4 Guys Who Know Nothing

Thursday, September 4th, 2008.  Gerine and I get to the Excel Energy Center and our respective posts by 4:00pm.  Gerine is guarding the convention and campaign headquarters and I’m by my elevator on the Club level.  Security Guard Wendy is there again for day 4.  We’re all ready to go for the last day, complete with sore legs and aching feet.  I am looking forward to spending all day Friday with my legs up on the couch relaxing.

Once again the convention starts off with Jazz musician Al Williams and his band.  Did I say they were awesome?  They are.

They convention is called to order and away we go.  Between 6:00pm and 9:00pm there are a lot of speakers and short videos.   Everyone is anxiously awaiting Senator John McCain’s acceptance speech.

Tonight is a busy night.  There are a lot more people here tonight than last night when Gov. Sara Palin spoke and that was a lot of people.  There are people standing packed in the aisles on the main floor.  From the Club level it looks like someone used a shoe-horn to get the people in the aisles.

Tonight I don’t have to help very many folks.  Most everyone knows where to go or where things are located by now.

It is approaching 9:00pm and out of the elevator comes Stanley Klos.  Stanley Klos had a display of early American documents at an event in Minneapolis called Civic Fest.  I had the privilege of attending his lecture at Civic Fest on the 14 Presidents prior to President George Washington.  So as soon as I saw him I threw my arms wide open and shouted “Stan!”  Body language suggests that Stan thought I might be a crazy guy, which I’m betting that Security Guard Wendy would agree.  I explained how I knew him which put him a little at ease and told him where to go – to his seat that is.

It’s just past 9:00pm.  Cindy McCain is speaking and just like the previous night there is no one in the halls.  This means I can sit down and watch the rest of the evening in the stands.  About 10 minutes into John McCain’s speech a protester starts shouting.  I was sitting several rows above her.  She only gets a few words spoken before the crowd goes wild shouting “U.S.A! U.S.A!”  She is quickly escorted out of the auditorium.  John McCain says; “My dear friends, please, don’t be diverted by the ground noise and the static.” She is one of 3 protesters that made it into the building and tried disrupting the proceedings.  Men with government issued suits and earpieces very quickly escorted all of them out.

After John McCain’s speech is finished the confetti starts flying.  I looked up to see that all of the confetti that was falling in the auditorium was released by hand.  There were people at the top of the ceiling throwing confetti out of a bag.  It sure was pretty.  When it got close to the theatrical lights, the confetti would start to rise back into the air.   Next the balloons came.  They seemed to fall like feathers when they were released.  It was an awesome sight to see.

When the convention was over, I made my way to the gift store and found my prize.

Yep! I bought a hat…

Tonight’s Celebrity Watch:

Todd sees:

• Stanley L. Klos

Gerine sees:

• Stephen Baldwin
• Fred Barnes (Journalist)
• Juan WIlliams (NPR News Analyst)

Gerine talks with:

• Rudy Giuliani

Gerine physically runs into Karl Rowe.  “Watch where you’re going lady!”

Celebrity Stats through Thursday: Todd – 6, Gerine – 23.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008.  Gerine and I get to the convention early to investigate what’s on the other floors.  We looked at the vendors (technical name for Gift Shop) and decided what we wanted to buy on the last day.  We made it to our respective posts by 4:00pm – Gerine is guarding the convention and campaign headquarters and I’m by my elevator on the Club level.  Security Guard Wendy is there waiting for me.  By today I finally know where everything is and don’t give out any bad instructions (that I know of).

At around 5:30pm, Jazz musician Al Williams and his band start playing.  These musicians are fantastic.  I’m swaying in the hall to the music and Security Guard Wendy is starring at me giving me that ‘frown’ look.  Obviously she has never seen an old guy move to the beat before.

At 6:00pm the convention is called to order.  The Pledge of Allegiance is recited and Trace Adkins sings the National Anthem.  Wow! That guy can sing!

The time between 6:00pm and 9:00pm is filled with speakers including business leaders Meg Whitman, former eBay President and CEO,  and Carly Fiorina, former HP Chairman and CEO.  Others include Michael Steele, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee.

The featured speeches tonight are by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Governor Sarah Palin (AK). They will go on at 9:00pm Central time – prime time on all the networks.  There is a LCD TV on the wall across the hall from where I am standing with CNN on it.  CNN has a Sarah Palin Speech countdown timer in the lower right hand corner.  It started ‘ticking’ (BTW, not a word to mention out loud when stationed by the Secret Service) 3 hours and 30 minutes before her she was to take the stage.

As it gets closer to 9:00pm, the Excel Center starts to fill up.  By the time Rudy Giuliani is halfway through his speech there is no one left in the hall – except for Security Guard Wendy, me and a lot of law enforcement.  By 9:30pm the Excel Energy Center is packed, from floor delegates all they way up to the top seats.  This means I have nothing to do and I can finally listen to some speakers.

