Iowa GOP officials warn against ‘mistake on the lake’

CLEVELAND — Iowa Republicans are ready to rock 'n' roll in Cleveland.

A delegation of 30 Iowans plus alternates is gathering with hordes of other Republicans from around the nation next week to conduct the party's national convention — a history-making confab on the shores of Lake Erie expected to declare New York billionaire Donald Trump the 2016 GOP presidential candidate under the watchful eye of the world's media, passionate demonstrators and airtight security.

'I expect there to be a lot of commotion,' said Cecil Stinemetz, a delegate from Urbandale attending his first national political convention in the city that's home to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the NBA champion, the Cleveland Cavaliers.

'I expect there to be a lot of paid protesters, disrupters outside. Inside, I don't know. I guess what I'm expecting is some chaos, some maneuvering, some mikes being shut off, those kinds of things. I hope it doesn't happen, but that's kind of my expectation,' added Stinemetz, who is in a minority of delegates who want to open the convention to nominate a different candidate.

Cleveland at times has been derided as the 'mistake on the lake' and Iowa party officials say that would be the case if Republicans don't come together behind Trump and running mate Mike Pence in preparation for a tough battle against Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Even though many of the Iowa delegates backed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz — who won the Iowa caucuses — generally they are falling in rank behind state party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann and Gov. Terry Branstad who warn the state could jeopardize its first-in-the-nation status in a 'dump Trump' convention melee.

'Donald Trump won fair and square. You can't take that away from him,' said first-time delegate Randy Feenstra, a state senator from Hull. 'He's got enough delegates. You can't be sore losers. You move on and say, 'let's have a great convention with him being ... our nominee for president.' '

Loras Schulte, a GOP activist from Norway attending his fourth convention, said people usually complain these national party assemblages are too scripted — but that does not appear to be the case this time.

'The other three (conventions), everything was cut and dried,' said Schulte, a Cruz supporter who expects this one to feature 'some excitement' from the faction that wants to stop Trump.

'I'll just have to agree to disagree with people that passionately believe we need to overthrow him. I'm not an ardent supporter, but I am an ardent opponent of Hillary.'

A number of the Iowans said they plan to listen closely to what message Trump delivers to the roughly 2,470 delegates and worldwide TV audience when he speaks at the Quicken Loans Arena.

'Donald's a showman and he's real good at it,' said Schulte. 'He is the quintessential carnival barker and don't take that as a slam because the carnival barker made the carnival go. You've got to have that and he does it better than anybody I've ever seen. It helps you in a campaign; I'm not sure it helps you to govern.'

Delegate Bob Vander Plaats, head of the Family Leader and a strong Cruz backer, said in a recent conversation he had with the Texas senator that Cruz is focused on giving a speech at the convention but did not 'see himself being put into the nomination process.'

At the same time, Vander Plaats said 'my guess is the delegates are going to want to have a conversation and I think it's healthy for a party to have a conversation' that is an all-of-the-above discussion about the nominee, the platform and values.

'I've never been in the Never Trump movement, but I've also told Mr. Trump I'm not all in for Mr. Trump, either,' Vander Plaats said. 'I want to encourage him to be the best husband, dad, leader that he can be. So we'll see.'

Delegate Linda Upmeyer, a Clear Lake Republican and speaker of the Iowa House making her first trip to a national convention, said she anticipates interesting discussions and speeches — like Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst's prime-time address Monday.

'I think it's going to be super interesting and I think it's going to be exciting,' said Upmeyer, who hopes to stop by the hall of fame but expects much of the week to be spent doing work.

Iowa Democrats have a different view.

'Nothing Donald Trump could do at the Republican National Convention will change the simple fact that America has never had a candidate less qualified and temperamentally unfit for the presidency than him,' said Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Andy McGuire.