At the Convention: A ’90s Party With a Twist

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/22/us/politics/at-the-convention-a-90s-party-with-a-twist.html

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CLEVELAND — New York Times correspondents are chronicling the colorful, the unusual and the quirky at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

Anna Chapman, 22, stood outside the Powerhouse, a Cleveland event space, and worried that she was overdressed. She had left the Republican National Convention hall on Wednesday night, as Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana was in the middle of formally accepting the vice-presidential nomination, in order to change into her present outfit: dark shorts, sparkly hoop earrings and a T-shirt bearing the face of the pop singer Aaron Carter.

Observing the more conservatively dressed guests walking in, Ms. Chapman said, “I thought this was supposed to be a ’90s party.”

The College Republican National Committee, which calls itself “the best party on campus,” gave a party of the music-dancing-drinking variety late Wednesday night. And the gathering, called “Make America Dance Again,” was indeed 1990s-themed, a homage to a decade dominated by a certain Democratic family in the White House.

“We might love the ’90s and ’90s culture,” said Alexandra Smith, the College Republicans’ national chairwoman, “but we don’t love the Clintons. We’re remembering the parts that we like.”

The mostly college-age partygoers accented their dressy attire with faddish slap bracelets and butterfly hair clips distributed at the door. Scenes from the night’s convention proceedings played on a muted TV, and the dance floor pulsed with songs like Sublime’s “Santeria” (1996) and Sisqo’s “Thong Song” (1999.)

A delegate from Nevada, Staci Grunewald, 39, dropped in while taking a break from her delegation’s party upstairs and noted the crowded room’s energetic vibe. “I’m actually surprised,” she said, sipping a drink. “I was under the impression all young people were liberal.”

Algiers has the Casbah. New York has Fifth Avenue. And now Cleveland, at least until the Grand Old Party packs up its tent on Friday, has Euclid Avenue.

Sure, makeshift vendors dot downtown and the R.N.C. has its own goods for sale, but this stretch of a few high-traffic blocks near Quicken Loans Arena has emerged as a veritable commerce row, replete with cheap prices, questions of provenance and wary-eyed police.

“Can you believe this place?” said Chuck Gaul, a Clevelander, gesturing to the crowds flowing around him at Euclid and East 4th Street. “It’s a happening. This will probably never happen again in our lifetime.”

If their free spending is any indication, conventiongoers appear to agree. And, oh, do they have choices.

Tasteful and restrained in red, white and blue, “Trump Pence 2016” T-shirts and pins are on sale at almost every booth, as are “Make America Great Again” caps in a variety of colors and styles. There are Trump golf towels to carry with you to the links and bobblehead Donalds, good for a desk or bookshelf, aplenty.

Robert Alexander, a veteran button maker from Detroit, was offering sepia, antique-style takes on Mr. Trump and his family for the more aesthetically conscious.

Nearby, Ted Rall, a left-wing editorial cartoonist and columnist, was hawking his graphic biographies of Mr. Trump, Bernie Sanders and Edward Snowden. “This is obviously a Daniel in the lion’s den situation,” Mr. Rall said on Wednesday, but his sales were good anyway.

But, as usual, the gut-punchers seemed to be attracting the most oglers. “Hillary for Prison”? It’s emblazoned on shirts and hats, and on buttons with any number of photos of Mrs. Clinton behind bars. “Hillary’s Lies Matter” buttons pop up next to the more ubiquitous “Blue Lives Matter” ones.

There are also obscene buttons about the presumptive Democratic nominee that are unfit for publication. Suffice it to say, they are about body parts, not the body politic.

NICHOLAS FANDOS

The influx of thousands of visitors has no doubt been exciting for Cleveland. But the predominance of a certain type has been noted by natives accustomed to a different style.

Take this moment at the CNN Grill, a sports bar adjacent to Quicken Loans Arena that the cable network has converted for the week into an invitation-only bar/restaurant/TV studio. It is schmooze central.

A bartender there noted early Thursday morning that she was having trouble telling the customers apart.

“They all look the same to me,” she said. “They’re all wearing suits, and they’re all wearing glasses.”

Indeed, a quick look confirmed that most of the gathered male news media professionals, operatives, lobbyists and other sorts of political insiders were sporting coats and ties and a varied assortment of eyeglasses, evidently a departure from the usual Cleveland look. Perhaps they will fit in better next week in Philadelphia.

CARL HULSE