Finally, A Campaign With Access

If you haven’t already noticed, it’s an election year. It’s been a busy year for campaign coverage starting with Iowa way back in December of last year. I’ve been on some really good campaigns, Huckabee comes to mind. Despite the lack of staff and an actual plan to deal with members of the press, it was a lot of fun and the photos were always interesting. Hillary had her shining moments, but for the most part that was one of the most controlled campaigns I have been on since Schwarzenegger ran for Governor. You pretty much got nothing and liked it. No picture for you.

Today, I am back out on the campaign. No, not out with Obama again, and no, not Quaylin either. I am rolling with Cindy Sheehan, independent candidate for U.S. Congress as she attempts to unseat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Yup, Nancy Pelosi. Cindy is not a fan. You might remember Cindy, she is the mom of Casey Sheehan, who was killed in Iraq in April of 2004. Cindy waged a cross-country campaign against the war and George Bush in an attempt to get people to demand that we pull out of Iraq. Her movement worked for a little while but couldn’t keep the momentum going. So, she made plans to retire. That plan didn’t really stick either. My day “traveling” with the candidate started early. It’s a busy day for the candidate with 4 scheduled events alongside Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader. When I arrive at the campaign headquarters, several campaign workers are using packing tape to adhere homemade and printed campaign signs to the side of a van conversion/RV type vehicle that Cindy affectionately calls “Jezebel”. The workers are all buzzing around and making sure they have everything together for the first event. Cindy arrives at 9:30 with her Chihuahua Petie.

When it was time to go, about 10 of us piled into the RV with the candidate holding the back door open for us. There was no security sweep and no bomb sniffing dog checking out my equipment. I wasn’t told to wear a campaign issued credential or a Secret Service pass. I was confused for a minute. This was nothing like the usual campaign routine I am used to. Where’s the metal detector, I need my daily dose of radiation. The other thing that is awkward and unfamiliar, I am the only member of the press on this bus.
On the ride over to the first event, Cindy sat in the front seat, an uncommon move for a candidate on a bigger national campaign. She hung out of the window yelling to pedestrians to “vote for me” and “vote for peace.” Something else I have not seen too much of on other campaigns. I'd love to see McCain do that. This is kind of fun.
The first event is a press conference. When we arrived, Cindy seemed pleased that there was a single TV camera already set up. Another would show up later. This was by no means a huge press event, but she seemed happy that people had come out. She mingled with people, thanked them for coming. I shadowed her as she moved around the small crowd, while she greeted old friends and even when she went off to make a phone call. I keep waiting for the inevitable “you can’t be here” line by one of her staffers. It never came. As a matter of fact, I never heard the word “no” all day. My friends out on the big presidential campaigns today would be jealous.
After the presser, we all went back to Cindy’s headquarters and hung out. Cindy and her Chief of Staff had a meeting at a donut shop where they bought breakfast for a homeless woman. Our next event was a fundraiser lunch for Ralph Nader. What’s up with that guys eye? One of them seems to be bigger than the other, kind of like McCain. The $250 a plate lunch attracted nearly 20 people. They all munched on sushi, mussels and finger sandwiches. Nader spoke towards the end and complained that he was not getting the media attention that he deserves and asked why even Code Pink wouldn’t endorse his candidacy. I wish I had answers for him. While he was saying this I was emailing back and forth with my editor asking her if we needed any pictures of him. The answer was a confident no. Sorry Ralphie, I tried.
Another thing I am noticing about this campaign is the lack of flesh pressing. Cindy doesn’t seem to go out of her way to connect with the people like most politicians do. I suppose she doesn’t consider herself a politician, but I would think she would be putting herself out there a little more. I was waiting for those pictures to happen and they never really came. Cindy is a funny woman, has a very dry sense of humor.
The last event for me was a rally at San Francisco State University. On the way over to the rally we were driving on the freeway and the posters taped to the side started to peel away and flap in the wind. We had to pull over and remove the half shredded posters from one side of the RV. Back on the freeway we cruised in the slow lane at about 40 m.p.h. so the other side wouldn’t fly off.
At the school event we picked up photographer Marcio Sanchez from the AP and his reporter. They rode back to the headquarters with us in the RV. Yay, more press. I thought Cindy would have come to the back of the RV to conduct her interview with the AP reporter, but she stayed in her front seat and did the interview over her shoulder. Back at the HQ, Cindy worked in her office while we snapped pictures of her looking intently at her laptop. There was one more event scheduled for the day, but I was done. I was great to have such free access to a candidate. I’m sure that will never happen again.

McLovin Obama and Pelosi

A crazy thought was on my mind when I woke up this morning. McLovin (from the movie Superbad) could be Michael Phelps’ twin. Think about it.

Our day started out relatively early with a 7:15 am bag call. We did three decent events in Reno before heading to San Francisco. The take-off from Reno was really bumpy, the landing in SF was terrible. O-Force One slammed down on the tarmac at SFO as if we had just hooked the third wire on the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan. The impact was punctuated by gasps and the sound of metal trays and who knows what else crashing in the galley.

Our stay in SF was brief, about 5 hours. Obama was in town for night of fundraising. Since photos aren’t allowed during fundraisers, the traveling pool ended up with three hours of downtime while the senator raked in $7.8 million dollars as he bounced from one event to another at the Fairmont Hotel. I wish I could make that kind of dough for 3 hours of my time.

A group of us had dinner in Chinatown. A few of the ladies came back to the press hold after shopping at Victoria’s Secret. We all got a good laugh when our press agent had to search their little pink bags during the sweep.

The best part of the night came when we were waiting to move in the motorcade to that airport. We had been holding outside in the pool van for almost 2 hours when the loaded us for our imminent departure. Our van was behind a Highway Patrol car and a staff van. A police car pulled out of the garage followed by two SUV’s and we quickly folded into the movement. Two blocks into it we stop. The officer in the lead car got out and started flailing his arms about. We had stupidly hopped into Nancy Pelosi’s motorcade. We were now out of the bubble – dirty.

We sat in the middle of Powell Street as Dean, our press agent, tried to maneuver us back into the correct motorcade. Alas, it was too late, it had already left. Now, on our own, we zig-zagged through SF trying to get to the airport as soon as possible. The conversation between our Chinese driver James and Dean with his Southern drawl was hilarious as they went back and forth about how to get to the airport. Dean told James to disregard traffic laws and “drive it like you stole it.” James was all over it. We even experienced a burst of flashes as he blew through a red light at a photo enforced intersection. I’m sure the judge will buy his story. “No, really, I was told by a Secret Service agent to run red lights.”

We made it back to the plane and eventually to Albuquerque.