Lifting the Lid on GOP Party Fare

New Orleans will be one Grand Old Party at the Republican Convention. But remember: Because it is the GOP, the very best parties will go unreported and unnoted.

Even events as hot as Tabasco are kept tightly capped. Loyal Republicans know the rules: Don’t talk about the party or you will be knocked off the guest list the next time.

Ah, thankfully, some details of supersecret stuff do leak out:

- George Bush is scheduled to receive the party’s presidential nomination Wednesday night, then head to Arnaud’s for a strictly family get-together. (That dinner will probably include very close family friends, like entertainment mogul Jerry Weintraub and his wife, Jane.)

- The Kitchen Cabinet gets into New Orleans on Sunday, just in time for the all-day Reagan love feast Monday. The First Lady’s luncheon Monday precedes President Reagan’s address to the convention that night--then, a closed supper with close friends. For many Kitchen Cabineteers, this is their fifth convention with Reagan, starting in 1968 when his name was placed in nomination. He skipped 1972 (when Nixon was the incumbent) but was back in the balloting in 1976, then took the nomination in 1980, and of course, was renominated in 1984.

- In the GOP’s answer to the Brat Pack, look for younger types like Tony Danza, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Cheryl Ladd to supplement the star quotient, which includes veterans like Charlton Heston and Helen Hayes.

- The Eagles, those loyal Republicans who give $10,000 annually, have one special event a day planned for them. Sunday night, they gather for a buffet; Monday, it’s lunch in the Plimsoll Club overlooking the Mississippi River; Tuesday, it’s a 10 a.m. riverboat cruise with Cajun food (which sounds remarkably like the Atlanta convention’s party train); Wednesday, things cool off with a special reception at the New Orleans Museum of Art (1,200 are expected).

(In a frenzy of kitsch and cuteness, there are seemingly dozens of “riverboat cruises” set for morning, noon and late night. Remembering that New Orleans is not just hot, but very humid; these parties do not seem like prizes but rather like punishments.)

- Observers probably will sight the Weintraubs, along with other Bush familiars, like oilman Robert Mosbacher and his wife, Georgette, across a crowded convention hall--but it will be in-and-out for the real VIPs.

- Conservatives turn out in full force at the Monday afternoon reception at the Museum of Art with Phyllis Schlafly of the Eagles Forum. Termed the “Good Times” party, it will honor Secretary of Education William Bennett and a raft of stars from the right--former Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, former Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick and New York Rep. Jack Kemp.

- In the how-the-expectations-have-fallen category, former Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Hanford Dole (much mentioned four years ago as a possible veep candidate on this ticket) winds up in the spotlight only at a Wednesday luncheon. It’s sponsored by Avon Products.

Honors for presumably the biggest bash go to the Saturday night party hosted by Times Picayune publisher Ashton Phelps Jr. at the New Orleans Convention Center. Outdoing even Los Angeles vagueness, the invitation asks guests to be “casually elegant.” A long list of famous local restaurants will supply the food, including Patout’s, Antoine’s, Brennan’s and the New Orleans School of Cooking.

- On Sunday, newsies will get to exchange and figure the rumors-of-the-day, first at a brunch at Brennan’s hosted by Gannett and USA Today, then at an evening buffet at Antoine’s, hosted by Mort Zuckerman and the editors of U.S. News & World Report.

As far as the extensive “master calendar” put out by convention folks shows, there is no event featuring potential First Lady Barbara Bush.

And where will the first post-convention party be? A clear front-runner is the fund-raiser reportedly set for Saturday night, Aug. 20, at the home of Cleveland Browns’ owner Art Modell and his wife, Pat.

Now does that mean there is a vice-presidential candidate from Ohio?