NYT: G.O.P. Plans Spectacle to Jazz Up Convention

[kskiska]

When the curtain goes up on the Republican National Convention on Aug. 30, the supporting cast will include gospel- and country-music performers, elaborate videos, and celebrities doing what they can to help market President Bush's ideas and vision for America, one of the convention's organizers said yesterday.

But the convention will present not only politicians and celebrities on each of its four days. People from around the country have been invited to offer an invocation or benediction or to make some other short statement, said Frank Breeden, the convention's director of entertainment, who called this aspect of the program "Preachers and Patriots."

The Republicans are hoping that their convention, in New York, can help give their candidate the significant bounce in the polls that eluded the Democratic challenger, Senator John Kerry, after the convention in Boston. And so the party hired Mr. Breeden, a former president of the Gospel Music Association renowned in the Christian music industry, to help produce a show that carefully weaves the party's political message with a mix of music, star power and patriotic symbolism.

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Mr. Breeden described some challenges in trying to find celebrities for the G.O.P. event. He said that on many occasions he found there were entertainers who supported the president, or Republican ideas, but who felt their careers would be hurt if they made that support public. Mr. Breeden identified the actor Ron Silver as someone who expressed that opinion to him, although Mr. Silver said that was not exactly the case.

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http://nytimes.com/2004/08/10/nyregion/10gop.html