At Wednesday’s Republican National Convention, speeches didn’t begin until the evening. The day before, the main events began at 5:30 PM, but the Wednesday schedule didn’t commence until 7:20 PM. Because of the late starting time, few people appeared in the arena until well after 4:00. Regardless, I tried to find members of the Illinois delegation inside the arena.

I was able to speak with some of the delegation. Two of the most memorable interviews came from Donald Trump-supporting delegates. One of them, Cynthia Schaffer, is from Tinley Park, in the 3rd Congressional district. She said she “was Trump all the way” in primary, although she believed him to be a “big buffoon” before he started running. However, she decided to support him fully after noticing that he was saying “everything we were all thinking, but afraid to say” and that he was “not politically correct,” which she found “refreshing.” She reported that the Illinois delegation was “eating and drinking” together but “had not officially met.”

Another memorable meeting was with Bob Bedner, a Trump delegate from Mundelein, Illinois (in the 10th Congressional district). He is “thrilled” at the way things have been proceeding so far. He hopes that Bruce Rauner, Mark Kirk, and his own Congressman Robert Dold will endorse Donald Trump soon. He went so far to say that “Bob Dold needs to figure out he’s a Republican.” As for the delegation meeting, Bedner thinks it’s not necessary since the entire delegation is already committed to vote as the people in their district did. By his reasoning, the delegation has no need to hold an official meeting since they are forced to vote one way regardless of their own opinions. He believes that the fact that they met after the Illinois state convention is enough, and any extra meeting now would serve no purpose.

Other delegates with whom I met agreed that the delegation had not met in an official capacity, but none of them seem bothered by that fact. Another delegate, who refused to give her name, refused an interview.

Life is much simpler for all of these delegates now, since the Republican Party nomination for President has been completed. Because there were no serious floor fights (at least after the first day) and the nomination process was relatively smooth, these delegates are comfortable and ready to enjoy the rest of the convention. None of those I mentioned reported having any interest in holding a meeting of the delegation, but I still hope to keep up with their actions and opinions tomorrow. It may be out of the ordinary for a state delegation not to meet at the convention, but this certainly is not an ordinary convention.