Palin, Christie, convention nuggets

I think it’s in the constitution that no journalist can go through the entire week of a national political convention without writing about it. So, purely out of patriotic duty, here are a few things that have caught my eye from the GOP jamboree in Tampa:

– Does anybody else find the TV background for the speeches nauseating? That shifting blue pattern on the set makes me seasick after a while (or is it the bullshine from the podium?)

– If there was any doubt that Fox TV is an unofficial arm of the Republican party, exhibit number 972 is the Sarah Palin episode. The GOP decided Palin wouldn’t be invited to participate in the convention, and then Fox cancelled her on-air appearances for the week, even though she’s a paid commentator for the network.

So on a week in which you’d expect a cable network would need everybody with a pulse to eat up some air time, Palin gets dropped. At least there’s message consistency there.

– If you’re interested in Pennsylvania politics and haven’t caught on to the work of Colby Itkowitz of the Allentown Morning Call, you should. She’s based in Washington and writes a blog called Pennsylvania Avene.

She has a nice report from Tampa on Chris Christie meeting with the Pennsylvania delegation the morning after his keynote speech. He talked a lot more about Romney than he did in the convention hall, and Itkowitz shares this morsel:

Speaking of truth, Christie isn’t afraid to give it to Romney straight. At a fundraiser in New Jersey, a man pleaded with Romney not to give up on the blue state. Romney turned to Christie, “Is there any chance I can win New Jersey?” Christie said flatly, “No.”

– And our buddy Chris Brennan of the Philadelphia Daily News notes that Mike Huckabee is an entrepreneurial multi-tasker. Besides his radio show, Fox News appearances and politickin’,

He’s also the pitchman for the Franklin Mint’s latest schlocky bit of patriotism for purchase: the “Founding Fathers of America Coin Collection.”

For just $199.95 you can have seven coins celebrating George Washington, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, all “lavishly coated in 24-karat gold,” as the company says.