DNC '08

Back at the DNC last Thursday, just prior to Obama's INVESCO speech (a time and place that currently feels about a million years ago, and an oasis of non-police presence away) FBNY was lucky enough to find itself taking advantage of the kindness of the WaPo press tent and sharing a table with the inimitable Chris Cillizza (The Fix is a longtime favorite).

We asked him a whole bunch of questions about how this year's convention chalked up to previous ones, how Bill Clinton's oratorial skills compared to Obama's, what Hillary's future may hold for her, and, of particular interest at the moment, how Gustav might effect RNC coverage. Because we happened to be sharing camera time with Eat the Press' Rachel Sklar we decided to do a 'pool report.' The video in full is above, The part where Cillizza talks about Gustav begins around 8:06.

Patrick Gavin, somewhere in Wyoming, is unwilling to part with his DNC press pass, perhaps in the hopes it will have some sway with state troopers, or shirtless Subway customers.

@FishbowlNY Elk Canyon Downtown Pub and Grill. 511 Mount Rushmore Rd. Custer City, SD. 605 -673 -4477 about 3 hours ago from txt. After we twittered that the Elk Canyon fielded a phone call for us from Rachel Sklar. The open road is sizeably smaller post-Twitter but way more hilarious.

So long DNC '08. Hello RNC '08! FishbowlNY is about to hit the big, wide, American road with FishbowlDC; a trip that will either take us through Kansas, or Nebraska, or South Dakota, no one seems quite sure. Because no one has yet managed to wire the Plains states, or the interstates, look for us on Twitter. It'll be just like Jack Kerouac except in 140 character bites and less profound. Hooray new media. Rumor has it the Observer's Steve Kornaki has a head start, and Mickey Kaus will be bringing up the rear.

And as I sat there listening to that sound of the night which bop has come to represent for all of us, I thought of my friends from one end of the country to the other and how they were really all in the same vast backyard doing something so frantic and rushing-about.

From Google/Vanity Fair to the INVESCO press line-up (above). It's about 2:30pm here and the speech goes off after 8pm. They are recommending everyone be in the field by 4pm.

Following up on yesterday's email FBNY went to pick up their Google/Vanity Fair party invite/retina scan at the Ritz Carlton. Here's the scene we encountered — that's David Brooks near the front of the line.

There are apparently 15,000 journalists here in Denver. Actually, based on the fact we rarely see people on the sidewalks without some sort of credentials we believe it. But what are they all doing (other than making cupcake videos?)? CJR breaks it down, except for the last part we can attest to most of this being true.

14,000 are wearing terrible suits.

7,500 aren't doing much at all. This isn't surprising. Only a small number of reporters actually have a reason to be here.
4,021 are smugly bad-mouthing the convention and its participants in their story ledes.

2,294 are bitching about only having perimeter press passes.

1,026 are drunk. This is as it should be.

500 don't have credentials, but are trying desperately to get them.

340 are confused about how to find the proper press office inside the Pepsi Center.
150 are in the CNN Grill.

Seven of them are having their photographs taken with Captain Morgan, the rum-loving pirate who, for some reason, was credentialed into the convention.

One of them is frantically trying to engineer a meeting between Captain Morgan and Ted Sorenson, the painfully dignified Democratic legend who is finishing an interview with Tavis Smiley just as Captain Morgan bursts into the tent, T-shirts and Morganettes in tow. That person is me, and, in this, I am a failure. But, then again, we are all sort of failures here.

FBNY was watching all the action from the CNN Grill last night and so was mostly out of the fray (notwithstanding the rush for free milkshakes), but according to Michael Calderone many members of the press had a less pleasant time trying to cover the convention action.

Following Bill Clinton's speech, several reporters left the Pepsi Center's press gallery. But upon returning, they were notified by security that they weren't allowed come back in, and instead could watch from TVs in the arena hallway. (Try telling that to an editor back home).

The NY Times' Pat Healy was one of the reporters stuck outside, just as the NY Post's Geoff Earle — on the inside — intervened by calling out, "Pat! Pat!" Earle told the security guard that Healy was sitting next to him and had a seat to come back to. A Times and Post reporter helping one another out: Now that's unity!