the office(s)

You may be wondering why I'm back to talking about Denver tongiht. With the RNC cancelled for the night I have some free time for the first (and likely only) time during my two week odyssey. So I decided to catch up on a few posts I meant to write but never got around to. So here we go!

When I first got to Denver I tried to delineate the difference between the two McCain offices in Denver, but as things got crazy, I laid back on it.

The first office I visited was the McCain campaign headquarters in Centennial, a southern suburb of Denver. Ironically, it is located at the same exit off the interstate as the one I used the last time I was in Denver (lonnnnnnnggggg story).

It was pretty much a generic campaign office, not really any different from the Ricketts, Johanns, or Terry offices in Omaha, save for the fact it was larger. A big room with a bunch of phones, a room to eat pizza in, a few offices. My first day there we made signs to be used at rallies at the RNC.


An interesting aside about the McCain office occurred a week before I arrived. One of the campaign staffers opened a letter sent to the office addressed to Senator McCain (sending letters to the Senator isn't uncommon; sending them to a campaign office rather than D.C. or Arizona is).

The letter was simple. It read "IF YOU ARE READING THIS YOU ARE ALREADY DEAD" After reading this the office was evacuated and the three people inside were sent to the local hospital, which was promptly evacuated as well. I ended up spending my first night in Denver with one of the staffers that was "contaminated" He said all tehy essentially did was hose them off.

They quickly realized it was a hoax, and the man who sent it was "not well" and actually already in prison for sending threatening letters.

The other office was far more interesting. Located probably a mile from the Pepsi Center on Speer Boulevard (Denver's main corridor) the site was nicknamed the "war room" The building looked like a very modern builing from the outside and the area around the front door was adorned with "NOT READY '08: A MILE HIGH, AN INCH DEEP"

Immediately to the right inside the front door was a long rectangular room with hardwood floors taht had been converted in to a proess conference room. At one end stood a podium and a "NOT READY '08" backdrop. In front of it was a row of seats that media occupied during the press conference and behind them was a row of large television camperas. Off this room was a small professional office where the major GOP dignitaries did personal interviews.


After walking in the front door you ran in to a secretary's desk. Behind that was a glass room with every inch of wall space featuring flat screen televisions tuned to every imaginable news sources. A long glass table stood in the middle of the room, and every inch of desk space was covered with files and laptops. This was where the big wigs planned, maneuvered, and coordinated. (someday hopefully I'll have a job like this!)

Upstairs is where I spent most of my time. There were a series of offices for campaign officials, and in the middle was a large room with a ping-pong table in the middle. A large map of downtown Denver was strewn across the table. Across the map were small toys, the type you receive in a kids meal at a fast food restaurant. Each of these represented a place where a Democrat event was taking place. Also on the board wer a number of red markers, each signiying where GOP forces were. Lastly, a Yoda doll stood where the McCain office was.


My job on day one was to coordinate where the red markers went in relation to the fast food toys. My job was to find out where and when every event was taking place (a difficult chore- there is no master list of everything) and to plan which events were worth going to and how to get our forces to all of them in as effective a matter as possible. It was incredible fun. I was a little disappointed that I got the entire task done the first day and had to head out of the office later in the week (although I found everything else I did that week fascinating)

conventioning

While Day One of the RNC was greatly shortened, it provided a nice dress rehearsal for the week to come. When I first heard that the day would only be procedural business, I considered skipping it. I quickly and fortunately changed my mind.

Ater arriving at the Xcel Center I went through a surprisingly light security check- they actually are letting people bring laptops in to the arena.

I quickly realized that the Xcel Energy Center wasn't nearly as impressive as I expected. When I first heard the MSP area was getting the convention, I assumed the Target Center would host the event. When I learned it would be at the Xcel Center, I figured that it must be new and ritzier. Honestly, the building itself is not as nice as the Qwest Center. That said, it is still a nice arena, and they have done an amazing job of equipping the Center for the convention.

The guest section of the arena was almost completely barren, so I sat down in the best seat. Quickly the convention officially started, and quickly it became mundane. Chairman Mike Duncan led the group of delegates through a series of perfunctory motions, followed by an hour long caucus meeting, and another set of perfunctory motions. During this I read a Newsweek, Weekly Standard, plus the lengthy New Yorker article on Obama's roots. Fascinating. (thanks for letting me borrow it Scott!)

As I was nearing the end of the Obama article, everything changed. The announcer announced First Lady Laura Bush was speaking. Without music or fanfare Mrs. Bush gave a brief talk about donating to charities for the South. Following this the governors of the region (save Jindahl) gave video addresses. The session ended with Laura Bush and Cindy McCain imploring everyone watching to donate to charities.

As an aside, it was quite noticeable was the fact that swing states get pandered to immensely, as well as the home states of the nominees (this is true of both parties). Additionally, virtually everybody making any sort of procedural motion was made by somebody from a state that was in play this November/ Arizona.

