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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2008 > August > 24
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Sight lines
DENVER - When Ohio’s delegates to the Democratic National Convention plop themselves into their seats at the Pepsi Center, they may have to stretch their necks a bit to get a good sight line of the podium.
Not that Ohio doesn’t have favorable seating. Au contraire. The Dems and the GOPs know they have to suck up to Ohioans, so important is this battleground state. No, Ohio delegates will find themselves with the best seats in the house.
Except.
Except for Katie Couric’s seat.
On Sunday, journalists were able to tour the convention floor. When I arrived, they were doing mic tests, running a mock roll-call vote. A few minutes into the test, Bob Schieffer and Jeff Greenfield of CBS showed up and climbed atop a small set in the middle of the convention floor where they will do their newscasts.
They doffed their jackets, allowed microphones to be taped to the sides of their faces, endured brushing and dabbing by beauticians, and put up with a bevy of photographers firing strobes in their faces.
I was with my wife and the Dayton Daily News’ Anthony Shoemaker exploring the vacant Ohio delegation seats, and we were, of course, star struck.
Then Couric wandered onto the set. Several immediate impressions: She was very courteous to the camera and makeup people trying to get her ready. She was tanner than I thought she might be in real life (it’s not all makeup). And she was wearing gold flip-flops.
“She’s a lot prettier in real life than on TV, my wife, observed. I am way, way too smart to have reacted to that. But she is.
More to the point, she’s right in the sight line of Ohio’s delegates. Not that there will be objections. After all, a huge point of modern political conventions is the publicity they drum up for the ticket, courtesy of the networks and the thousands of other journalists here to cover this heavily scripted affair.
And it isn’t every day that you not only get to attend a political party’s national nominating convention and at the same time have a backstage pass to how it all ends up on TV.
Jeff Bruce is the journalist in residence at Wright State University. Email him at jeff@jeffbruce.net. For more political coverage, point your browser to daytondailynews.com/politics.
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Two local delegates get late start after airplane problem
Two Dayton-area delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver got a minor scare on Sunday.
Delegates Marcia Knox and Tom Ritchie’s 8:30 a.m. flight from Dayton International Airport was forced to return to Dayton about 20 minutes after takeoff due to a heat sensor issue, according to Ritchie.
Knox and Ritchie arrived in Denver at around 1 p.m. on another flight.
Ritchie is AFSCME Ohio Council 8 director of field services and organizing. Knox is AFSCME Ohio Council 8 regional director.
AFSCME, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, is the largest public employee and health care workers union in the United States.
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Biden says hello to Obama supporters
Just in case they didn’t know him, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware has introduced himself to Democrat Barack Obama’s supporters. Biden is to speak at the Democratic National Convention in Denver on Wednesday, Aug. 27.
Biden, introduced Saturday, Aug. 23, as Obama’s vice presidential running mate, on Sunday, Aug. 24, sent this video greeting via e-mail:
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Let the parties begin
DENVER — With thousands of journalists descending here for the Democratic National Convention, the city of Denver wants to use that opportunity to tell the world what a cool place the Mile High City is.
And there’s nothing like a little beer to lubricate the sales pitch.
Saturday evening, convention sponsors hosted a “Celebration with Altitude” at Elitch Gardens, a miniaturized version of Kings Island located near downtown next to the Pepsi Center where most of the convention activities will take place.
It was the big kickoff of a week filled with parties attracting rock stars, delegates, lobbyists and the media. The major sponsors were The Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News with Coors supplying what appeared to be at least several acre feet of malted beverage.
Big media splashes like this are typical for conventions, Super Bowls and other high-profile events. They give sponsoring communities a chance to show off.
“With over 15,000 members of the media covering the convention, there has never been a larger spotlight on our city, said Harry Whipple, president of the Denver Newspaper Agency, which publishes the Post and the Rocky, when the party was announced. “We want to make sure that spotlight shines bright and captures all the vitality that Denver has to offer.”
Elitch Gardens was closed to the public for the event, and members of the media were bused in from around the Denver area to the invitation-only party, which drew about 9,000 ticketed attendees.
Party-goers jammed the lines for thrill rides with terrifying names like the Tower of Doom, Mind Eraser and Boomerang. Then there was this circular cage on bungee cords that flung screaming partiers halfway to Pike’s Peak (or so it seemed) then back down, up and down, the sight of which gave me vertigo.
“Want to try it?” asked a friend.
“There’s not enough Coors in the world.”
Big attraction: A dude in a Captain Morgan getup, parading about the park surrounded by his Captain Morgan girls, handing out tee shirts and pins touting “Captain for President: Putting the party back in politics.”
The wife and I scored pins, but the shirts were long gone. I did, however, put a football through a swinging donut hole to win a gigantic stuffed Batman, only to discover when I got back to our hotel, a good half-hour from downtown, that his head is falling off.
My guess is more than a few people awoke today feeling like their heads are falling off, too.
Jeff Bruce is the journalist in residence at Wright State University. He can be reached at jeff@jeffbruce.net. For more news about the Democratic National Convention, point your browser to daytondailynews.com/politics.
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Dems may change caucus, primary system for 2012
Democrats fussed and fumed with each other all year about their caucuses and primaries and there still are lots of hard feelings about what happened in Michigan and Florida, particularly among Hillary Clinton supporters.
To prevent more squabbling in 2012 - and to make Clinton supporters feel better - the party’s Rules Committee is proposing a commission to look at when caucuses and primaries are held, among other things.
Former Ohio U.S. House member Mary Rose Oakar of Cleveland, a co-chair of the Rules Committee, said on Sunday, Aug. 24, called the review of the system a “very challenging experience.
There are some things the Democrats want to avoid, said Oakar, who’s in Denver for the Democratic National Convention.
“They don’t want primaries to be around New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day,” said Oakar.
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Ohio delegates play HIDE ‘n SEEK in Denver
If Ohio’s delegates to the Democratic National Convention are in a partying mood, they’ve picked the right hotel.
The Curtis hotel in Denver is a pop culture hotbed. One of the meeting rooms where Ohio delegates will gather is called “HIDE ‘n SEEK.” The fifth floor is all about pictures of rock ‘n roll “one hit wonders.”
When you get off the elevator at the 11th floor where Dayton Daily News reporters are staying, the elevator voice welcomes you to the “Chick Flick” floor with Chick Flick posters on the wall. Thelma and Louise welcome you off of the elevator.
If delegates get bored, they can check out board games including Chutes and Ladders, Uno, Sorry and Pictionary.
Caption: The Curtis hotel is the host hotel in Denver for the Ohio Democratic delegation. Photo by Anthony Shoemaker
Caption: Ohio politicians in Denver for the Democratic Convention may get a scare on the 13th floor of the host hotel, The Curtis. The floor is decorated in images from horror flicks. Photo by Anthony Shoemaker
Caption: At the host hotel for the Ohio Democratic delegation in Denver, The Curtis, funny signs welcome visitors to the restroom. Photo by Anthony Shoemaker
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McCain using Democrats words against Obama in latest ads
Almost as soon as Sen. Joe Biden was named Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s running mate on Saturday, Republican candidate John McCain had an ad ready using Biden’s past statements against Obama.
Well it’s a new day and time for another McCain ad featuring a Democrat.
In McCain’s new ad “Passed Over,” the star is Hillary Clinton. The synopsis from McCain: Clinton spoke the truth about Obama during the heated primary and Obama’s feelings were hurt so he didn’t choose her for the ticket.
With 18 million voters in her pocket, Clinton voters appear to be this year’s swing voters. Here’s’ the ad…
