Adam, Norm and the RNC

Thursday 9/4/2008
Xcel Energy Ctr.
St. Paul MN 1730 CT


Greetings from the Land of 10000 Lakes. It has been, thus far, one of the strangest conventions I have ever covered. It started off as no convention at all. Eclipsed by events meteorologic in New Orleans.

But like Matt Kenseth, we shot from a standstill to about 200 mph in a heartbeat with the speech of AK Gov. Sarah Palin last night. It energized the faithful and as someone, somewhere wrote or said, it gave the GOP their own Obama with all the excitement that entails.

But who cares about any of that? I'm still dumbstruck by the breakfast I had this AM. Our party went to what should be a midwest institution the food is so good. A restaurant in Minneapolis called Hells Kitchen. As soon as we sat down I realized that one table over was the actor, Adam Arkin dining with a friend. Arkin is probably best known for his role on CBS' series "Chicago Hope".

That wasn't terribly remarkable in and of itself. I saw Spike Lee, Susan Sarandon, and Josh Lucas roaming around at the DNC so you come to expect that sort of thing. What threw me for a loop was when Arkin and his dining companion got up to leave, I realized that I recognized the second man also. It was none other than Norm "son-of-a-gun" Gunderson (John Caroll Lynch) of "Fargo".

Now that's about as esoteric a spotting as one could hope for. I'm not sure whether or not I'm more shocked that he was there or that I recognized him and knew who he was or marveled at the fact that it was in MN of all places or what. But Norm Gunderson? Does it get any weirder than that?

"It's just a three cent stamp."

Day 2 Recap

1141 MT Pepsi Ctr. Denver, CO

Lost in the media crush surrounding Hillary Clinton's speech Tuesday night in Denver was the rousing speech given by Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer. (Full disclosure: I am a native Montanan) It was hokey. It was politically predictable. It was awkward and yet it was strangely engrossing.

First a bit of a prologue. Former VA Gov. Mark Warner was the convention keynote speaker and he came on stage about an hour before Schweitzer. His speech was a dud. Pure and simple. I have seen more life out of a wet spaghetti noodle. The crowd in the Pepsi Center largely ignored him and talked amongst themselves (an annoying and all to common quality at these events that often isn't picked up by those watching at home.) A couple of speakers followed Warner and did little better.

It's my feeling that you really have to engage the audience at these things to have a chance. Especially when they are all eagerly anticipating HRC. It's a little like being the opening act at a rock concert. You had better bring your 'A' game or fans will see you as little more than a nuisance which is delaying the main act. Well, out came Schweitzer at about 8:15 local time and at first it seemed like the crowd would ignore him too. But about five minutes in you could sense something happening. The hall slowly started to quiet and you could see that they were starting to pay attention. (It didn't help that Bill Clinton entered the arena and made his way to his seat at the beginning of Schweitzer's speech grabbing everybody's attention.) Schweitzer's tempo changed. His pitch got a little higher as if there was more urgency. He rocked back and forth and you could lip read President Clinton say "This guy is really, really good." The Governor punched the accelerator bringing the 20,000 Dems to their feet and just like that bounded off the stage, bluejeans, bolo tie and all.

I have to profess some shock at how well the speech was received. I have always thought Schweitzer comes off as a little bit of a used car salesman but the national media gushed:

CNN's Jeffrey Toobin said that he was this convention's Barack Obama. A reference to Obama's stunning speech four years ago in Boston.

The Washington Post's Chris Cilizza wrote "Schweitzer won himself some admirers tonight and ensured that he will almost certainly be in the mix the next time the Democratic Party goes looking for national candidates."

Time's Mark Halperin effusively called it " A folksy, tough, funny, home-run of a speech."

Clearly the communications folks in the Obama campaign knew what they had in Schweitzer. You don't give a primetime speaking spot to the governor of a rural state just for kicks especially not on the night that HRC is giving her all important "Unity" speech which was sure to bring even more eyeballs into the equation.

Obama himself seemed a little surprised by Schweitzer's speech. At a speech in Billings, MT this morning he elicited some laughs from the locals when mentioned their governor.

"He's unique. Even for Montana he's a pretty unique guy." said Obama.

Quite possibly the understatement of the day.

Denver sights and sounds

2:28 MT Pepsi Ctr. Denver, CO

Some quick musings from the Mile high city: It has been fairly quiet on the news front. Not much on the protester front aside from the 80 year old guy who got swept up by the men in blue.

There of course was the supposed plot to bump off Obama which was quickly discredited by the US Attorney here. It sounds more like a couple of meth-addled morons decided to talk tough to their white supremacist buddies. Anybody on the ground here had to laugh at the idea of some miscreants trying to shoot Obama while he's in Invesco. Too much security and no vantage point for someone with a rifle anywhere near the venue. That's probably why there wasn't as much coverage in the national news as their might have been. You couldn't take this particular threat seriously.

