Personal Touches That ‘Got to Him’

Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin wowed the crowd Wednesday with her forceful, detailed oratory, but Eugene Jorissen pointed to something else in Palin’s speech that “got to him.”

“I can relate to being a small-town mayor,” the supervisor of Pere Marquette township in Michigan says, in between cheers at the end of Palin’s speech. “It’s the experience of running a government.”

“Being a small-town mayor is good training for being a governor, and being a governor is good training for being vice president or president, you betcha,” says Jorissen, whose job as supervisor is tantamount to that of a mayor or city manager.

Jorissen, 65, cheered loudest at Palin’s line about a small-town mayor being like a community organizer—a reference to Democratic nominee Barack Obama’s background—“except that you have actual responsibilities.”

Jorissen’s own responsibilities include things such as sewers and tax assessments. He figures Palin can relate.

Palin’s speech was the capstone of the alternate delegate’s busy day, which started with the revelation that Republican presidential nominee John McCain doesn’t worry about the perception that he’s too old to run for president—at least not according to his son.

Andy McCain, 46, addressed the Michigan delegation Wednesday morning. Jorissen says he took the “age” issue straight on. “He told us about his dad – some short anecdotes,” Jorissen says.

“He’s an old man running, but he has his grandchildren call him the ‘old geezer,’” Jorissen says, intimating that the age issue shouldn’t scare anybody.

The Michigan delegation’s importance was also underscored by a visit from former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Romney has Michigan roots—his father was governor there—but he also was McCain’s runner-up and is all over the Twin Cities this week, stumping for McCain.

Romney was good with the jokes too, according to Jorissen. “Mitt told us about going to the Olympics and sitting at the girls’ volleyball game and people taking his picture,” Jorissen says. “He turned to his wife to say ‘people are taking pictures of me,’ and there was Kobe Bryant behind him.”

Both speakers exhorted the Michigan delegates to get out and work hard this fall for the McCain-Palin ticket, as Michigan is a key swing state this year.

After the meeting with Andy McCain and Romney, Jorissen volunteered to stuff care packages for victims of Hurricane Gustav. He loaded up bags with toiletries, soap and snacks and packed them for shipping.

The project, aimed at assembling 80,000 packages, attracted several members of the McCain and Palin families as well. Still sporting bruises from donating blood Tuesday, Jorissen says the convention’s unexpected volunteer opportunities feel good.

“I wanted to help,” he says. “I think this is neat that we are doing this. I hope others know we didn’t come just to party. We’re helping other Americans.”

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