Swag

Well, we've moved all our stuff into our workspace in St. Paul. We also broke the rules and successfully smuggled in water and snacks. The GOP wants us to spend $3.50 on a bottle of water from their catering company. Um, do we look like we're made of money?

After we organized our workspace we picked up our convention credentials. Along with the credentials, they gave us these bags full of free stuff. The Democrats had one too. Let's see what's inside, shall we?


Lots of papers, advertisements, coupons...

...and a free condom!?? From the GOP?!? Actually, it's a sugar packet. I don't get it either.

The always popular "NWA World Traveler Magazine" with John McCain and two other random guys.* I don't even read this magazine when I'm flying with NWA and they have a captive audience. By the way - how great is Northwest Airlines' acronym "NWA"? Gives the cover a whole new meaning.


And finally: possibly the best free macaroni and cheese I've ever received. They're in the shape of elephants!

*It's Sen. Norm Coleman (up against comedian Al Franken this year) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (he was on McCain's VP shortlist).

On a Jet Plane

I'm unlikely to be blogging for the next day or two. We are headed to even more glamorous Minneapolis/St. Paul for the GOP Convention, where I have to set up our workspace/credentials/access to coffee all over again.

I'm looking forward to working in a place with indoor plumbing.

Smell ya later Democrats!

I Think I'm Going to Miss the Democrats

This Made Our Night

It's our competitor's paper. And, the headline tonight reads something like this: "Obama Accepts the Nomination on the Anniversary of Dr. King's Death."

Hmm. Not quite. One of my co-workers printed out copies for everyone here and highlighted the headline. Do you think this is what the New York Times does when the Washington Post fucks up? I'd like to think so.

UPDATE: Well, it could have been worse.

Lines for Obama

This afternoon, as I was making my 3rd walk of the day from the parking garage to our workspace, I snapped a few photos of the crazy-ass line to get into Invesco.

That's the parking garage on the left. On the right is a shit-ton of hope mongers.

It's hard to see, but the line runs behind that row of cars. It's a long, long road to Invesco.

There are always long lines at Obama events due to a combination of heavy security and the popularity of the candidate. However, this was Obama line x 100.

A Quick Tour of the CNNopolis

This is where Anderson Cooper eats his lunch. It's also where CNN broadcasts the majority of their convention coverage from.
Does it depress me that their neon sign probably cost more than my annual salary? A little.

They even made decals for the windows. Bravo CNN. That's some impressive branding.

This is probably the biggest slap in the face to us lowly print journalists. "Private until 3PM? Yay! Let's go kick it with John King tonigh.... oh wait, never mind."

The Barackopolis

McCain press guy Brian Rogers sent out an interesting "Campaign Memo" yesterday. These memos are usually desperate attempts to set (low) expectations for whatever McCain campaign event is coming up and to generally kick Obama in the nuts (electronically).

This one was a little different:

To: Interested Parties
From: Brian Rogers, Deputy Communications Director
Date: August 27, 2008
Re: Proper Attire For The Temple Of Obama (“The Barackopolis”)

Today, workers at Invesco Field are putting the final touches on the newest wonder of the modern political world -- The Temple of Obama (“The Barackopolis”). It is upon this pulpit that Barack Obama will tomorrow night address thousands of screaming, adoring fans. There may be some confusion among the press about the venue and appropriate dress code for Barack Obama's big speech. To help out, we wanted to provide the following tips on appropriate attire. The toga may have gone out of style centuries ago, but after Obama's temple speech tomorrow night, they’re sure to be flying off the racks.

And then he attaches some pictures of different toga styles with captions. A little lame, but hey, it's the Republicans here. They aren't exactly known for their sparkling satire.

Anyway, on my long walk to the media tents this morning, I ran into these guys. It appears they've taken Rogers's joke one step further:

2:1 odds says they actually do have a toga party tonight.

Happy Hour

One of the cons of working in the tents is that we live in an icebox. One of the pros is that there's an open bar:Yeah, I'm not kidding. Captain Morgan sponsored this lounge/bar area in our tent. It's pretty nice. Sofas, snacks and all the alcohol you can drink.

The thing is - the bar is only open when the convention is in session. This is when I (and most journalists) are working. It closes the moment they slam that gavel on the podium.

What. A. Tease.

On the plus side, they gave us T-shirts...

...which we are using to stay warm. I'd rather have a complimentary gin and tonic do that job.