As for Day Two- All that I (or anyone) was told that unless anything was announced, things would go on as planned. So far haven't heard anything! Yay!

meandering in minneapolis

Day Two in Minneapolis was spent doing more non-touristy things in the Mini-Apple. As my mom lived here for many years, I generally am able to go to a few of the better shopping centers and find a shortcut or two.

Sunday we first went to Ridgedale Mall. If you've seen the movie Juno, a few scenes are set and filmed there. Most notably was the part when Vanessa feels the baby kick. Later in the day we headed down to downtown to pick up my credentials (yay!) and afterwards had a few minutes to burn so we went to the Nicolett section of downtown. Another little bit of Hollywood- this is where the opening part of the Mary Tyler Moore show was filmed, the part where she flips her beret in the air.


That night I went to CivicFest- I don't really know how to explain it. The only thing I've been to comparable was Atlanta Braves FanFest. It was essentially a giant traveling political museum with such items as a model Air Force One, a C-SPAN political bus, replica of the Oval Office and museum style display of political memorabilia. As it was put in by the Convention and Visiters Bureau, it was pretty much non-partisan.

The other part of CivicFest was a political flea market of sorts, which was 100% Republican. All sorts of memorabilia dealers sold every manner of GO Paraphernalia. Buttons, pins, and shirts were the most common items, but there was everything from pillows to end tables to purses to breath mints.

The select few memorabilia dealers with Sarah Palin memorabilia were the cream of the crop. In part because of the universal support for Governor Palin (literally have not found a person who isn't thrilled with her on the ticket) but mainly because the event started roughly 55 hours after she was picked, Palin related items were hot sellers. Literally having her name on something made the price triple. After realizing their scarcity, I scrambled and swiped up the last two "TICKET FOR AMERICA" buttons I could find. The vendor selling them had two signs above his buckets of buttons- "Buttons: 10 for 10 dollars- all Palin buttons: 3 for 10 dollars"


Surprisingly, I heard nary a complaint about Day One of the being cancelled. While I know that everyone was disappointed and that everyone realized that this was the right thing to do, I expected a grumble or two. But I couldn't find a single one.

day one of the convention

While it was far less than planned, Day One was an interesting event. I have some pictures of Cindy McCain and Laura Bush, but honestly, if you want to see those, go to FOX News or somewhere similar. There's will be of a higher quality than mine. My hope is to give you a little bit of an insider view of the conventions.

The Xcel Center during the day.


A glimpse of the Convention Hall


A section of television news broadcasts and open internet access for people affected by the hurricane.


Not only is St. Paul home of the RNC, it's home of a passion of mine, "Peanuts" I'm picturred with Linus!


I always wondered where they kept all of the balloons... they are hanging from the rafters waiting to fall. Not quite sure how they stay inflated all week. My hope is to steal one once they fall Thursday.


This is the convention theme that is all around the hall. Notice how the seats are all empty.


This is the view walking out of the Xcel Energy Center. The Minnesota State Capitol is probably two blocks straight out the front door.

first pictures from minneapolis

Some pictures from Minneapolis...

A bar rented a fake elephant to put outside. Judging by the crowd, I'm guessing that this was a safe investment.


And they call this a Republican Convention! Actually, CivicFest was awesome. Wasted a bunch of money on McCain/Palin crap.


So I'm wandering around CivicFest and a woman walks up to me and asks "Do you want to have your picture taken with a bald eagle?" And I'm like, "Uh, YEAH!" I love the RNC!


My credentials as well as some buttons I bought. My favorite is the "FROM THE COLDEST STATE COMES THE HOTTEST VP"


My loot.


Me ready to head off to the convention

live from minneapolis

Obviously I'm bummed out that Day 1 of the convention is essentially cancelled. But political conventions are trivial in comparison to the things that those in the Gulf area are going through.

Our thoughts are with you.

I'll have extra time tomorrow to update the site with a few things I've been working on.

the obama speech

When I first found out I'd be in Denver for the DNC I called the Omaha "Office for Change" and asked if there were any community credentials available. I was told that they were incredibly difficult to obtain tickets if you were an active volunteer in the campaign, and pretty much impossible otherwise.

But I did make it to Invesco Field on the day of the event. As someone who loves politics and loves history, it obviously would have been a dream to be inside the stadium. That said, the only place half as awesome to be would be outside protesting.


It was really a unique event. Most noticable was the fact that the City of Denver felt dead. Denver felt like a Sunday morning, when in reality it was the city's shining moment. the area around the staidum, was alive as possible.

