Round Two - Gloves Off....Not Really

I thought the people in Minnesota were nice, but man, the folks in Nashville are over the top with their niceness. Everywhere you go, people are saying hi to you and reminding you to have a good day. Restaurant workers and bartenders actually engage in conversation with you. A bartender the night before described a bunch of local beers to us, even gave samples, and never seemed annoyed.

Today we had lunch at a good Jewish style deli called Noshville before heading to the debate hall. The food was good, at least my pastrami sandwich was. Scott didn’t seem to impressed with his Reuben. It did look a little greasy. A woman and her husband at the next table overheard us talking about the debate and struck up a conversation with us. They were talking about how they were Obama supporters and wished they could be at the debate. The woman was impressed by how we all came from different parts of the country to take pictures at the event. She asked to shake my hand when we left. Damn nice people here.

We got to debate hall at Belmont University close to 2pm. We would have arrived earlier if we hadn’t been delayed by a multi street closure for McCain’s motorcade. We must have been sitting for 15 minutes while Tennessee troopers locked down a half mile section of road in the pouring rain to accommodate his motorcade. Haven’t these cops ever heard of leapfrog intersection control?

With close to 6 hours to kill before the debate started, we did a few final tests on the cameras. The four Getty photographers would all be shooting tethered into 2 editor’s computers. When everything checked out, a few of us went to the food tent to grab a snack. The food and beverages at the debate has been sponsored by Budweiser and when we walked into the tent at about 4pm, the beer was already flowing. First of all, I don’t remember any media event over my career where there was free beer BEFORE the event started. I’ve seen a few where they might have some beer after, but never before. People were drinking cups of beer as they munched on snacks before the main meal was served. Don’t these people have to work?

The second weird thing about the beer in the media tent is the fact that since 1951, Belmont University has been a dry campus. No Alcohol. The University made a one day exception for the campus to serve booze to media mob. That was very kind of the University to be so accommodating. I felt cheated though. I never got to have a beer on the historic day. Damn.
The debate itself was pretty good for pictures. The “Town Hall” setting is much more photogenic than the kind where they stand behind podiums. I was shooting from a ridiculously small cut riser with 7 other photographers. It worked, but it was pretty tight. With both candidates moving around to speak directly to the audience, you had many opportunities to get both guys in the frame.
I usually don’t hear too much of what people are saying when I am shooting so I only caught bits and pieces of the debate. The one thing I did hear was when McCain referred to Obama as “That One” when trying to point out that Obama had voted for some Senate bill. Nice one, Maverick. Obama shut him down later with his reminder to McCain of his “bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran” tune. The look on McCain’s face was priceless.
Both sides must have said "fundamental" a few dozen times. I'm sure people who were partaking in drinking games while watching the debate got sloshed with the frequency of that word. But, in the end, there didn’t appear to be many fireworks or below the belt jabs. McCain actually looked at Obama this time. William Ayers was never mentioned, I guess that's Palin's deal. McCain won't touch it. With the exception of Tom Brokaw getting testy when the two would go over their time limit and not follow the format of the debate, the event was pretty tame.

When the debate ended the candidate’s wives joined their husbands on the stage and greeted members of the audience. McCain left within 5 minutes while Obama and his wife stayed for over 20 minutes. Many members of the audience (who were said to be undecided voters) stayed the entire time. Obama shook hands, took pictures and spoke one on one with several people. McCain must have not wanted to shmooze those undecided voters. Such a Maverick move.

Goose and Maverick - RNC Fianle

After last night’s big Sarah Palin love fest, how was McCain going to upstage her tonight with his acceptance speech? He’s not really known to have the most dynamic personality out there.

I got down to the hall around 11:30. McCain was expected to do his walk through around 1:30. The stage had been altered for tonight’s show. A short runway led to a podium that they could lower into the floor. Unlike the moveable podium that Obama had in Denver, they couldn’t figure out how to get this one to completely disappear into the floor. The top part of the podium and the microphones stuck out.
Workers continued doing final adjustments to the podium and runway. It wasn’t until after 2:30 that McCain came out to do his sound check. Joe Lieberman came along with McCain, as did most of McCain’s family and advisors. Lieberman was like a lost puppy, he wouldn’t leave McCain’s side. I’m surprised they weren’t holding hands. He had the biggest ear to ear smile. He totally wanted that VP nod and this was as good as it was going to get, he might as well make the most of the moment. Someone tell this guy that he wasn't picked as McCain's running mate.

