Nervous In San Diego

Some contradictions have been building all week. Inside the San Diego Convention Center, bright placards, balloons and happy rally troops find every TV camera as speaker after speaker repeats the mantra of Hope, Growth and Victory.

Everywhere are the strains of "I'm a Dole Man!" and "You've Got To Be A Football Hero," and everyone is on message, talking about going for the gold.

But even as Republican luminaries prepare to pull out all the stops tonight when Bob Dole formally accepts his party's nomination, a sickly air of resignation seeping out of the San Diego gathering overwhelms the speeches and soundbites. In conversations with Republican leaders, the subtext is pessimistic. In the side comments they make, a picture emerges of politicians running for cover.

Asked why, if Republicans have accomplished so much in Massachusetts, Bill Clinton is leading Bob Dole by 30 points, Governor William Weld snaps: "40." Asked how Dole can win California, a state that Clinton has courted, coddled and charmed nonstop, Governor Pete Wilson addresses Dole's low profile: "He ran for President before. Would you like to make a bet on how many people in this country know that? Or care?"

What most people know about Bob Dole, says Wilson, is that "he's been in Washington for many years. That's not a winning platform." Says TIME Los Angeles Bureau Chief Jordan Bonfante: "Sounds like Wilson is thinking about running next time." Whether or not that is true, many GOP leaders seem focused now on doing the right thing for Dole while covering their bases with the all-important contributors who are opening their wallets (the GOP gala late last night alone raised $10 million).

Addressing a private gathering of big GOP contributors, former President Gerald Ford reminds them that while winning the White House is important, retaining control of the House of Representatives is imperative. The message behind the hoopla: don't let the guy at the top of the ticket do us too much damage in November.

-- By Janice Castro/TIME Daily

The Medal Thing

Ever since wrestler Matt Ghaffari won his Olympic medal, he's been draping it around other people's necks in emotional tribute. In Atlanta, he bounded from the medal platform and put it around his father's neck. Wednesday night in San Diego, during an address to the GOP convention that was twice as long as Ralph Reed's (6 minutes for victory, 4 for the hall monitor), Ghaffari hung his medal around the neck of a handicapped man. What TV viewers may not realize is that Ghaffari always gets it back. Three hours later, taking the mike at the lavish Republican Gala, a $10 million dinner for 3,500 on the hillside behind the Convention Center, Ghaffari effusively hung his medal (for the second time) around the number one neck in town: Bob Dole. Somebody better tell Bob Dole to run whenever he sees Ghaffari, because as Dole beamed and the crowd cheered, the disastrous symbolism of the moment seemed lost on the Republicans. Ghaffari didn't take the gold. He came in second.

-- By Janice Castro/TIME Daily

Get In Line

SAN DIEGO: Former presidential candidate Alan Keyes has been complaining vehemently to Bob Dole's campaign aides about a vignette showing him that will be included in the video that airs tonight during Dole's acceptance speech. Keyes, a staunch pro-lifer, told the aides that he is so steamed over the party's new tolerance stance on the abortion issue that he wants no part in the GOP convention. He doesn't want to speak, and he doesn't want to be included in the Dole victory cavalcade. Keyes told TIME Daily's Jenifer Mattos: "No matter how much I complained, they're using a clip of me, entirely against my will."

Asked about the Keyes protest, Dole campaign manager Scott Reed dismissed it, telling Mattos that the Keyes clip will be included in the video whether he likes it or not. "I don't know why Keyes is complaining," he said. "We don't have private viewings for everybody." So much for the candidates who didn't make the cut.

-- By Janice Castro/TIME Daily