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3:47 p.m.  Chairman Billy Miller is calling the convention back to order.   He’s asked the convention to refrain from excessive talking.  The mic system is not very loud, and the delegates toward the rear of the convention center are having difficulty hearing.

3:51 Chairman Robin Hayes is reporting that Andrew Breitbart has a terrible case of pneumonia.  But with the glory of technlogy, after the luncheon on Saturday, the convention will reconvene a bit early and hold a “town hall” style meeting with Mr. Breitbart  live and online here in the convention center.

3:53 Credentials Committee Report – Jason Lemons

Lemons reports that things didn’t go quite as smoothly as “we thought”.  However, they did get everything straight, and he thanked his numerous volunteers who helped him get everything straight.

The convention is now going through a roll call of all 100 counties to get an accurate delegate count to ensure that the credentials committee report is in accordance with report of each county.  There is quite a bit of misunderstanding of the parliamentary procedure involved.

In this blogger’s opinion, at least 30% of the delegates on the floor Friday have never attended a State Convention and thus may be unfamiliar with the process.  Chairman Miller is kindly walking them through the process, along with handling proposed amendments to the credentials committee report.

4:13 Stand by.  Credentials Committee is briefly discussing a matter.

4:25 p.m.  The report is in. There are a total of 693 delegates credentialed for Friday. The convention added the 11 alternates were added as voting delegates for Friday, bringing the delegate count to 704.  Quorum for the day is 353.   If it appears that a quorum is not on the floor, any delegate can call for a quorum and business is suspended or concluded until a quorum is reached.

4:34  Many, many more delegates are expected on Saturday, when the elections of the State Chairman and State Vice Chairman will be held.  The credentials committee will again issue a report for those who have arrived for Saturday  and the bulk of the convention action will occur then.

4:36  There has been a lengthy discussion for at least the last hour over the timing when one had to be registered Republican to be able to register and be a delegate to this convention.   Apparently, this affects only one person here today.  We are not providing details as we value a living readership.

4:39 p.m. Quorum has become 354 rather than 353 because  of the lengthy debate over the seating of one individual.    On to the rule committee chaired by former State GOP Chairman Linda Daves of Mecklenburg County.

Mrs. Daves suggested several changes to the rules of the 2011 North Carolina State Republican Convention due largely to typos.   She also advised the delegates how to make motions, propose rules changes, etc.  During debate, if a delegate stands up to speak, that delegate may not debate again until everyone else who wishes to debate has been heard.  This assures that everyone is freely heard.

Mrs. Daves’ committee further suggested that wording be changed to indicate that there are two credentials reports, one Friday and one Saturday.  Everything else is basic grammar changes.

Today has been mostly procedural and not all that exciting to first time convention attendees.  This blogger believes that a few delegates and their children may have slipped out to enjoy the afternoon on nearby Wrightsville Beach.

As a veteran of over 20 annual North Carolina State Party conventions, KCC promises all political junkies that Saturday’s event will be much more exciting.

5:09 p.m. After a lengthy debate, again, the rules have been adopted.

5:11 p.m Now debate is moving into the Platform and Resolutions.  Usually this is exciting and takes a lot of time.  However, with dinner due to begin and your blogger’s hotel some distance away,  we sadly won’t be able to cover this for you today.

KCC ends this blogging session and will be back online at 7 p.m. when Rep. Allen West (R-Fla) speaks to a “Salute Our Troops” Tribute Evening Banquet.    Our next post will come to you from Hilton-Wilmington Grand Ballroom on North Water Street.  Until then…

 

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