston, superstar of records, films, dies
Whitney Houston, who ruled as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has died. She was 48.
-
Giant welcome home for Steve
Terre Haute was suddenly home to thousands of cheering New York Giants fans Friday as residents welcomed Super Bowl champion Steve Weatherford back home for a parade.
-
‘One for Terre Haute,’ Steve tells crowd at North
“This one was for Terre Haute,” native son Steve Weatherford proclaimed Friday as he shared his Super Bowl victory with the community that helped send him on the path to a world championship.
-
Hometown support vital to success, Weatherford says
Steve Weatherford said Friday he wouldn’t be celebrating a Giants’ Super Bowl victory if not for the support he’s received from his hometown, his parents and mentors in his life.
-
Craning for a rare glimpse
A visitor from the Far East has naturalists flying to Linton, hoping some good comes from one bird’s bad directions.
-
Vigo’s primary election filings complete
The slate is set for the May 8 primary election, with the race for three at-large seats on the Vigo County Council drawing the largest pool of candidates at the county level.
-
Documentary on electric vehicles plays Sunday at Rose
The rising popularity of electric vehicles and their impact on the world eco-system is the focus of a documentary, “Revenge of the Electric Car,” being presented at 3 p.m. Sunday in Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s Hatfield Hall Theater.
-
Man gets 10-year sentence in battery case
A West Terre Haute man received a 10-year prison sentence Friday after pleading guilty to aggravated battery for beating a friend caught in bed with the man’s wife.
-
Asian hooded crane lands in Greene County wildlife area
Bird watchers are flocking to a southwestern Indiana wildlife area to try to catch a glimpse of a crane usually spotted only in Asia.
-
Slow drips: It’s maple syrup season in Indiana
More seasonal, colder temperatures will hit the Wabash Valley this weekend, which is ideal weather for maple syrup production, said Keith Ruble, superintendent of the Vigo County Parks and Recreation Department.
However, Ruble voices concern that this year’s maple syrup season may be short.
-
Downtown restaurant celebrates expansion
The streets of Terre Haute were chilly Thursday night, but for the glow of hot pasta inside Louise’s Pizzeria and Cafe.
-
Contract signed for new Y
Papers are signed and the ink is in place for a new YMCA to operate in Terre Haute.
-
City to impose $30 release fee on towed vehicles
The Terre Haute City Council voted without opposition Thursday to impose a new $30 release fee on vehicles towed and impounded by the police as part of a criminal investigation.
-
Valley educators cautious on Indiana’s ‘No Child’ waiver
Indiana is one of 10 states to receive a waiver from federal No Child Left Behind requirements.
-
Driver dies after Illinois school bus crash
“Brace yourself. Brace yourself,” Fay Pickering shouted to her students just before the school bus she was driving crossed U.S. 40 and landed in a ditch Thursday morning.
-
Trial date set for former WTH police chief
A July 23 trial date has been set for a former police chief of West Terre Haute accused of theft.
-
Motorcycle gang member pleads guilty in federal court
A member of an Indianapolis motorcycle gang who delivered methamphetamine to a Terre Haute dealer has pleaded guilty to drug charges in federal court.
-
July trial date set for mother charged with child neglect
A July 30 trial date has been set for a Terre Haute mother charged with neglecting and battering her toddler.
-
Business hosting SPPRAK fundraiser
Java Haute is hosting the latest fundraiser sponsored by SPPRAK — Special People Performing Random Acts of Kindness.
-
Valley high school cooking competition under way today
Clabber Girl Corp. and Gordon Food Services will host the fourth-annual High School Chef Competition, beginning today through Saturday, and again Feb. 18, in the Culinary Classroom at Clabber Girl.
- UPDATE: Marshall, Ill., school bus driver involved in accident dies; cause appears to be cardiac-related
-
Terre Haute road name game
What used to be called U.S. 40 from the Wabash River west through West Terre Haute to Interstate 70 needs to be renamed and, probably, get new street addresses, a Vigo County planner recommends.
- More Local & Bistate Headlines
-
Police: Houston Found Dead in Her Hotel Room
Recording Superstar Whitney Houston Dead at 48
Palin Brings Anti-Washington Message to CPAC
Maine GOP Chairman Says Romney Wins Caucuses
Fans 'Speechless' Over Houston's Death
Androgynous Model Walks Runway As Man and Woman
Raw Video: Deadly Blasts in Syria
Obama Scraps Birth Control Mandate
US Airmen's Killer Sentenced to Life in Germany
Latest Jason Wu Collection Shows Chinese Roots
ShowBiz Minute: Madonna, Beresford-Redman, Pawsc
Raw Video: Whitney Houston's Last Performance
Paul Suffers Narrow Loss to Romney in Maine
Stars Show Support at AMFAR Charity Gala
Snow Strands Italian Towns
Navy Names Ship for Gabrielle Giffords
Raw Video: Rough Seas Stop Oil Removal
The Muppets Are Oscars Bound!
Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Obama
BCBG Kicks Off NY Fashion Week
Lusetich: AT&T Rd. 3 recap
Whitney Houston's body is removed from hotel
Raw Video: Aurora Borealis As Seen From Space
Whitney's Final Days - EXCLUSIVE
Romney Tops Santorum in CPAC Straw Poll
First glimpse of Blue Ivy Carter
Angry Dad Shoots Teens Laptop
Peek inside Barbie's closet
Absolute Lin-sanity
Madonna's Daughter Shaves Head
5 Killed in Wrong-way Crash on I-10 in La.
Test on Comforter in Powell Unit Shows Blood
Hero Driver Saves Kids From Burning Bus
Funeral to be held for Powell boys
Sandusky on having to stay inside and people turning on him
Woolly Mammoth Caught on Camera?
Did JLo 'Assault' Marc Anthony on Camera?
Christie Brinkley's Runway Slip
Toddler forced to run half-naked in snow
