Four Days in September

Please forgive the tardiness of this DNC postmortem... I'm still recovering after that 91 hour work week.

The city of Charlotte survived, and I've got the t-shirt to prove it.

I've got a fat paycheck coming my way for my efforts, and only a few emotional scars.

I pointed my lens at protestors, politicians, network anchors, and even got a pat down or two from the secret service that I'm pretty sure warranted them buying me a drink or two beforehand.

All in all, it went off without a hitch and was a pretty cool experience.

So, as previously stated, I got to follow the first lady around for a few days. 

Just to be clear, the "lady" pictured to the right is *NOT* Michelle Obama...

But I couldn't resist snapping this photo as the smokin' hot wife and I entered the major scrum of looky loos in center city.

I'm also pretty sure the first lady doesn't have a butterfly tattoo on her upper bicep... I'm pretty sure.

This however is the first lady, addressing the African American caucus.  Surprisingly enough, she delivered the same exact speech, almost word for word verbatim, to the Hispanic caucus and the women's caucus.

Michelle needs some new material.  Never the less, she had them fired up and ready to go.

And then there's Mitt Romney's custom race car, tucked quietly away in the bowels of the NASCAR HOF in an area they refer to as "the war room".

The only thing that I found myself at war with here was the poor lighting, the ambient hum of the house audio feed, and some jackhole reporter from a smaller market who kept calling himself "the shit."

Sorry dude, you're not. But judging by the camera your station sent you here with, I'm willing to bet that your video is in fact, shit.

At the end of it all, I came away with multiple new additions to my press pass collection. 

Probably the most unique, was my first hall pass into the White House Press Pool.

After brushing my junk with the backside of his left hand, one SS agent even took the time to scribble my last name on this little gem.

And finally, on the last day of the convention, I had the distinct pleasure of following a large group of people through the streets of uptown Charlotte as they protested.

That alone was enough to justify my alcohol intake during the week of the DNC.

I treated myself several times to what is quickly becoming my drink of choice... The Old Fashioned (with Jack Daniels).

And no, I've never seen an episode of Mad Men.

I just know that if I ever have to cover a political spectacle like this again... I'll likely turn into a mad man.

DNC Decompress: Days 1 & 2

Forgive me if these updates are brief and not normally as witty.  Covering this thing is truly exhausting and grating on the nerves.

Day 1:  DNC Kickoff Presser

Highlights:

-75 photogs in the scrum
-Ran into a summer intern whose camera is the size of my battery
-Exchanged heated words with someone from Telemundo after they almost damaged my audio cube
-Impromptu fiber liveshot from the convention center
-Lots of national media folks

Day 2:  Newsmakers Live hosted by Diane Sawyer

Highlights:

-Got to hang out with a guy I met while covering the Edwards trial back in May
-Confirmed a one on one with Diane Sawyer later in the week
-Got some cool upclose video of Diane Sawyer
-Live at noon
-I wasn't covering protestors

DNC: The Preamble

The fair city of Charlotte is officially ablaze with a prideful fire of all things DNC.

And let me tell you... These folks throw one hell of party.  Last night's media welcoming party was held at the NC Music Factory and it consisted of close to a dozen (open) bars, each serving (free) food that was representative of their respective culture and target audience, and a headlining concert by Chairmen of the Board.

Needless to say, the always smokin' hot wife and I imbibed, heavily...




So it was probably a good thing that today's assignment consisted of covering the initial protest.

I must have walked at least five miles between our 2 live trucks, the podium, the parade field, and everything in between; all while dodging piles of dog crap and fire ants.

Amazingly, we found people who actually had a comprehensive objective, despite being a mob of people with close 100 different grievances with their government.


Stay tuned, I will effort a daily recap of my experiences with this cluster.