By MATT GOLDEN

Special to the Sun

LAURA BUSH: Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land hosted a breakfast on Tuesday morning. Originally, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour was planning to attend. However, because of Hurricane Gustav, Barbour stayed in Mississippi. Land staffers were notified on Monday night that a surrogate would be sent but not told who the surrogate would be.

Just before the event, it became known that First Lady Laura Bush would address the Michigan group. Bush told Michigan attendees that Michigan could be the swing state in this election, similar to Ohio was in 2006. She also spoke about the importance of helping the victims of the hurricane.

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Tuesday at the Republican National Convention had a much more upbeat mood, with everyone obviously still mindful of the victims of Hurricane Gustav. The calls were unified for everyone to find a way to participate in one of many community service programs to aide victims of Hurricane Gustav.

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BLOOD DRIVE: A few of our GOP leaders, including United States Senate candidate Jack Hoogendyk organized for a blood drive to take place at our hotel on Tuesday morning. It was a great way to show that our thoughts and prayers are with the victims in the Gulf Coast.

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CROPSEY HOSTS EVENT: Tuesday evening before the convention, state Sen. Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt, joined Sen, Jason Allen, R-Traverse City, in hosting a reception for everyone from Michigan. The event was held in a private residence overlooking downtown St. Paul, just two blocks from the X-Cel Energy Center. It was awesome to see everything from a bird’s-eye view, including some of the protesters and the security setups.

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THOMPSON MESMERIZES CROWD: Fred Thompson delivered a speech that left everyone in the Convention Hall in awe. Thompson focused on why he believes that Sen. McCain would be the best person to lead the ticket, and the excitement that Sarah Palin brings to the ticket.

From a former opponent of McCain, you could hear and see the sincerity from Thompson. At some points you could hear a pin drop the audience was so focused on what Thompson had to say. 

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 LIEBERMAN GETS TOUGH: The highlight of the night had to be the Lieberman speech for me. I wasn’t sure what to expect going into the night. After all, just a few years ago, Lieberman was the vice presidential candidate on the Democratic ticket. 

Lieberman said the things that needed to be said, and while his speech was obviously tailored to Democrats who might be on the fence, the reaction from the Republicans was nothing short of awesome. He focused on change, but closed his speech by saying the real change we need was to elect John McCain and Sarah Palin to go “shake up Washington.”

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 More to follow, after the much awaited speech from Sarah Palin scheduled for Wednesday night, as she accepts the official nomination of the Republican Party.

Matt Golden is the chairman of the Isabella County Republican Party. He is blogging for the Sun Insider from the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.