Local conservatives gathered at Smooth’s Bar & Grille last night to view John McCain’s acceptance of the Republican presidential nomination, in a viewing party held by the Long Beach Area Republican Party.  Long Beach City Prosecutor Tom Reeves spoke before the big speech, and introduced 54th District candidate Gabriella Holt, who spoke about her campaign.  Organizers were expecting about 30 people, but over 60 were counted in attendance – including sightings of City Councilman Gary DeLong and Straight Talk host Art Levine.

“It doesn’t matter what side you’re on, people are tired of politics as usual,” Holt told the crowd.  “They wan to see their candidate, they want to relate to their candidate, they want their candidate to understand what they’re going through.”

The hot topic of the night was McCain’s running mate, Alaskan governor Sarah Palin, who electrified the Republican party with her Wednesday night speech.  Holt related herself to Palin’s no-nonsense style.

“I am not a pitbull,” Holt said, referring to Palin’s joke that the only difference between a pitbull and a “hockey mom” was lipstick.  “I am a wolverine, I went to the University of Michigan.  You can just consider me the wolverine with lipstick.”

After her speech, Holt offered more thoughts of Palin and gave an update on the progress of her campaign for the 54th.

“People are electrified by Sarah Palin’s speech.  She’s a different kind of… I don’t want to say politician, but that’s what she is.  More than anything, she’s a person who wanted to make a difference,” said Holt, who has been stressing engagement with voters in her campaign, which she described as “very grassroots.”

After watching the broadcast of McCain’s speech on FOX News, the crowd was convinced.

“Is there any doubt about the man’s qualifications?” Reeves asked rhetorically.  The City Prosecutor is the chairman of the Long Beach effort to elect McCain, and described the situation as “improving.”

“The more we get our message out, the more we’ll see our membership grow,” Reeves said, though conceded that the conservative message is not easy to push in Long Beach.  “We’re struggling in a town that doesn’t seem receptive to the mission.”

But on Thursday night, an energetic crowd heard both their national choice (McCain) and their local choice (Holt), and seemed sure of victory.  Reeves called politics “a contact sport,” and urged everyone in attendance to contact two undecided friends and convert them to the conservative side.  The LBARP has been holding town hall meetings throughout the city in an effort to address key issues, and expand membership.  The next meeting will be at The Grand on September 24.

By Ryan ZumMallen, Managing Editor