A pair of Lowndes County residents will soon occupy a tiny piece of the two largest political stages in the United States as delegates to their national party conventions.
Columbus banker Larry Cantrell is headed to the Republican National Convention, which begins Tuesday in Tampa, Fla., while Lowndes County Supervisor Leroy Brooks will be a delegate at the Democratic National Convention, which begins Sept. 4 in Charlotte, N.C.
For Cantrell, it will be his first experience at a national convention. He and his wife drove to Florida on Saturday.
“I have worked and been friends with Governor Phil Bryant for many years,” said Cantrell, who works as senior vice president at Cadence Bank in Columbus. “It was really exciting to get a call from his office asking if I would like to be a delegate at the RNC. I was like a kid in a candy store, I was so excited.”
Cantrell, whose enthusiasm is evident in the sparkle in his eyes and his eager responses to questions about the trip, said he has been a fan of the political process since he graduated from Mississippi State University. Working as a community volunteer helped enhance his passion for government.
“I’ve always been involved in some civic work and it was through that process that I found out how important government is,” said Cantrell, 62. “A lot of people are saying the RNC isn’t going to be exciting this year, but I think it’s going to be about getting together and doing some hard work. We have a wonderful government in the United States.”
The expectations for Cantrell’s first convention are endless, he said. From meeting the possible next president to meeting people from all over the country, Cantrell said he is looking forward to being in the moment.
“I hope that I get to meet Governor Romney while I’m there,” he said. “I’m looking forward to hearing all of the different speakers, especially New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. I also want to know what people in other states are thinking — are they conservatives? Does the Bible Belt matter to the rest of the country? The Mississippi delegates are staying in the same hotel with the Wisconsin delegates, so I’m sure we will get some discussions going on Paul Ryan. I hope to come back and be able to get people fired up to vote. For me, this is more about patriotism than politics.”
While Cantrell and the other national delegates prepare for three days of speeches, workshops and camaraderie, a possible severe weather system threatens to rain on their political parade. Convention officials pushed back the opening of the convention to Tuesday from Monday after Tropical Storm Isaac impacted Haiti, where at least two people were killed, and Cuba on Saturday with torrential rains and high winds. Isaac is expected to become a Category 2 hurricane as it moves into the Gulf of Mexico. Its predicted path through the Gulf could have it landing in Tampa within the next few days.
“We are definitely concerned about the weather,” Cantrell said. “We will be monitoring the weather the whole time we are there. We are going to take extra water and supplies with us and we plan on filling up with gas as soon as we get to Tampa.”
Going to conventions is nothing new for Brooks, who has attended past Democratic National Conventions as both a guest and a delegate. The self-proclaimed “elder of Lowndes County politics” and former political science professor at MSU recalled fondly his early dreams of attending a DNC.
“I got into politics for a combination of reasons,” Brooks said. “I remember when Dr. E.J. Stringer, one of my mentors, went to a convention and came back and told me about it. I knew then that I wanted to be a part of it. As I enter the twilight of my political career, I know this will be the last convention I attend as a delegate. If I had a magic wand, I would do away with political parties. But the Democratic ideology helped shape my thinking. The Democratic Party is closely aligned with my views.”
After attending his first DNC as a guest in Atlanta in 1988, Brooks attended the 1996 convention in Chicago as a guest. In 2008, he was a delegate for the state in Denver, a moment he said he would never forget. “I had the opportunity to speak with President Obama when he was campaigning in Columbus,” Brooks said. “Denver is a nice, clean city and there was a diverse mix of people at that convention — a more diverse group than I had ever seen gathered together from all over the country. The night Obama spoke was at Mile High Stadium. I remember seeing him on the jumbotron with the mountains in the background. I knew it was a moment I would never forget. It was a moment in history.”
As a veteran of DNCs, Brooks said he is looking forward to sharing ideas with people from other parts of the county when he gets to Charlotte.
“I’m looking forward to the quality of speakers and working with some of the smaller focus groups,” said Brooks. “One of the reasons I wanted to be a delegate is because I want to be part of the historical process and tell my grandchildren about this.
“Win, lose or draw, it’s all about the moment.”
On that point, at least, both Cantrell the Republican and Brooks the Democrat agree.
Jeff Clark was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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