MSU student attends RNC for second experience

Minneapolis — On the last night of her stay at the Republican National Convention, Maria George mingled inside the Karma Night Club with her family.

George

It was the international relations junior’s second soiree with the national convention — in fact, it’s becoming a sort of family tradition.

George’s father, state Sen. Tom George, R-Kalamazoo, was a delegate at the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York. He decided to come back this year as a guest, bringing his wife, Sandy George, and two of his children, Maria George, 19, and Matt George, 14.

“I like to see the formal nomination process and actually feel like I’m involved,” Maria George said. “It’s nice to just go to the parties and actually network and meet everyone in the local area.”

Tom George said he likes to bring his family because it presents opportunities for his children to learn about politics — opportunities he never had.

“It’s a great learning experience,” he said Monday night. “They’re young enough so that their schedule allows it so why not?”

This convention was different than the 2004 convention, Maria George said. For her, that was largely because of the atmosphere. From when she arrived on Saturday to when she was about to leave Monday night, the mood of the Michigan delegation had changed from celebratory to reserved. She saw the parties she was attending with her family turn into fundraisers for victims of Hurricane Gustav.

“I think it just sort of changed over the course of the weekend,” she said. “It wasn’t going to be so much a pep rally, as giving relief to the hurricane, and it wasn’t going to be a very festive experience.”

She said one of the most memorable experiences she had at the convention was seeing first lady Laura Bush and Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain’s wife, Cindy McCain, speak Monday afternoon.

“It was interesting because Laura Bush and Cindy McCain came out, and instead of talking at all about the campaign really, they just talked about relief efforts, which is a change because usually we use the campaign to get people really excited about the nomination and they didn’t even mention that,” she said. “It was all about relief.”

Maria George’s younger brother, Matt, now has been to two Republican National Conventions at 14 years old. One of his favorite parts is meeting celebrities and well-known politicians at the event.

“It’s like a never-ending amount of people you can meet from throughout the country,” he said.

Maria George, who has plans to go to law school after graduating from MSU, said she might follow in her father’s footsteps and consider a political career.

“If I do, I’ll do it like my dad did, where he had a full-time job before doing it, and he is (now) dipping his toes into the political arena, but he’ll have a full-time job to go back to,” she said. “I like how he did it.”

As a member of MSU College Republicans, as well as having a politically oriented family, Maria George said she might be a little more political than most college students.

If nothing else, she’s drawn to it.

“It’s just always changing,” she said.

“Most of the average Americans do not get involved or run for office, but they could. They can get involved in the voting and helping the campaigns. That’s great that everyone can just get involved and help out and really pick the government that we’re going to have.”