Have You Seen the RNC Delegates?

We know for a fact that the Tennessee delegation to the Republican National Convention is staying at the Safety Harbor Resort & Spa this week. 

How do we know? From all the signs, of course. 

Although we have been unable to breach the fourth wall of the Resort to get a glimpse of the delegates in their element, Safety Harbor Patch has received absolute confirmation that the pols have been spending time — and money — downtown.

“We had a bunch of RNC people in here on Sunday,” said Alex of Antiques to Aardvarks on Main Street. “We probably had 10 people in here, and you could tell they were from the RNC.”

If that isn’t a confirmation, we don’t know what is. 

Up Main Street at Syd Entel Galleries, owner Susan Benjamin said the delegates have been coming into the gallery since Saturday, thanks in part to her Politics, Patriotism and Pop Art exhibit that began on Friday.

She said groups of delegates have been drawn in by the show, and some even purchased pieces.

“They’re true Southerners,” Benjamin said. “They were ultra nice and ultra polite.” 

Further down the road at Crispers, managing partner Tom Lundeen also said he has seen a number of delegates in the restaurant over the past few days. And he has a foolproof method of knowing who they were.

“We told them if they wear their little badges we’d give them 10 percent off,” he explained. "We had about 10 people in here (Sunday) and 10 to 15 (on Monday).

“But they told me even though the events were cancelled, they were still going over there to (Tampa) to check things out.”

So even an approaching tropical storm and the threat of excessive patdowns didn’t keep all the Tennesseans in town.

No search for politicians would be complete without a trip to a tavern, so we checked with Craig Davide, owner of Nolan’s Pub, to find out if he had served any members of the Volunteer State’s RNC party. 

This is where the trail came to an end. 

“I haven’t seen any Republicans in here at all," Davide said. "I guess they don’t drink beer.”