Pat Buchanan Halts Walkout By His Delegates

An offhand suggestion of a convention walkout among some Pat Buchanan delegates gained such momentum Tuesday that the former presidential candidate stepped in and largely succeeded in stopping it.

Buchanan asked his delegates to the Republican National Convention not to walk out of the convention hall during New York congresswoman Susan Molinari’s keynote speech.

With a few exceptions, they complied. The delegates had discussed such a move because they disagree with her support for abortion rights.

“It was an offhanded statement and it went like wildfire,” delegate Sandra W. McDade of Shreveport, La., said of the proposed protest.

A few Buchanan backers were seen leaving the floor. “Maybe we feel a little stronger than Pat,” said Louisiana alternate delegate Irion Bordelon.

‘Seinfield’ rerun draws as many viewers

Despite a shorter program and a much anticipated speech by Colin Powell, the Republican National Convention drew a smaller television audience Monday than it did in 1992.

The three major networks attracted 12.1 million households for their 60-minute, first-night coverage of the GOP’s tightly scripted affair, according to figures released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. This was down some 20 percent from 14.9 million households four years earlier, when the networks offered about twice the prime-time coverage.

In addition, about 1.3 million households tuned into CNN’s prime-time coverage Monday, about the same number that watched the kickoff of the GOP event on the cable network four years ago.

The aggregate of viewers watching the three networks and CNN equaled the viewers watching a recent rerun of NBC’s “Seinfeld.”

Quayle’s credentials still inspire doubt

How tight is security at the Republican National Convention? Ask Dan Quayle.

The former vice president said he was heading into the San Diego Convention Center early Monday morning for a round of network television interviews when a security guard spotted his lack of credentials.

“You can’t go in there,” said the guard, blocking Quayle’s entrance.

“But I’m Dan Quayle,” he responded.

Taking a closer look, the guard said, “Well, you don’t look like him, but go ahead anyway.”

Anti-abortion forces elevate the dialogue

For days, pro-choice advocates have been chanting “Yank the Plank” to protest the anti-abortion section of the Republican Party platform.

But anti-abortion forces have elevated the war of slogans by hiring a plane to carry a banner over the convention. It reads: “Hey Pro-Choice, Yank This!”

Tijuana invites delegates to ‘Bet on Bob’

“Bet on Bob” read the ad in Tuesday’s edition of the San Diego Union-Tribune. It invited delegates to venture just 17 miles south across the border to Tijuana, Mexico, where Republican supporters of Bob Dole can legally “put a little dinero where your mouth is” and place a wager that he’ll end up in the White House. Caliente Race and Sports Books is taking bets on the outcome of the presidential election.

Caliente’s latest odds (as of Aug. 1):

Bob Dole 3-1; Bill Clinton 1-8; Ross Perot 50-1.

Journalists in a feeding frenzy

Officials at the downtown Marriott Hotel, where the world’s news organizations are headquartered, have been keeping track - who knows why? - of the eating and drinking habits of their 1,500 guests, the majority of whom are members of the media.

In the 36-hour period from noon Sunday to midnight Monday, the following were (in hotel lingo) “consumed by sale:” 7,500 cookies (chocolate chip was the favorite), 15,000 brownies and blondies, 7,250 beers, 450 bottles of wine (more white than red), 625 pizzas, more than 2,500 hot dogs and an equal number of hamburgers. The favorite beverage: draft beer. The favorite lunch: hot dogs. Average wake-up call: 6 a.m.

All of which tends to show that reporters drink heavily, eat badly and still manage to get up early.

And for those interested in estimating the collective gluttony of the press corps here, there are about 16,000 members of the media accredited to cover the convention, which works out to roughly eight journalists for every delegate.