The cut riser (or pod, as they are calling it) is packed tonight. There has to be about 12 of us on this thing. I got into my spot early since I didn’t think I would be able to squeeze in if I waited until later in the evening. I have so much stuff, I could really use a Sherpa. I'm weighed down with too many cameras and lenses as I try to make it up the steep ladder onto the riser. Packed in like sardines, it was difficult to turn around to shoot anything behind me or to the sides, especially since my cameras were connected to those ethernet cables that were just a tad bit short.
A day after the sign of the day read “service”, today’s sign read “peace.” Hmmmm, that doesn’t really jive with all the war rhetoric I have been hearing all week.
McCain came on stage a little after nine. Illuminated by a single spotlight, The Mac made his way down the runway doing his best to get his arms as high as they would go. He was doing a good job, actually. The arena lights came up and it was a sea of McCain – Palin signs as the fans cheered on their man. It was exciting in a way that you wouldn’t expect from a McCain event, at least one that I have ever been to. Then he started speaking and it was back to the old McCain that I know.

His speech was pretty dull, not that anyone really expected anything different. He did say something about his opponent that none of his other colleagues (especially his running mate) had really said this entire week. The Mac made a very sincere comment about Barack Obama and his supporters, something that reminded me of a McCain from the past when he seemed to be a little more of a centrist. Here is the quote from the speech.

“Finally, a word to Senator Obama and his supporters. We'll go at it over the next two months. That's the nature of these contests, and there are big differences between us. But you have my respect and admiration. Despite our differences, much more unites us than divides us. We are fellow Americans, an association that means more to me than any other. We're dedicated to the proposition that all people are created equal and endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights. No country ever had a greater cause than that. And I wouldn't be an American worthy of the name if I didn't honor Senator Obama and his supporters for their achievement.”
The night ended like most other conventions, the families came out and the Maverick waved with his new running mate. But, like the night before, it was awkward. McCain and Palin waved to the crowd only for a brief moment before disappearing to work the rope line. Rope line??? The balloons hadn’t even fallen yet (there was a TON of balloons). This isn’t a night for a rope line meet and greet session. Those two should have been out there in the confetti, hamming it up, kicking balloons and marveling at the fireworks...projected on the jumbotron. Awkward.
As the delegates filed out, taking their state signs and handfuls of confetti with them as souvenirs, Team Getty packed up shop. For the better part of 2 hours, 8 photographers, 4 picture editors, 1 tech guy and 2 runners wrapped up cables, took down the 4 remote cameras and loaded our bags. After two weeks of crazy politicians, It's Miller Time.

The Fried Food Experience

I’ve been at the Excel Center since 9am. I’m trying to find features but am having little success. Photographers pounce when workers peel protective paper off of a mirrored riser. People are bored.

Word came midway through Sunday that the organizers of the RNC are thinking of making changes to the convention due to the imminent landing of Hurricane Gustav. They announced a press conference for 3 pm that would outline these changes. After running tests on our tether systems, I covered the press conference. The room was packed. There had to have been at least 40 stills or more. McCain would be speaking via satellite to announce the changes in the convention schedule.

When McCain came on the TV, the cameras went wild. Thousands of shutter clicks went off during his short appearance. Motor drives gone wild. I felt like I was under fire. Cease fire! Cease Fire!

McCain announced that the first day of the convention would be abbreviated and only tend to official convention business. All of the heavy hitting speakers scheduled for Monday had canceled. The list included George Bush, Dick Cheney and Ahhhnold Schwarzenegger. The six hour program had been cut down to 2 hours. Hurricane Gustav was killing the convention. Could it be karma for the current republican administrations lack of response to Katrina? Did the evangelicals who prayed for rain on Obama’s Invesco field speech get the date wrong? The RNC was getting washed out by a hurricane that was hundreds of miles south of Minnesota. McCain said during his satellite fed speech that “it is time to take our republican hats off and put on our American hats.” What exactly does that mean?

News crews began to trickle out of the convention. Some are heading to NOLA for the hurricane, some are just thinking that this story is dead and scale back their coverage.
With all of our work done for the day, a group of us head to the Minnesota State Fair. The 320-acre fair is a bad food mecca. The fair is known for its huge variety of deep fried food on a stick. You can get deep fried Twinkies, corn dogs, alligator, Oreos and pretty much any other bad food you can think of. There are carnival style food trailers everywhere. There is more food here than anything. You can also buy hot tubs, couches and grain silos. One of the grain silo sellers advertised the availability of “fall erections.” A group of kids took pictures and laughed at the sign. Yes, we did too.
Reuters photographer Brian Snyder had told me about chocolate covered bacon at the fair. I was intrigued. It was my mission to find this delicacy. We walked around for a few hours in search of the bacon. Along the way, a few of my co-workers “got their Twink on” and tried the deep fried Twinkie on a stick. Looked scary.
As the sun was going down we finally found Famous Dave’s, home of the chocolate covered bacon. For five dollars I got a cone shaped water cup filled with 5 pieces of “Sweet and Salty Pig Lickers.” Fairgoers looked on as a group of geeky photographers simultaneously photographed the cup of bacon. I took a deep breath and bit into the greasy confection. Hmmm, not bad. Seriously. Tasted a little like when you have bacon with pancakes and you dip it in the syrup. I wanted it to be more disgusting than it was.

