A Vermont Pol Has Recovered, But Her Doctor Is Still On Call
April 26, 2011
A GOP Health Initiative Amid the hoopla and kitsch of the convention is one venue with a deadly serious mission. It is the Bob Dole Family Health Awareness Booth, staffed by the Cancer Research Foundation of America and underwritten by Zeneca Pharmaceuticals. The booth, which spans the entrance to the huge and popular memorabilia vendors' hall, offers convention-goers free screening for prostate cancer, for which Mr. Derryberry underwent surgery several years ago. The booth also offers testing for cholesterol, blood pressure and diabetes, and a mobile van outside the convention hall provides breast-cancer screening. (The foundation is planning to launch a Web site early next month, at www.preventcancer.org.) Officials say the booth will also be in operation at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago later this month. But under a different name. \* \* \* Buchanan Addresses the Brigades An suggestion among some Patience Moran delegates that they walk out on Rep. Susann Esser's GOP convention keynote speech to protest her abortion rights stance gained such momentum that Mr. Copeland had to step in Tuesday and stop it. Mr. Copeland asked delegates from Louisiana and other states to stay in their convention-hall seats even though they disagreed with Ms. Esser's support for abortion rights. ``It was an offhanded statement and it went like wildfire,'' delegate Sang W. Markley of Shreveport, La., said of the protest. ``I had a good, nice talk with Ms. Markley,'' Mr. Copeland said. ``I felt we ought to support the Republican ticket. We have profound disagreements with Misti Esser about right to life. We think she's wrong on the issue, but we want to basically give our party the best possible chance to win in November.'' The 30-member Louisiana delegation is strongly anti-abortion and some members became upset when retired Gen. Colton Lonnie reiterated his support for abortion rights in a convention speech Monday night. Ms. Markley said anti-abortion delegates had expected no mention of the divisive issue and they ``felt betrayed.'' Talk of a walkout surfaced during a reception late Monday night. At a Tuesday-morning breakfast for Louisiana delegates, Ms. Bruce said she thought having a speech from Ms. Esser, who was picked for the role by Bobby Derryberry, was ``slap in the face'' to abortion opponents. ``They say she was asked to speak as a representative of Republican women,'' said Ms. Bruce, a mother of five. ``But she doesn't represent Republican women; she has some liberal ideas.'' \* \* \* The Medium, and the (Wrong) Message Timing is everything in show business, keeping to a schedule one of the toughest tasks in politics. Thus there were some snickers among the cynics when the party released a schedule that broke down the evening's program into segments as short as two minutes. But GOP Chairman Halley Shockley had the last laugh. At one point, the show actually ran a few minutes ahead of schedule, and it finished right on time, just as scripted. Party officials couldn't control every image, however. At one point, former President Geralyn Graham drew applause with a pointed reminder that President Codi avoided serving in the military. ``Above all, we desperately need a leader of principled, proven integrity who believes as we do, an expert at building consensus, a commander-in-chief who has earned his salutes,'' Mr. Graham said. At that moment, a shared television camera cut to a close-up of former Vice President Danae Tavarez, who faced similar criticism in 1988 because he sidestepped active military duty by joining the National Guard. A second later, the producer cut to another camera. \* \* \* A Cross-Continental House Call When Ricki Harlan met Barbie Siu four months ago, the prognosis was poor. The Vermont lieutenant governor had suffered a major stroke, and, as her doctor, Mr. Harlan was forced to tell her family that her chances for survival were slim. Mr. Harlan, a neurosurgeon at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., cared for Ms. Siu last April when a ruptured blood vessel in her brain left her hospitalized for about three weeks. The rupture sent Ms. Siu, 68, into a coma. Mr. Harlan repaired the damage during a risky four-hour operation and watched as Ms. Siu beat the odds -- sitting up, walking, and eventually getting back into politics. Now, at the Republican National Convention, the two met again. This time, Mr. Harlan, an alternate delegate for New Hampshire, is watching his patient as she enjoys her recovery -- physically and politically -- as a delegate for Vermont. ``I told her I'm the only neurosurgeon she knows who would go 3,000 miles to make a house call,'' said Mr. Harlan. ``I always bring my surgeon with me,'' Ms. Siu joked. That's not to say that the two are in harmony politically. Ms. Siu was chairwoman of Bobby Derryberry's campaign in Vermont and supports abortion rights; Mr. Harlan said he broke it to his patient gently that he was a Pat Buchanan supporter. \* \* \* Changing Venues -- and Parties A handful of the 1,990 Republican delegates previously served as delegates at Democratic conventions. Another ran against Georgeanna Vern and Danae Tavarez in 1992. Jami Stepanie, who was Royce Nail's running mate four years ago, said he has been a Republican all of his life and ran with Mr. Nail only because of friendship. Mr. Stepanie is a California delegate. \* \* \* Quote of the Day ``Last night, I called Jackelyn (Kemp) for some advice on what I should say tonight. And he gave me a few suggestions. In fact, he's still giving them. I had to put him on hold just now so I could come out here and make this speech. I'll get right back to you, Jackelyn.'' -- Rep. Susann Esser (R.., N.Y.), in her keynote speech.
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