GOP Convention Sights and Sound Bites

Politicians say the darndest things.

On the first day of the 2014 Republican State Convention, elected officials, party leaders and those who came for the show provided enough fodder to fill reporter’s notebooks with interesting quotes and fun nuggets. Here are a few of the top quotes, talking points and observations that kept day one interesting.

The Quotes

“You could go to the beautiful town of New Castle, which is right here in Westchester. You could drive by the Cuomo house and watch the workers sneaking out the back door. Nothing to look at. There’s no renovations. It’s all decorative. But you can go see it.” – Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino commenting in his dinner speech on a recent report about Sandra Lee, Food Network star and Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s partner, not obtaining permits for home renovations.

“We are Republicans. We run on-time shows.” – State Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox on his third attempt to get dinner guests to take their seats and quiet down to begin the dinner program. Astorino walked in shortly after, helping the crowd focus.

“The Republican Party has to be the party of growth and opportunity … We are not just the party of angry white men.” – Larry Kudlow, economist and CNBC senior contributor, during his morning session keynote address.

“That was my best joke. It’s all downhill from here.” – Republican comptroller candidate Robert Antonacci after telling a joke that, well, fell flat, getting little laughter or applause.

The Talking Points

Among the day’s most used words and phrases were 2-to-1 (as in, Astorino won the county executive position in 2-to-1 Democratic Westchester County, so he can win the governorship in 2-to-1 Democratic New York state), fracking (a talking point of Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett during his keynote address), Cuomo (always in a negative way) and “our time” (a top phrase from Cox's speech).

Seat-gate made its way to Rye Brook, 12 miles west of the Tappan Zee Bridge. In Tarrytown, a dispute over Astorino’s seating arrangement at President Barack Obama’s appearance created headlines.

Various Republicans claimed the visit from Obama was coordinated to upstage the first day of the GOP convention.

The Observations

Seen at the head table during the evening dinner: John Catsimatidis, state Sen. Ruben Diaz—a Democrat—and state Senate Majority Co-Leader Dean Skelos.

Former Gov. George Pataki spoke Spanish during his stump speech for attorney general candidate John Cahill, a former Pataki aide. Pataki also spoke Spanish in an interview with NY1 Noticias.

There was a lack of protestors, despite reports that there would supposedly be fracking protesters at the convention site.

Day two kicks off at 9 a.m. Thursday and is set to feature remarks from Skelos and Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb and the nominations for lieutenant governor and governor.