Got a chance to walk around downtown Denver a little this morning. There is convention related stuff everywhere you turn. Whether its buttons or t-shirts. Fans or signs. Hats or condoms. Yes, even Trojan has a tent. Insert joke here.

There are allegedly 62,000 Denver-ites within 1.5 miles of downtown Denver but it appears they may have all taken a collective vacation. As far as the eye could see this morning there were signs of Democratic outlanders who have invaded for the week. Whether it's the blue hair from Kentucky with her 500 convention pins crammed onto a baseball cap or union organizer with his "Democrats make better Lovers." t-shirt (Maybe the Trojan tent is aimed at him), they are downtown in force.

More facts and figures in my next post...

Day 1 Recap

2PM MT Pepsi Ctr. Denver, CO

20 years from now when people look back on the 2008 DNC in Denver they will think of two things. Obviously whether or not Barack Obama is/was elected President but also and perhaps more poignantly, they will remember Ted Kennedy electrifying the partisan crowd in what may be his final convention.

The headliner was billed as Michelle Obama humanizing her husband but as well as her speech went, it still played second fiddle to the hagiographic scene that surrounded the so-called lion of the senate.

Spirited in Sunday night aboard a private jet Kennedy spent much of Monday in the hospital and reportedly made his convention appearance against doctor's orders. One wonders however, how much of this story was trumped up a little in order the burnish the Kennedy image. If you learn nothing else about these conventions it is that they are made-for-TV events where embellishment and showmanship go hand in hand. Don't let the facts get in the way of a good yarn.

Kennedy was preceded by his niece, Caroline and a short video extolling his various virtues. The whole thing had the strange feel of an obituary in progress. The audience however could not get enough, roaring their approval at all the appropriate points and sending the senator off in style.

Groooaaaaaaannnnn....

6:10 PM Pepsi Ctr. Denver, CO

Wow. All hail the "Shtu" and his hard hitting sitdown with Barack Obama where the hard revealing topics ranged from Obama's youthful Afro to who he would pick as a Veep if it had to be an athlete. (He picked Jordan and Walter Payton).

It never ceases to amaze me that the four letter continues to trot that talent-less, lazy eye out there. Clutch your mouse with disbelief as Shtu drives on Obama for a layup and then does his best Rod Tidwell squeal after the shot falls. Hard hitting indeed.

Storm clouds in Denver?

5:36PM MT Pepsi Ctr.
Denver, CO


Well that's the story line the cable nets are pushing as we plow into Day One of DNC Denver.
CNN is acting like Armageddon is about to take place between the Hilary and Obama camps over whether and how her delegates will be counted. You sense there are still some undercurrents of hate between the two campaigns but my guess is come Thursday night all the wounds will be healed. This smells like little more than a drummed up controversy for the nets and nothing more.

I've seen several of the surrogates floating around the arena but the A-listers won't start arriving until tonight in primetime when we expect that Ted Kennedy may make an appearance. That could be a "bring-the-house-down" moment as everyone seems to think this will be his last convention.

Sights and sounds wise, I'm at a loss to offer too much. We haven't seen a hint of protestors anywhere near the Pepsi Center. That's a testament to the monumental security here in the Mile High City. It's tighter even than the NYC GOP soiree four years ago and that is really saying something. It's not just a cop on every corner but 20 on every corner. The security outlay for this convention is rumored to be north of 40 million. Begging the question of what a million bucks will buy you anymore? More posts as time permits...

MT/SD dissed by MSM

OK. Let me climb up on my soapbox here. As a native Montanan I was disappointed by the lack of political coverage the state got the night of the primary. Granted, from my perch on the main press riser in the Xcel Energy Center I by no means could monitor all the networks. In fact, we were all limited to watching MSNBC's coverage on the Jumbotron perched high above our heads like some massive, modern-day guillotine. Did I mention that they shut it off about five minutes before HRC made her non-concession speech? So based on this thin swath of coverage that I saw, I am grabbing my cudgel and preparing to hammer away.

Where was John King with his magic wonder board? Where were the reporters with the brilliant vistas as background for countless live reports? Where was the feature on the grizzled farmer having breakfast at some greasy diner or the drunk college kids screaming for their candidate?

Dissed. That's where. Neither campaign could find it within their hearts to grace Montana or South Dakota with a final victory party. 16 and 15 delegates can't buy you that. So just like that, the first primary of any significance in the Treasure State since probably forever went by the boards. In four years we'll be just another fly-over state that's lucky to get even one visit...maybe.