Ed. note: Please see this note for more information on why we are running some political news stories this weekend. Florida is the fourth most populous state in America, and after the 2000 presidential election disaster, it's become a legendary battleground for national political opponents. Now in its fourth iteration, the Republican Party of Florida's (RPOF) weekend rally is host to the 2008 Republican presidential candidate -- whomever it will be. Hopefully after this Sunday's debate, Florida's registered Republicans will have a better idea of which candidate they'd like to officially support.

Pictures

Rather than embed all of the photos from Saturday's events in this story, we've decided to publish them as a directory. Feel free to browse through our directory of Presidency IV photos. None of them may be reused without written permission from JEM Electronic Media, Inc.

Presidency IV overview

The RPOF's Presidency rally began in 1979 to showcase Republican candidates and their issues. From that rally, voters got to know Ronald Reagan and went on to vote him into office twice. In 1987, George Bush got his message out to Florida voters through Presidency II -- and won. Bob Dole was here for Presidency III in 1995, but though he won the Republican nomination, he lost not only the state of Florida, but also the national election to Bill Clinton. Now in 2007, voters have an unprecedentedly diverse array of candidates to decide among at Presidency IV at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando.

Not just anyone can attend a Presidency rally. A number of Republican ambassadors from every voting district in the state apply online or via mail to be selected by party leaders to attend. There is, of course, an effort for each candidate to get as many of his supporters into ambassadorships as possible so that they will have the appearance of widespread Republican support. The RPOF refers to Republican ambassadors as "activists," which belies its lack of insurance that each candidate is fairly represented by his constituency. Each ambassador pays $100 per ticket, and can bring one guest. Because of its financial sponsorship of the event, the Florida Association of Realtors also had a significant delegation in attendance. In all, more than 4000 people attended Saturday's events.

Sunday had a longer but less crowded schedule, starting with a prayer breakfast, filling out the middle of the day with roundtable discussions and receptions for various Republican groups and factions. The day ended with a full-scale Republican presidential debate, hosted by the Fox News Channel.

The governor's luncheon

Presidency IV kicked off with a nicely catered luncheon hosted by RPOF Chairman Jim Greer and Florida governor Charlie Crist. All of the Republican speeches shared the same basic theme: That the GOP is in danger of being ideologically and politically divided. Ronald Reagan and Theodore Roosevelt were repeatedly invoked as Republican archetypes.

Roundtable meetings and special receptions

The bulk of the weekend's programs and hallway booths were for specific Republican faction groups such as the Florida Federation of Black Republicans, the Republican National Hispanic Association, the Hispanic Advisory Council, the Jewish Advisory Council, the Young Republicans, and the Teenage Republicans. Some had tables, others had conference rooms reserved for meetings, all explained why their members were excited to be Republicans.

Presidential candidate's rally

Very little information about this part of the event was available to ambassadors before it began. It was on the schedule, but the participating candidates were not listed, so thousands of Republican ambassadors, delegates, and media personnel streamed into the cavernous Panzacola ballroom with their signs and cameras with the hope of seeing their preferred candidate speak. However, only Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Mitt Romney, and Fred Thompson were scheduled to speak (in that order, which is alphabetical to avoid any appearance of bias or preference), no doubt disappointing the respectable number of Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee sign-holders. Several Ron Paul supporters even shouted some brief protests when Mitt Romney followed Rudy Giuliani. According to a number of Republican attendees, candidates were required to pay $100,000 for the privilege of speaking at the rally, which may explain why some of the candidates chose not to participate.

Virginia Algar, a Republican candidate for president, found her way to the press room while this article was in progress, and expressed discontent that she was not allowed to participate in Saturday's speeches or Sunday's debate. Having been told of the fee for giving a speech on Saturday, she balked at the cost. "This country was not founded on money. It was founded on honesty, integrity, and faith. It needs to get back in the hands of the people, where it belongs. I don't have millions of dollars in my pocket, but I know what the people want and what they need." Shortly thereafter, she was calmly escorted out of the press room by security.

Giuliani spoke first, and longest. In what was apparently the theme of the entire Presidency IV event, Giuliani played up his similarity to Ronald Reagan, his commitment to traditional family values, his hardline stance on military action in the middle east, his leadership and management experience, and to the surprise of some attendees, announced plans for national tort reform. Giuliani sited the financial and societal benefits of limiting non-economic financial damages and other civil lawsuit reform in the state of Texas, and his vow to bring similar policies to a national level, to the adoration of the Republican crowd. This was not a secret before, but it was the first original idea to come out of a Republican speaker's mouth all day, and it brought a great deal of individual distinction to a pool of candidates who all seem to share the same goals and ideals.

John McCain's solemn introductory film reiterated his military service, his commitment to American military strength, and of course a history of his interactions with Ronald Reagan. McCain did not appear to be as comfortable on stage as Giuliani, but the self-proclaimed "comeback kid" hit a nerve with the crowd with his insistence that his military policy, ignored for the bulk of the Bush administration's tenure, has now been adopted by American military leaders and is undeniably winning the war in Iraq. McCain's presentation and speech was easily the most emotional and heartfelt for the audience. McCain was the only candidate that did not walk the front of the crowd to shake hands at the end of his speech; it's not clear whether he was unaware that this was an option for him, or if he felt that his message would be taken more seriously if he didn't smile and shake hands afterward.

Mitt Romney was introduced by a host of Florida Republican politicians, and made his way to the stage with his wife (who spoke to the crowd for a few minutes), and eldest son. By contrast, the charismatic Giuliani and the emotionally moving McCain looked like loners on stage, but they both had much more inspiring presentations than Romney. Romney's message was the standard Reagan/family values rhetoric that rally attendees had already been listening to all afternoon.

The last -- and briefest -- of the candidates was Fred Thompson. Thompson's intro movie showcased his long career as a lawyer and politician, including his work in investigating the Watergate scandal, and his professional relationship with Ronald Reagan. Thompson entered the stage with his wife Jeri, but she left through the back of the stage before he began his speech. Like Romney, Thompson offered little but a commitment to family values, limited federal government, and other traditional conservative precepts. He initially left the stage directly after thanking the audience after an unusually short speech, but then came back out to walk down the front of the audience for photos, smiles, and handshakes.

Overall, McCain and Giuliani concentrated on what they would do in office and how they would get things done, whereas Romney and Thompson focused on establishing their character and principles.

We'll have coverage of Sunday's events and the presidential debate published soon.

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