When Sarah Palin comes on to the stage the audience goes wild.  She hasn’t even spoken a word yet and the crowds are going crazy.  She accepts the nomination for Vice-President and there is an eruption of noise.  As soon as she starts her speech I sit down with some of the other volunteers and get to hear most of her speech.  All I can say is I laughed so hard that I cried. The speech was funny and well delivered – with a smile on her face.

After the Palin speech the RNC has to do a roll call where each state tells the chairman how many votes go to who.  John McCain needs 1,171 votes to be nominated as the Republican candidate.  When the votes get to 1,121 the rest of the states pass their vote to let the Arizona’s delegates be the ones to push it over 1,171.  Arizona votes, John McCain gets nominated and now all the states that ‘passed’ their votes get to cast their votes.  Every state tells a story, a speech and their votes.

Gerine and I get done at 11:30pm.

Tonight’s Celebrity Watch:

Todd sees:

• Mitt Romney
• Ron Paul
• Mo Rocca
• Charlie Daniels (The Devil Went Down To Georgia)

Gerine sees:

• Michael Medved
• Mitt Romney
• Mo Rocca
• Neil Cavuto (Fox News)

Gerine talks with:

• Ron Paul
• Dick Morris (Frequently on Fox News)
• Charlie Daniels
• Jay Sekulow (ACLJ.org)
• Jason Lewis (Local Radio Talk Show Host)
• Tom Hauser (Local TV Host)
• Robert Davi  (Actor)

Celebrity Stats through Wednesday: Todd – 5, Gerine – 19.

Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008.  My wife, Gerine, has to meet her team by 3:30pm today and I have to be in place by the elevators on the Club level of the Excel Energy Center by 4:00pm.  We go to the volunteer headquarters and get today’s credentials and a box lunch/dinner.  At the end of each day the credentials are deactivated and new ones are required for entrance to the RNC.  A  security precaution.

I get to my post by 4:00pm and Wendy the security guard is there from Monday.  There is a new Excel Guest Services personnel tonight – Jim.  Jim has been working hockey games since the Minnesota Wild came to St. Paul so Jim becomes the expert for directions tonight.  I only send one person to the wrong spot tonight.  I send someone to section C41.  The sections only go up to C40.  Oops.  It happened when Jim was on break.

At 6:00pm, Jazz musician Al Williams and his band start playing.  They sound great!  They were so good that the RNC asked him back the next two nights.

At 6:20pm the convention is called to order.  There aren’t many people here tonight.  By the end of the night the Excel Energy Center is only half full.

The main speakers tonight are Former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson (TN) and U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman (CT).  I get to listen to most of Fred Thompson’s speech.  At the beginning of his speech, he talked a little about Governor Sarah Palin.  My favorite quote is:

“And I can say without fear of contradiction that she is the only nominee in the history of either party who knows how to properly field dress a moose … with the possible exception of Teddy Roosevelt.”

When Fred Thompson describes some of the details of Presidential Nominee John McCain’s time in captivity, the auditorium is silent.  Dead silent. There are no signs waving.  No shouts from the crowd.  Everyone is speechless.  Then Fred Thompson begins to build his speech and gets the delegates and guests wound up.  You would think that he was an actor. Then another quote:

“Now our opponents tell you not to worry about their tax increases.

They tell you they are not going to tax your family.

No, they’re just going to tax “businesses”! So unless you buy something from a “business”, like groceries or clothes or gasoline … or unless you get a paycheck from a big or a small “business”, don’t worry … it’s not going to affect you. “

That’s about all I was able to hear tonight.  I was pretty busy talking to people and giving directions.  I talked with a Chinese media person.  He had a fascination with our democratic process.  He was eager to learn more, like a child first learning to walk. It reminded me of what a privilege we have in this country to vote for our leaders and how few of us exercise that privilege.

Other speakers tonight included President George W. Bush (via satellite), First Lady Laura Bush, U.S. House Republican Leader John Boehner (OH), U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman (MN), and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (MN).

It’s now the end of the night and our shifts are finished.  My feet ache from standing in one place for close to 7 hours.  Gerine and I meet to walk back to the volunteer shuttle pick-up spot.  On our way out of the Excel Energy Center, we see Actor Robert Davi being interviewed in the hall.  The reporter asks, “What do you hope to get out of the convention?”  The question strikes me funny.   It’s the kind of question you want to ask at the beginning of the night, not the end.  Got to love those reporters.

As we are walking, Gerine asks, “What celebrities have you seen today?”

“Just Robert Davi.”

Gerine lists who she has seen today:

• Karl Rowe
• Former Gov. Tom Ridge (PA)
• David Harris (NBC News)
• Alan Colmes (Fox’s Hannity and Colmes)

Then she lists those whom she talked with and those with whom she shook hands:

• Governor Tim Pawlenty and his wife Mary
• George Stephanopoulos
• Actor Jon Voight

Stats: Todd -1.  Gerine – 8.