Walking up to Invesco for Obama's speech was akin to walking up to any stadium before a major sporting event. There were numerous vendors selling Obama paraphenalia, although there were Obama vendors on virtually every corner around town selling "Change" and "Hope" themed garb. A major benefit to these entrepeneurs is the fact that Obama or Democrat logos are part of the public realm and anyone with a printing press can shoot off a thousand "Progress" shirts- If you tried to do the same with any sports team or university, said team would sue them for copyright infringement. My personal favorite shirt was the Che Obama shirt. The guy wore it with pride, although I believe it hurt his cause more than it helped.


Outside of an entrance to the stadium dozens of individuals stood with varying signs hoping to purchase tickets tot eh event. Many tried different pleading techniques- one sign read "COLLEGE STUDENTS DROVE FROM TENNESSEE TO SEE OUR HERO" In the tiem I was there, I didn't see a single person give up theire seats. There were also a fair number of protesters for various causes. The ones below were from some sort of women's group.


The police presence was deceiving. When we walked up to the entrance we saw nothing but two young volunteers asking to see credentials. Beyond them is where the big guns were. Literally. Heavily armed cops stood and lead searches of bags, put people through metal detecters, and patted down each and every individual.


The police also paid special attention to us. One of the areas we protested in was in the shadow of I-25. Within moments, a number of cops flooded over to watch us.


Something I didn't get a picture of was how people got to Invesco. Most of the state delegations and media were trasported to and fromt eh center by buses, as they are at the RNC. But having Obama's speech at the football stadium meant at least 30,000 people not associated with the DNC were there. With arriving by car a virtual impossibility, people had to get resourceful.

While the stadium was flanked with portable barriers, the sections of barriers near the gates were loaded with bicycles. Every inch for at least 100 yeards had bikes stacked upon each other. In addition to these bikes, bike taxis were amking a killing. They cost 2 dollars a block, so it was actually more expensive than a real taxi. Cabs were also popular- this worked against me as I almost could not find a ride back to my hotel, every cab in Colorado was busy downtown.

In retrospect, we showed up at the Obama speech late. We planned on arriving about half an hour before the event started. But due to a delay at dinner, a long walk to Invesco Field, and gates opening earlier, we arrived at a time too late to do much damage.

We did gain a lot of press coverage, primarily in our afternoon protest session. Either way, we worked out hardes and had an amazing tim

final day in denver

Here are the pics from my last day in Denver.

Me with Governor Tim Pawlenty. At the time this picture was taken, he was the front-runner for Vice President. I knew he was not likely due to the fact he had absolutely no security.


Arizona Senator Jon Kyl


Where is the Red? Car... Three College Republicans drove across America, all the while staying only in Republican Congressional districts. Great idea. Notice the Lee Terry bumpersticker near the hitch.


Me in my toga in advance of the protests!


The sign I held next to a false Idol. Haha.


Our ragtag gang of protesters. None of the pictures came out all that well, sadly. Ethan from the CRNC took a boatload of pictures. I'll post them when I get the chance.

minneapolis

I made it to Minneapolis today. It's one of my favorite cities. MY mom is with me for today through Monday morning. She lived here for a number of years before I was born and knows the town very well. A byproduct of this is that we've visited the town numerous times and I know my way around fairly well.

We did a few basic things today- walked through the Mall of America and Southdale Mall, as well as heading over to the Xcel Energy Center for a walk around. The only major downside seems to be that our hotel does not allow pets- and my dog Chipper is along. So we have to deal with sneaking her in the back door for her to do her business.

Tomorrow I head downtown and pick up my credentials! Now that I have a few free moments I'll try to catch up on a few detials I didn't have time for in the past few days.

interesting thought

Barack Obama's biggest attack on John McCain is that Washington is broken and McCain has been there too long.

And then he picks a running mate who's been in Washington longer than McCain.

John McCain's biggest attack on Barack Obama is that he lacks the experience to lead.

And then he picks a running mate with less experience than Obama.

Who knew?

back in o-town

I'm back in Omaha. But don't blink.

I landed a little after 4 pm and plan on driving off to Minneapolis at about 6 am tomorrow morning. I spent most of this afternoon working on Student Government materials- preparing for the September 4th meeting and putting the finishing touches on my campaign. Since I returned home I've begun frantically unpacking from Denver and packing for Minneapolis. All this and i haven't touched even a lick of school work.

I've got probably a weeks worth of stuff to do and 14 hours to cram it all in and get some sleep.

The next post will be from Minneapolis. I'm going to try and fill y'all in on the nuts and bolts of the DNC when I get the chance.

strategy vindicated

At first I was skeptical about McCain's plan to announce today. Well, I think that this is ultimate proof that this was a masterstroke.



I think the McCain campaign was brilliant in their handling of the DNC. They effectively stole as much media coverage as possible and milked the VP issue brilliantly.

For a long time I was really disappointed with the McCain campaign, but I think they have definitely turned the corner as of late. It'll be an interesting road to November.