By Erin Delmore
Correspondent
“If you’re driving on the Parkway and the guy in the next car is texting, eating something, playing his radio and he can still give you the finger, he’s from New Jersey.”
From the State House to the steak house for Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick. A dose of stand-up comedy this convention.
“In New Jersey, you drive five minutes you’ll drive through two towns, two counties, three fire districts, a school district and you have to pay taxes in all of them,” he said.
One of many events on New Jersey delegates’ jam-packed schedule, including a golf outing and corn hole tournament against the Massachusetts delegation.
“To some extent it’s slightly surreal. You’re watching all of this national media and Gov. Christie came down to the front row with his entourage and it must have been 50 or 75 cameramen fascinated with his every move and the pictures. So, honestly I found that kind of incredible,” said Sen. Michael Doherty.
New Jersey delegates hit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland to take five between sessions.
“Somebody comes from New Jersey to Cleveland, you think of three things: Indians, Browns and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” said District One Delegate Dennis Palmer. “Yesterday was a lot of business. We had to deal with the rules committee. We had to deal with the platform and there are votes that go with that. There’s time of a motion. There’s delay in between because it has to sit on the table for a certain period of time, so we are involved in a lot of things. The work behind what you see later at night on the TV.”
Sixth Congressional Delegate Nadine Ciparis and her husband of 29 years, Alternate Delegate Ken Ciparis, are sharing the floor tonight.
“We got the idea from other delegates — husband/wife teams — so we’ll switch back and forth. Someone will stay on the bottom on the delegate floor and other times I’ll go back up top. They switch back and forth,” said Nadine.
When asked about his first convention, Ken said, “It’s very exciting. We’re having a really good time. It’s a lot of fun.”
“The delegate badge itself was $425 each, so that was a big price to pay. That’s one of the reasons we’re staying at our son’s,” Nadine said.
According to a historian at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland takes credit for launching some of the biggest names in rock: Led Zepplin, David Bowie, even Bruce Springsteen. Five decades ago, the city was a well-oiled music machine, launching no-names to national stardom. Bet there’s a first-time politician out here this week who’s hoping this place still is a good luck charm.