The Captain himself has been seen wondering the area. I'm kicking myself for not getting a picture earlier this week (like Wonkette did). As I was grabbing my free Diet Coke just now I asked the bartender if she expected an apperance today. She cryptically repiled that the Captain "and his entourage" (?) show up on their own time. Ah, Pirates.

Hill Takes the Stand

Last night my colleague and I headed over to our press seats in the Pepsi Center to watch Sen. Clinton's speech. It will be the only time I spend inside the convention hall among the partisans and media circus this week. Tonight I'm in the tents with the towels. Tomorrow, two of our correspondents head to Invesco and the rest of us party it up with Captain Morgan (more on that later).

I was lucky that this was my night in the Hall. The frenzied media speculation about Hill's speech had reached a fevered pitch and there was an electric feeling of anticipation in the air. Would she be gracious and supportive? Would we believe it? Would Chris Matthews's head explode from the excitement of it all?*

The view from the press stands affords an excellent view of the audience, and zero view of the speaker. But no matter. I've seen Hillary speak live enough times to know that she'll be wearing a pantsuit of some color, and will talk about health care or a village or something.

Anyway, the reaction of the audience was pretty crazy. These people LOVE her:

And they say Obama is a rock star.

*It has to happen sooner or later.

The Donkeys

Monday, representatives from the DNC stole our workspace. Well, they didn't steal it so much as mistakenly believe it was their own. How this happened is a mystery, considering that although we hadn't yet arrived at the tents, all our stuff was out. Stuff that wasn't written in English.

And yet...

The friendly DNC Press guy (I hesitate to use the word "officer" as I can't imagine him occupying a role of any real significance) walked up to me and introduced himself. Confused, he asked me if I was using one of the desks in our workspace. Equally confused, I told him that yes, that desk is ours. Then, he turned to a pile of boxes in the corner. Yep, those are ours too.

At this point, I don't think either of us were sure where this conversation was going.

"Was there something I can help you with?" I asked.

Then, it clicked. He sheepishly admitted that he and his colleague "were told" that our workspace was theirs.

The damage? They gave away one of our lamps to a reporter complaining about the light in the tents (which was quickly returned). They took two of our bottled waters (which were not returned). And, they turned on the TV.

All-in-all a perfect example of the DNC. Well-intentioned, good ideas, a little clueless.

Does the WSJ Hate Michelle Obama?

Because -seriously- this is the worst photo ever:

Her tongue is sticking out for Christ's sake. And poor Sasha just looks bored. Cute, but bored.

Freezing Us Out

These...

...are the current bain of our existence here in the Media Pavilions. Sure, during the day they keep the tents cool in the 90-something degree Denver heat. But when nightfall hits, these suckers stay on, and arctic climates take over.

Nuts to that.

My bureau chief actually attempted to prop open the doors last night to bring in some much-needed heat to the tents. I wonder what the DNCC would have to say about us air-conditioning the Denver night.

We were so desperate for warmth during coverage last night that one of our correspondents went to K Mart to buy us blankets.

Unfortunately, blankets were too expensive, so he bought Martha Stewart towels instead. It's a good thing.

You Got the Right One Baby

Is it a coincidence that Obama's logo looks a lot like Pepsi's?

Because I think the P.U.M.A.'s could cry conspiracy on Pepsi and the Obama campaign for rigging the election to ensure this perfect confluence of brand names.

The Fourth Estate

And now, an exclusive look at our glamourous Denver convention workspace:


This is our very organized filing area. It's quite dark and cave-like at night. The DNC's overhead lighting scheme is lacking in the tents. One of our correspondents scored a Michelle banner from the convention floor.

Workspace dividers, not uniters. (Also note the trash bins. The DNC is pushing everyone to sort their trash. They've actually got people stationed in front of them during the day. Earlier, a nice volunteer and I had a lengthy discussion on which bin my Starbucks cup should go in.)

And, finally: the fortress of solitude. That cube on the left is our competitor's workspace. They threw down some major cash for the walls. We'll have them in Minneapolis, so they can suck it.

Wolf Blitzer: Buy Me a Sandwich

The National Journal had an excellent story this morning that pretty much sums up the contrast in workspaces between the print media and broadcast. Moneybags CNN rented out a bar/restaurant inside the Pepsi Center complex. The rest of us are having a hard time finding any food around here. Our organization has dealt with this the way most organizations who didn't buy a restaurant are: take-out. The problem is to get the take-out, you have make it through the secret service gauntlet to go fetch it and bring it back in. Welcome to a world of cold food, seasoned with the saliva of explosive sniffing dogs.


Oh, and yes the floors are wood. We just couldn't rationalize $1,000 extra for carpet.