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My first rodeo Impressions of a neophyte Associate Editor ST. PAUL - One common expression seasoned veterans use to indicate that they're wise in the ways of the world is: "This isn't my first rodeo."
Well, this week's Republican National Convention was my first rodeo and it proved to be just as exciting a spectacle as I had imagined.
When I was a much younger reporter, a wide-ranging conversation led a friend of mine to extol the value of goals. I countered that life was unpredictable and a person couldn't be too rigid about wanting to accomplish certain objectives by a certain age.
"It doesn't matter if you ever achieve them," she argued, "just that you set them."
When she pushed me about something I wanted to do I said someday I would like to cover a national political convention. It was a goal that was unlikely since my career path has kept me busy at a small daily newspaper - still, it was an identifiable goal.
Fast forward some 20 years to Thursday night where I found myself watching hundreds of red, white and blue balloons float down on thousands of screaming Republican delegates who were celebrating the nomination of Sen. John McCain for president of the United States.
The transformation of the Xcel Energy Center from the home ice for the Minnesota Wild to a political convention arena was a huge undertaking. Walking in from the concourse and seeing thousands of red chairs, a gleaming stage and a huge screen projecting the image of an American flag softly waving was similar to catching your first glimpse of beautiful green grass at a Major League Baseball game.
The flashing lights which circle the inside of the arena spelled out "Country First," McCain's campaign slogan. Traditional banners which proudly carried the name of each state delegation were positioned and ready for a roll call vote.
Here are a few of the impressions that remained with me after four days at the RNC.
DELEGATION I'D LIKE TO PARTY WITH - Texas. There wasn't even a close second. The Texans put all other delegations to shame with their coordinated costumes, synchronized cowboy hat waves to First Lady Laura Bush and back-and-forth chants between the delegates on the floor and the alternates up in the regular arena seats. For fashion critics, the Lone Star state's attire for the week was: Monday, blue denim shirts, cowboy hats and khakis; Tuesday, cowboy hats and red shirts; Wednesday, cowboy hats and dark sport coats or suits; Thursday, Texas flag shirt and jeans.
MOST AWKWARD LUNCH COMPANIONS - Cindy McCain and Todd Palin. He's a commercial fisherman and an oil rig worker. She's a multi-millionaire who attended USC, which her husband once said stands for University of Spoiled Children. C-Span broadcast a Luncheon Tribute to Cindy McCain on Thursday, which they both attended. What do you suppose they talked about?
MOST ENTHUSIASTIC MANAGER - Ray Lopez, manager of the Headwaters Cafe in the RiverCentre, which adjoins the Xcel Energy Center. His cafe, owned by WildSide Caterers, was the only restaurant inside of the security perimeter. He estimated the cafe served close to 2,000 customers a day, selling more than 1,980 cups of coffee and between 500 and 1,000 sandwiches each day. Lopez was always on the move, sweeping the floor, picking up litter, cleaning tables. If there was a lull he'd lead his staff in a cheer: "Here we go WildSide, here we go!
Lopez, a 15-year veteran of the hospitality industry, said it was fun to see political and television celebrities at his restaurant. Wild fans, he said, were a lot of fun, but the Republican crowd was probably better dressed.
MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT - When I asked an Xcel staff person how I could find my work site and was told the seat number was written on the press credentials that were hanging on my neck.
JOURNALIST WHO MADE ME FEEL OLD - A young reporter from the Sierra Vista (Ariz.) Herald. In between filing political stories for papers in her newspaper chain she attended a convention-related Styx concert at the Depot in Minneapolis and snorkeled with sharks at the Mall of America for a travel feature.
CUTTING IT CLOSE AWARD - The Juneau Empire reporter whose paper decided to send him to the convention at the last minute after Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was named as Sen. John McCain's running-mate. After a long flight from Juneau he waited more than 90 minutes outside the security perimeter to get his credentials. He finally had them in hand at about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, only about two hours before Palin began her speech.
MOST RELIABLE RUMOR - At an event where hearsay can mistakenly be treated like gospel, a reporter said the word was that McCain was going to be doing a microphone check on Thursday afternoon.
After a little while McCain came out, dressed in a jacket and an open collar, at about 2:45 p.m. shook hands all around and counted to 10 as he stood on the thrust stage addition that was built since Wednesday night.
He was accompanied by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Sen. Joe Lieberman, I- Conn., and Cindy McCain. After 15 minutes Sen. McCain prepared to leave the stage after waving to photographers and a few Republicans. McCain and Lieberman both shook hands with country singer Trace Adkins, who was about to rehearse the national anthem.
Access to the convention floor for the news media wasn't being regulated since the convention had not yet convened so I only had to step over one yellow tape in order to get close to the soon-to-be nominee.
BEST SPORT - My nephew, Neil Doucette, who let me sleep on his pull-out couch in his Highland Park apartment in St. Paul this week.
TIGHTEST SECURITY DAYS - There was a noticeable step up in security on Wednesday and Thursday, the days Gov. Palin and Sen. McCain spoke. On those days the security routine called for newspaper reporters to show their credentials or go through screening at a steel barricade that surrounded the Xcel Energy Center and the adjoining RiverCentre, at a metal detector that was outside the buildings, at the actual indoor entrance to the center and as they entered and walked down the arena steps to the daily press stand.
BEST CELEBRITY SIGHTING SPOT - The Fourth Street entrance to RiverCentre near the Herb Brooks statue. While I was waiting there on Wednesday to help pass along credentials to the Juneau reporter I spotted the "Today" show's Meredith Vieira, NBC's David Gregory, MSNBC's Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski and former presidential adviser Karl Rove.
JOB I WOULDN'T WANT - Photographer. The news photographers climb a 10-foot ladder and crowd into a cramped, elevated shooting platform, protected only by their own balance and a waist-high fence.
TYPO I ALMOST MADE - The computer spell check program's suggested replacement word for McCain is moccasin. So by accidentally hitting "replace" instead of "skip" my sentence read "moccasin's campaign slogan" instead of "McCain's campaign slogan."
CONVENTION HIGHLIGHT - When 72-year-old Sen. John Sidney McCain stepped out to accept his party's nomination - the improbable culmination of his political career that few would have predicted when the former U.S. Navy pilot sat in a North Vietnamese prison cell 40 years ago.
MIKE O'ROURKE may be reached at mike.orourke@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5860.
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