Melissa Dittmann Tracey, Associate Multimedia Editor
 ST. PAUL, Minn. – Arizona Sen. John McCain vowed to stand up and fight for the country to keep it safe from global threats and help rebound from a sagging economy, as he accepted the Republican party’s nomination for president of the United States here tonight.
“These are tough times for many of you,” McCain told the crowd at the Xcel Center. “You’re worried about keeping your job or finding a new one, and are struggling to put food on the table and stay in your home. All you ever asked of government is to stand on your side, not in your way. And that’s just what I intend to do -- stand on your side and fight for your future.”
McCain's speech wrapped up the four-day Republican National Convention (Watch a video recap of real estate's presence during the RNC.)
During his speech, McCain said he found the right partner in his vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, to help him shake up Washington, which drew cheers from the crowd, who had been won over by Palin after her energetic speech last night.
“I fight for Americans,” McCain said. “I fight for you. I fight for Bill and Sue Nebe from Farmington Hills, Michigan, who lost their real estate investments in the bad housing market.
Continue reading "Republican Convention: McCain Accepts Party’s Nomination" »
More than 200 Republican and about 100 Democratic delegates at the 2008 Republican and Democratic National Conventions are also REALTORS. Why did they decide to take on this role in our country's election process and how has it helped them in their real estate business? We caught up with several REALTOR delegates during the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. Watch the video and hear how their political involvement has helped them.
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Watch video footage from REALTOR Randy McKinney, a Republican delegate from Alabama, as his state casts its delegate votes for the presidential nomination of Sen. John McCain.
Robert Freedman, Senior Editor
 ST. PAUL, Minn. -- As the political excitement at the Republican National Convention entered its third day, much of the attention among politicos and the media was on the upcoming speech of vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska. But about a mile from the Xcel Energy Center, where the festivities are taking place, NAR President-elect Charles McMillan paid a visit to Ravoux House, a high-rise public housing project with several hundred elderly and disabled residents that’s everything critics and supporters say public housing should be: safe, decent, and affordable.
“There are still people who cannot afford the American Dream and in the current environment that’s becoming even more difficult,” said McMillan, who went on to praise the work of the St. Paul, Minn., Housing Authority for its success with its Ravoux community. “But we must do more to help not only those struggling to get on the bottom rung of the housing ladder, whether that’s ownership or shelter through rental programs, and we must do more to preserve homeownership for those who are threatened with losing their homes.” (Watch a video of McMillian's remarks.)
 Inside the Xcel Center, amidst all the political speeches, some 2,000 delegates and tens of thousands of other convention-goers heard that same call for homeownership preservation.
“Today, Americans are concerned about keeping their jobs, about keeping their homes,” said Carly Fiorina, former chairperson and CEO of global technology giant Hewlett-Packard, who spoke on the convention floor that evening.
The core of any plan to stem the mortgage crisis and ramp up economic growth must start
Continue reading "Republican Convention: Keeping the Focus on That First Rung of the Housing Ladder" »
Watch video highlights of NAR President-elect Charles McMillan, and REALTOR® and Nevada Republican delegate Jack Woodcock talk about the real estate and politics at 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.
Robert Freedman, Senior Editor
ST. PAUL, Minn. — When Bill Gross was at the podium in the Xcel Energy Center Tuesday evening, the second day of the Republican National Convention here, he moved many of the delegates and other convention-goers with his stories of the farmers helped by Farm Rescue, a nonprofit group he founded. The group doesn’t step in with money; rather, it deploys volunteers — often other farmers — to help plant, maintain, and harvest crops for farmers who’ve suffered a disabling injury and need time to recuperate before they can get back to their fields.
As Gross put it, “We give them an opportunity to continue their livelihood during an unexpected crisis.”
Shortly after Gross made his remarks, the convention heard from Ashley Gunn, a junior at the University of Pennsylvania who launched a nonprofit that turns abandoned houses into affordable homeownership opportunities for indigent households.
What struck me as I was listening to these stories is how much they resemble the kind of work REALTORS® do every day in their communities and that are showcased each year in the REALTOR® magazine Good Neighbor Awards. As a frequent judge for these awards, I know that the winners and runners-up represent just a fraction of the hundreds of entries submitted each year. Without a doubt, for REALTORS®, every day is “service” day.
That’s a message NAR and the hundreds of REALTORS® serving as delegates to this and the Democratic convention last week have been sharing with lawmakers and others involved in the
Continue reading "Republican Convention: Service Is Showcased, REALTORS® Show the Way" »
Robert Freedman, Senior Editor
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The scene of protestors on Kellogg St. outside the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul was chaotic but for the hundreds of REALTORS® here attending as delegates to the Republican National Convention the focus was on the Gulf Coast.
As they did when the Gulf Coast was struck by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, REALTORS® stepped up with donations to the REALTOR® Relief Fund. But in this case, they were opening their wallets even before it was clear what the full impact of Hurricane Gustav would be.
“It was extremely moving to see how quickly REALTORS® came forward in this time of need,” said NAR President-elect Charles McMillan.
While Gustav was making landfall, NAR and another group, the Creative Coalition, were hosting a joint forum to hear from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development staff on the recently passed housing bill at a restaurant across the river in Minneapolis. The Creative Coalition is the social advocacy arm of the entertainment industry, and the group, along with NAR, also hosted a joint meeting at the Democratic National Convention in Denver the previous week.
Official activities at the convention were curtailed because of Gustav, with First Lady Laura Bush and Cindy McCain, wife of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona -- the only two keynoters on Monday. However, convention-goers stayed busy with a phalanx of meetings and forums outside the convention hall.
More than 200 REALTORS®, representing 44 states, were in town as delegates to the convention. They’ll be joining more than 2,000 other delegates this week to vote on the nomination of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska for vice president and John McCain for president.
For the REALTOR® community, they’ll be communicating the importance of REALTOR® issues
Continue reading "Republican Convention: REALTORS® Exemplify ‘Minnesota Nice’" »
Watch highlights from this week's Democratic National Convention. Stay tuned next week as we bring you coverage from the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis.
Melissa Dittmann Tracey, Associate Multimedia Editor
 DENVER – Obamamania was in full force tonight as Barack Obama accepted the Democratic presidential nomination in front of a thunderous crowd of 80,000.
“It’s time for us to change America,” Obama told a cheering crowd, who waved American flags in the air and created a rumble in the stadium by stomping their feet in agreement.
Crowds lined up starting midday, waiting in security lines that at times stretched more than a mile, all so they could watch Obama accept the party’s nomination Thursday night at Invesco’s Mile High Stadium.
 “We meet at one of those defining moments - a moment when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more,” Obama said.
”Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach. These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush.”
Throughout the evening, Obama and other speakers – including Al Gore and Vice President nominee Joe Biden – sought to closely tie the policies of Bush to McCain.
In his 45-minute speech, Obama offered up some specifics of what his “change” agenda
Continue reading "Democratic Convention: Obama Accepts Party's Nomination" »
DENVER - REALTOR® Michael Eaves, a broker specializing in commercial real estate investments for Long & Foster REALTORS® in Bel Air, Md., is one of nearly 100 delegates who are REALTORS® at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Eaves serves as a delegate in Maryland.
Watch some of his video reports from the convention floor on Wednesday.
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