Denver to Minneapolis

The Mall of America is the first thing I see as my Frontier flight descends into the Minneapolis –St. Paul airport. After a long Thursday and little sleep, I arrive in St. Paul for the round two of the political conventions.

After a day of much needed rest, the crew headed to the Excel Energy Center in St. Paul to do a walk through of the new venue. Everything in the small arena is red. A giant monitor behind the small podium projects a waving flag. The stage is boring compared to the democrats’ game show-like set-up. For the most part, everything is in place. Unlike the DNC, people aren’t frantically running around trying to put final touches on the stage and arena.
We weren’t at the site very long. A few of us decided to check out the media party before our Getty team dinner. We programmed the GPS to take us to the Guthrie Theatre. We navigated around all the road closures in St. Paul and finally got onto the freeway. Twenty minutes later, we arrived at the theatre – or so we thought. There wasn’t much going on except some weird art miniature golf in a big field of grass. We walked around for a few minutes and finally asked someone where the Guthrie Theatre was. It turns out that the theatre used to be on the site of the mini golf but was torn down 2 years prior and relocated. We were about 5 miles from the new site. With only 30 minutes before our dinner, we blew off the party. Thanks Garmin.

Chip knew of a sculpture park across the street from the mini golf so we visited the famous spoonbridge and cherry sculpture. At least the light was nice.

The Obama McCain Meeting

The AC cord from the laptop dangled alongside the shoeless man as he sprinted down the corridor at the Oakland International Airport. His flip flops are nearly falling out of his shoulder bag. Ten minutes earlier an announcement went over the public address calling for this man to come to gate 20 for immediate boarding for the 10:15 flight to Seattle. It was no 10:25. The plane was gone. Might be time to invest in a watch.

I was early for my 11:45 to Orange County. I am headed to Pastor Rick Warren’s mega church in Lake Forest, Ca. for the town hall style meeting with McCain and Obama.

Saddleback Church campus is gigantic. Dozens of buildings, tents and a few restaurants are scattered all over the 120 acre complex where an estimated 20,000 people come to worship. The place has a very weird feeling. The people are overly friendly. I’m not going to drink any kool-aid if it’s offered.

The two presumptive presidential candidates will be questioned by Pastor Warren in a massive 2,000 or so seat auditorium with fake trees in the mezzanine and oversized video monitors above the stage. The giant press riser is so big that it actually looks empty. Maybe it was. I am double-teaming the event with my Los Angeles counterpart David McNew. The plan is to have me join the traveling press and shoot from the buffer and McNew will shoot from the rear.

Church security staff is very weird about our movements in the church and was limiting our photo opportunities from the buffer. We would get three chances, once when Obama and Warren met, another during a commercial break and finally the shot of McCain and Obama meeting at the show’s halfway mark.

The first shot we’re given lasted roughly 45 seconds. The mob of about 15 stills and TV cameras was escorted down a long walkway into the buffer. Some are doing the accelerated walk. The elbows are starting to come out. The light is challenging. A wave to the crowd and we are ushered back to our holding area. Shot two was for the most part in the dark as they turned the stage lights off during the commercial break. As if it wasn’t dark enough already.

Anxious photographers jockeyed for position in the hold as the money shot drew near. As we were escorted down the path to the stage people actually started running. Once at the stage, the pushing began as people tried to jam themselves as close to the stage as possible. I stood behind the pack so I wouldn’t be shooting up their nose. In the blink of an eye we were out.

Traveling press broke away and we moved to the motorcade and were enroute to the airport in Long Beach within a few minutes.

An hour-long flight on O-Force One and we were in Reno. We were staying at the Grand Sierra Resort. After dropping bags in my pimpin’ mirror clad and dimly lit suite, I went people watching in the bar with AP photographer Alex Brandon and Athena Jones of NBC. The people were completely entertaining. From chubby women wearing painted on clothes and a Vanilla Ice look-a-like to Midwest convention goers and a Patrick Swayze wannabe with a bowl cut. The Sways-He impersonator tore up the dance floor with a combination of moves from Dirty Dancing to Sweatin' To The Oldies. Fascinating. Aside from drinking too much, I also lost $40 on the roulette table.