When asked how my week long excursion to Cleveland was, I can honestly say that the RNC was one of the most fun weeks of my life.
Quit laughing – I’m being serious.
Most people probably wouldn't think the convention that gathers 50,000 of the country's conservatives is also a giant, four-day-long rage, with a bunch of selfies with political bigwhigs thrown in. Going into the convention, I received my week–long page schedule filled with volunteer work, mandatory speaker series and little free time that I was sure would be spent napping.
Especially among young millennials in college, conservatism often comes with an ugly stigma. However, the group of people made up of pages, candidates, and supporters that I spent my time with were some of the greatest people I’ve ever met. Everyone had different views on our candidate, but were united by our love of politics and felt comfortable expressing our unique views in the group. I’ve rounded up the six greatest things about the convention for your viewing pleasure:
1. The Convention is LIT.
- The first day of opening, there were cash bars outside of the Quicken Loans Arena, as well as special open bar, wristband-only sections for delegates and donors. However, on Monday, the delegates didn’t quite make it back into the Q to vote – so the cash bars had to be closed in order to get those pesky delegates out of the bar and into the arena to actually vote.
2. Tinder is NOT lit.
- I imagined myself going into the convention and doing some *ahem* research on young conservatives hooking up, as well as talking to young people about their views…
- Sadly, my Tinder experience was more disappointing than positive, and was filled with local Clevelanders rather than visitors of the RNC, leaving something to be desired.
- Apparently Grindr was a thing, so I was really missing the demographic here.
3. The media makes up a large portion of the convention.
- Want someone to buy you a drink at a Republican Convention? No prob, just go up to one of the 20 young, hot TV/Newspaper/Blog reporters and ask them their thoughts on Trump. This conversation will last many gin and tonics.
- Bonus points if you argue your way into having them support the candidate
- Feel free to take their advice with a grain of salt, but kindly chuckle whenever they advise you with red-wine stained teeth to “TAKE LIFE BY THE BALLS!”
4. Fuck-ups are okay.
- On Thursday I called Newt Gingrich “Speaker Priebus” when I asked him for a picture- – no issue!
- Katie Couric called out one of the pages for falling asleep during the lecture she gave to us – totally laughed off!
- Insist on taking six selfies with Dana Bash? As long as you pronounce her name right (DAN-AH), you’ll be free to take all the selfies you want!
5. The real world will melt away.
- When I arrived back in Philadelphia, I arrived home to a pile of New York Times that I hadn’t been keeping up with.
- Other important missed world events: Kardashian destruction of Taylor Swift,
- Protesters made up a huge percentage of the people in Cleveland.
- Police in riot gear became the norm, however, I was greeted with a parade of protesters upon arrival in Philly, so it’s like I never left Cleveland!
6. Gaining perspective is inevitable.
- Spending every night with my grandparents, who were also at the RNC, for a week was truly a special experience,– and not just because of the open bar.
- While there are some crazy-conservatives, (mostly) everyone was really respectful, whether they were Pro-Trump or #NeverTrump.
RNC 2020, I'm ready for you.
