Boulder College Republicans and neighboring Republicans gathered in Denver to watch the second night of the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Tampa, Fla., featuring Paul Ryan, on C-SPAN Wednesday night.
Over 30 people attended the watch party, ranging in ages from young, Colo. Rep. Mike Coffman campaign volunteers, to local businessmen. Boulder College Republicans that turned out to represent the University of Colorado at Boulder at the event included Aslinn Scott, Taylor Lane, Danielle Watkins-Green, Brian Ruddle and Mitch Whitus.
From left, Jimmy Sengenberger, Aslinn Scott and Brian Ruddles watch former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice speak at the Republican National Convention Wednesday night. Boulder College Republicans gathered in Denver to watch the second night speeches live from Tampa, Fla. (CU Independent/Alison Noon)
The Denver event was hosted by Young Americans for Mitt Romney.
“College graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their bedrooms, looking at fading Obama posters,” Paul Ryan said in his RNC speech.
National party conventions are hosted to officially nominate and celebrate candidates. On Wednesday, Ryan accepted his 2012 vice presidential bid to campaign alongside Mitt Romney with an over-30-minute speech that hounded President Obama’s broken promises and praised the Romney/Ryan economic plan.
“Why would the next four years be any different from the last four years?” Ryan questioned, referring to Obama’s presidential record. “After four years of runaround, America needs a turnaround.”
Like New Mexico gov. Susana Martinez’s speech just before his, Ryan focused much of his time at the podium addressing the importance of championing small businesses.
In July, President Obama said in Roanoke, Va. that, “if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own… If you’ve got a business – you didn’t build that,” referring to infrastructure used by small business owners.
The president’s “you didn’t build that” statement drew heated criticism from conservatives and has been a rallying point for Republican candidates and supporters this election.
Ryan related to the audience using his Gen. X taste in music (citing a playlist that “starts with AC/DC and ends with Zeppelin”) and sentimental asides to draw in an audience of over 30,000 in Tampa.
“I like to think he’d be proud of me and my sister and brothers,” Ryan said after sharing that his father passed away when he was 16 years old.
The Denver watch party’s attention was given to the Republican vice presidential pick on the three television screens delivering the 2012 convention but didn’t settle down until U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice finished her keynote speech.
“The crowd was more excited when Condoleezza Rice was speaking,” Watkins-Green remarked, noting that the room was quieter during the Ryan speech.
The last watch party will be held in Colorado Springs Thursday evening to view the final evening of the RNC, where Mitt Romney will accept his nomination for the presidency.
Boulder College Republicans will be present at the Rocky Mountain Showdown at Mile High stadium Saturday and plans to protest in designated free speech zones at President Obama’s event in Boulder on Sunday.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Alison Noon at Alison.noon@colorado.edu.
