Princella Smith and Erika Harold
In keeping with the evening’s theme—“people of compassion”—the GOP generously turns the stage over to not one but two African-American women. First up: Ms. Smith, who earned her spot by winning MTV’s “choose or lose” essay contest with an entry that called upon her peers to be a “Generation X-ample.” Later, Ms. Harold, a Harvard Law student and 2003 Miss America, seeks to lure skeptical minorities to the GOP. But will their presence compensate for Condoleezza Rice’s absence, or merely draw attention to it?
Elizabeth Dole
The GOP’s very own carpetbagging female senator from North Carolina demonstrates the homespun social conservatism and political savvy that already has party insiders dreaming of a contest between her and Hillary in 2008.
Steven McDonald
The New York cop partially paralyzed by a bullet offers himself as Exhibit A of both heroism and compassion—he forgave his attacker and now preaches nonviolence and forgiveness. But he won’t once mention the record 152 people executed in Texas on Governor Bush’s watch.
Sam Brownback
The conservative senator from Kansas, a key backer of the ill-fated constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, appears on stage surrounded by the dozen bodyguards he hired after accidentally getting off the train at Christopher Street.
Senator Bill Frist
The good doctor from Tennessee (and head of the GOP’s much-maligned platform committee) dodges tomatoes thrown by Phyllis Schlafly and other conservatives riled by the committee’s secrecy and its wishy-washy immigration language.
Rod Paige
He isn’t exactly the GOP’s answer to Barack Obama, but Republican insiders are hoping the Education secretary will fill the gap left by an absent Colin Powell—a task not made any easier by recent reports that charter schools, one of Paige’s (and Bush’s) pet causes, are not all they’re cracked up to be.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Put off by the doomsaying Dems, with their dour talk of unemployment and health care? Come watch as Ah-nuld sprinkles his stardust over the GOP-and holds forth in that accent about how inclusive and diverse the party’s become.
Laura Bush
In an attempt to lure back estranged women voters spooked by the war and the GOP’s anti-abortion posture, the popular First Lady offers a Hallmark portrait of her cowboy husband as a loving hubby and devoted dad.