Bedfordtimesregister.com - Republican convention attracts party chief's wife

by Tim Troglen

Reporter

The wife of the Summit County Republican Party chief was among the delegates at the Republican National Convention.

Karen Arshinkoff, who has attended several Republican National Conventions as a guest of her husband Alex, was picked by fellow Ohio Republicans to be a delegate for this year's convention, which ran from Sept. 1 to 4 in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

"I was very honored to do so," Karen, 55, said. "It is the most exciting thing I have ever gone through."

Karen was part of the Ohio delegation, which sat four rows from the front of the podium.

"It was exciting to be a part of the whole process," she said.

And she said it was different sitting on the floor of the center as a delegate instead of sitting "way out there" as a guest.

Karen was sitting in front of the stage when Gov. Sarah Palin, the first woman to ever be on a GOP vice presidential ticket, accepted the nomination to run with Sen. John McCain.

When Gov. Palin walked out on stage to give her speech "it was electric," she said.

"I was among a lot of women delegates, and we were just cheering and cheering," she said.

But as exciting as seeing Palin was, Karen said listening to McCain's acceptance speech was the highlight of the event for her.

"He is just a great American -- it was phenomenal," she said. "He was very funny and has a great sense of humor."

Karen said she believes the pair "complement each other as individuals."

And she expressed pride in being one of three delegates from the 14th District picked to attend the convention.

"It was an honor to represent a great American like McCain and a great state like Ohio," she said.

The delegate was accompanied by her husband Alex, 53, who is the Summit County Republican Party Chairman.

"I think Karen did a great job as a delegate and she enjoyed herself," Alex said. "It was great to see and I was proud of Karen."

This was not the first convention attended by Alex.

"I've been to nine," he said. "My first was in 1976."

And while he said this year's convention was exciting with Palin "energizing the convention and the party," he said the earlier conventions also "were really exciting."

"In 1976 there was a close contest between Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan," he remembered. "And 1980 was exciting because Reagan was running and didn't know who he was going to choose for vice president -- and that got to be a big deal."

Another Hudsonite attends as guest

Another Hudson resident, Jack Schwietz, attended part of the convention as a "guest delegate" for making a $500 campaign contribution.

"Monday was canceled because of Hurricane Gustav," Schwietz, 82, said. "But Tuesday I got to within a 1/2 mile of the convention center and had to walk."

Schwietz said he had trouble getting back and forth to and from the convention because of a back problem and transportation back-ups around the center.

He was not able to attend the entire convention because of an illness.

However, the time he spent inside the center he said "was great."

"It was a beautiful setting," Schwietz said. "There was a big screen at the back of the stage with a video shot of an American flag waving."

E-mail: TTroglen@recordpub.com

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