RNC in St. Paul Day 4

The big night was tonight for Senator John McCain. After an outstanding speech given by vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin the night before, McCain had to deliver.
Steffani and I talked to some delegates who were very excited after Palin’s speech last night and they were anxious to see McCain speech.

The stage was changed this morning into a town hall meeting style stage and McCain did a walk through around 2:00 to make sure he was comfortable with the style. Their were numerous speakers tonight including McCain’s wife Cindy. Around 9:00 PM Senator McCain took stage and delivered his speech. It was a very nice speech for McCain. Everyone knows that he cannot give a speech like Senator Obama, but many people in the arena tonight were very impressed with McCain.

RNC in St. Paul Day Four (Thurs. Sept. 4)

This morning Nikki and I went out on the floor as they were changing the stage for McCain. They added a runway so he could deliver his speech in a town hall style format.

Orson was a POW with McCain in Vietnam. Early this afternoon CBS interviewed him and we got to sit in on the interview. Orson said being a POW was an experience that changed him forever and he wouldn’t change it.

About 2:30 McCain did a walk through of the facilities. The stage was finished and cleaned up just in time for the walk through. I went down on the floor during that and got some video that you can see at a later date on WTV 8 News. Tonight McCain formally accepted the republican Presidential nomination. He had a lot of good things to say, though he is not the most exciting speaker. His wife, however set the stage well for him.

-Steffani

RNC in St. Paul Day 3

Today was Sarah Palin day at the convention. Everyone wanted to hear from the woman who some knew nothing about. The Governor of Alaska spoke to the largest crowd she has ever spoke in front of and looked fearless. Her whole family was in attendance, even the father of Palin's 17 year old daughter's baby. Palin talked about her family as well saying she will be an advocate for families with special needs children. She was also on the attack tonight saying she was qualified for the vice president position. She highlighted some things she did in Alaska, but never really touched on what she was going to specifically do in the White House. She also had a few humerus moments in her speech saying, "You know they say the only difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull is lipstick." The crowd was loving Sarah Palin and as the speech got over a surprise guest showed up a little early, John McCain. "Don't you think I made the right choice for the next vice president of the United States." said McCain.
-Nikki

RNC in St. Paul Prep Day Two (Wed. Sept. 3)

When we walked into the Xcel Energy Center bright and early this morning, just before 6:30, Sarah Palin was going through her run through on the stage. We went upstairs and helped with the morning news show. Fred Thompson was on the morning show. It was fun to watch and record the interview for stories that we will put together later. This afternoon was spent answering phones and escorting political analysts to their radio shows.


Nikki and I stayed for the duration of the convention today so we could watch the convention. Among the speakers of the evening were Mike Huckabee, Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani. All three addressed why Sarah Palin is qualified to be VP. The most popular compairason being Joe Biden and Sarah Palin. One of the most interesting facts I heard last night was that Delaware and Alaska both have the same number of electoral votes and you can fit 250 states the size of Delaware in Alaska. So Alaska being a small state shouldn't be any more of aworry since Joe Biden is from Delaware, a comparable size on a much smaller plot of land. Here is a clip of Sarah Palin speech tonight at the convention.

-Steffani

RNC in St. Paul Day Two (Tues. Sept. 2)

Today was another fun day of meeting some well known faces. We started out the day a little slow, but that was good because it gave me and another runner the chance to bring Bob Schieffer up to Radio row for an interview. While we were walking upstairs Bob asked where I was from and I said that I went to college in Waverly and he recognized that town and said he had done some things with Wartburg before. Nikki and I got to sit in the room while they were doing the interview. Here is a portion of that interview.

If it wasn’t for still being hungry after a lunch that was not one of my favorites then CBS would not have gotten the chance to interview Mike Huckabee. We saw a crowd of people gathering around a table and found out that it was Mike Huckabee.

Later on in the night during some down time I got to use a press floor pass to walk around a little bit. They will not let you enter the floor during a speech so I had to wait a few minutes before I could enter. But as I got on the floor Cindy McCain was taking her seat. She was very polite and smiled/waved in the direction that she heard her name being called. I also stopped to listen to a speech about being a foster parent and serving. U.S. Representative Michelle Bachmann (MN) is a foster parent as are the McCain's. As I was exiting the floor I met Sean Hannity of Fox.
-Steffani

RNC in St. Paul Day 2 (Tues. Sept. 2)

Meeting new and famous people is the most exciting part of the Republican National Convention. Today Steffani and I had the chance to meet former CBS Evening News anchor Bob Schieffer. He was a very lovely man who loves the Iowa caucus. "I love being in Iowa during caucus time, but I only wish they had it in June or July instead of January"said Schieffer. This picture is right before Schieffer did an radio interview in CBS's sky box.

We also had the chance to meet Governor Mike Huckabee. As Steffani and I were walking down "Talk Show Row" we noticed a crowd around one of the tables. We looked over and it was in fact the Governor. After we spotted his publicist we had to try to get him through the crowd of media, upstairs to the CBS sky box for a quick interview. His people were really skeptical about the interview because they needed to get him out of the convention and get him to another speaking engagement. Steffani, Vanessa (CBS), and myself were able to charm him into following us upstairs for the interview. I just brought up his win at the Iowa caucuses and he was a happy camper.

RNC in St. Paul Day One (Mon. Sept 1)

The start of the convention was pretty low key. Although President Bush was not in attendance, his wife First Lady Bush did give a ten minute speech. Cindy McCain, looking fabulous as always, spoke for ten minutes after the First Lady. Listening to these women I was actually impressed with how much the first ladies are involved with this whole election process. Other than Senator Hilary Clinton I thought all the first ladies had to do was stand there, agree with their husbands, and look pretty. These ladies must remember and know as much as their husbands if they want to be in the White House.

My main job today for CBS was working with all the CBS affiliates. What that meant was all of the CBS radio stations had to come to me to get a press credential to be on the floor with the delegates. I really enjoyed this job because it was nice to meet all the CBS broadcasters across the United States. Another big job Steffani and I had was to get interviews for the CBS affiliates on “Talk Show Row.” “Talk Show Row” is where all the radio talk shows are located. The video below is an interview with a CBS station and Dotty Lynch. She is a political consultant for CBS.

-Nikki

RNC in St. Paul Day One (Mon. Sept. 1)

Right off the bat today we had some excitement. As Nikki and I were walking into the Xcel Energy Center we saw protestors from the organization Iraq Veterans Against the War. They are an organization of Iraq service members and veterans who support an immediate withdrawal of all U.S. occupying forces form Iraq. The protestors were peaceful yet full of emotions.

Today I also got to meet a few famous people. Dan Raviv, one of the CBS news anchors, interviewed the former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. He talked about the pregnancy of Palin’s 17 year old daughter. He said, “The pregnancy is a personal matter and has nothing to do with the election. She will be supportive to her daughter and grandchild and that will be the end of it. He also talked specifically about McCain. Gingrich thinks McCain redeemed himself when he was holding town hall meetings in New Hampshire. “If what people want is eloquence then they will vote for Obama, if what they are looking for is facts then McCain,” said Gingrich.

One of my other jobs today was to help organize the affiliate station’s convention floor passes. While I was waiting for one of the stations to come back with the pass another runner pointed out to me that they were shooting a segment of the Daily Show. The photographer came over to us and said Jason Jones is going to come over hear and do something if you guys don’t laugh ok? So walked over to us while we were talking and gave me a hug and said everything is going to be ok…but then he changed his mind and thought it would be funnier if he hugged Michael. So he did it again and gave Michael a hug. The Daily Show is one day behind, so tomorrow if you watch it I might be on TV.
-Steffani