'Let Those Balloons Go'

Photo by Mark T. Osler

St. Paul—As Republican presidential nominee John McCain wrapped up his acceptance speech Thursday, Jo Ann Davidson held her breath for that thrill she anxiously awaited. She got it—boy, did she get it.

“What I wanted to have happen, happened,” says Davidson, almost giddy after a shower of balloons and confetti filled the arena. “I looked up and I was saying, ‘let those balloons go,’ and then they came down,” she says.

Having personally arranged for the balloons as head of the convention’s committee on arrangements, having insisted that red ones be interspersed with the white and the blue, Davidson said just one thought went through her head as she looked toward the rafters. “We’re not going to pay for them if they don’t come down!”

As for McCain’s speech itself, Davidson’s favorite moment came at the end as he said, “Fight with me, fight with me, fight for what’s right for our country.…Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight. Nothing is inevitable here. We’re Americans, we never give up, we never quit, we never hide from history, we make history.”

She acknowledged that the delegates really couldn’t hear McCain’s conclusion because of audience noise, but by that time it didn’t matter. They were already in a frenzy.

Behind the stage, vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin had to sign one more paper making her the official vice presidential nominee of the Republican Party. Davidson had to sign too, and then gave the pen to Palin as a memento.

Davidson says McCain’s speech “did what it had to do,” adding that the references to his personal history were important. Many people still do not know all the details of his five-plus years as a POW.

“That really shaped him as a person; that’s what created his resolve,” Davidson says.

Despite two years of meticulous planning, Hurricane Gustav threw the convention off its smoothly scheduled path early in the week. But by the end of the four days, that mild interruption was all but forgotten.

And with the wildly cheering, balloon-filled hall, Davidson’s work had come to an end. “It is a pretty high note,” she says, adding that if she never goes to another convention, this one will always be with her.

Davidson even had some words for her fellow Ohioans, who expressed frustration at the cleaving of their seating section Thursday night. John McCain wanted a runway-style stage to deliver his acceptance speech in a more intimate setting.

But Davidson noted that they had the best seats in the house—front row, center— for the entire convention.

“Ohio has nothing to complain about with the seats they’ve had,” she says firmly.   

Elaine S. Povich is a freelance writer who covers politics.