By Nate Leskovic
Times Staff
9/25/08

(previous)
According to Sundstrom, at the state convention you need your own supporters to vote you in. It was a challenge with the 9th Congressional District convention taking place in Whitman this year. She said she was outnumbered by the Brockton Republicans.
In addition, she was a pledged Mitt Romney supporter and had served on his Massachusetts presidential steering committee.
Sundstrom is no stranger to Republican Party activities. Besides her seat on the state committee, she’s been a state convention delegate since 1982. She was an alternate delegate to the national convention the past three presidential campaigns and has served as the Republican State Party secretary.
Despite missing out on the action in person this year, Sundstrom is ready to get to work on the campaign.
“Things get busy right around now,” she said.
As with the rest of the nation, Sen. John McCain’s pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin grabbed Sundstrom’s attention the most.
“It was a surprise because nobody knew until the Friday before the convention,” she said.
Sundstrom was also happy to see Republicans from the Northeast have prominent speaking slots, like Giuliani and Romney, when that’s not usually the case.
As for McCain’s performance, she was satisfied.
“I don’t think he could have done any better,” she said. “That’s what he had to do. It was make it or break it. He’s running against someone (Sen. Barack Obama) who has a lot of experience speaking.”
It was the presentation of McCain’s personal story that was most successful, according to Sundstrom. She said it deserves repeating.
“Being a prisoner of war for five and a half years, I don’t think anyone can question his patriotism. He brought his (time in Vietnam) to the forefront and I’m sure it was difficult. You can say what you want about it, but you can’t take it away from him. It’s part of his life.”
Now Sundstrom is focusing on rallying voters for the election. One event she’s looking forward to is a debate party for Republicans at LaScala Restaurant in Randolph on Friday, Sept. 26.
She said a phone bank is being set up in Randolph at former state senate candidate Jim Aldred’s insurance office, aimed at swaying on-the-fence voters and getting committed voters to the polls.
Sundstrom said she’s ready to promote McCain despite her allegiance to Romney.
“I want someone with the experience (McCain) has at this point,” she said. “You have to look at the whole picture and the fact that he has a woman on his ticket. A lot of women look at it as a historic moment to vote for a woman.”