Larry’s Word: RNC At The Hockey Arena: A Play-By-Play
Larry on Sep 12 2008 at 12:36 am | Filed under: Culture War, Election 2008: Jihad Watch, My Two Cents, PoP Culture, Pride, RNC National Convention, Uncategorized
A big thanks to The OttO Show (TOS) and Calvin Tang for giving me the opportunity to go to the RNC convention last night. I never thought I would be able to attend. When TOS mentioned he might be able to bring someone with him, I have to admit, I didn’t really believe it. Not until Calvin put the pass in my hand did I become a believer.
Living and Working in St. Paul, the convention has been a constant topic of discussion in our paper and among friends. My job brings me downtown every day, and we were of course concerned about even getting into work during the convention. The reality though has been far from our fears, with almost no interruption in my commute to or from work. And getting into the convention last night was actually rather easy. TOS and I parked at my office and walked over the Wabasha “Freedom” Bridge (yeah, that’s what it’s really called). It was opened shortly after September 11th and that’s the name we in St Paul went with. Never mind that the jail is at one end of the bridge, and my employer at the other…
The local media coverage of the convention has focused almost entirely on the protesters, and by that I mean the so called “anarchists” who don’t really seem to be protesting anything in particular. The coverage has created a sense of danger downtown and I felt as if I were a true adventurer risking it all making my way into the thick of things. TOS and I did not see any of the black clothed thugs on our way in, or out. We did have a run in with three protesters. Yes that’s right a giant crowd of three protesters, (yes, I am sure - I counted twice) with one sign amongst them. It read, “Government has failed”. TOS read it out loud and the young lady in the group hearing him, shouted “You’re an idiot!”. This seemed to wound TOS a little, so I comforted and reassured him that she doesn’t know him well enough to make that assessment. He cheered right up, it didn’t even matter to him that I hadn’t actually contradicted her.
The walk to the convention ended up being a lot like my walks to the Xcel In the past to see the Wild play hockey. The difference being security was on the outside of the building. We did run into several people wearing jerseys, they all had the number 08 for the election year, and their local candidates name across the shoulder blades. I though it was kind of a cool idea, and looked way more comfortable then the standard, dark blue suit.
We did a walk through of the place before settling in for the speeches. Radio Row was interesting. Every conservative talk show host and radio net work as well as NPR was there. TOS told me Air America Radio was there as well, but I did not see them.
A lot about the convention reminded me of going to a hockey game with the National Anthem and twelve dollar ham sandwiches, but mostly it was about the energy in the crowd. People were excited, and that type of excitement is infectious. When your star player scores a goal, in the convention world this means making a point or giving the other party a zinger. Just like at a game you jump up and cheer. Norm Coleman welcomed the attendees to the “state of hockey” which is what the Minnesota Wild refers to Minnesota as. This nod wasn’t lost to me, but I am afraid it went right over most.
At one point in the evening a person asked me “Who plays here at the Xcel, the North Stars?” Hockey as an ice breaker, I smiled at him as I explained those are fighting words to a Wild fan! The North Stars are down south in Bush Country now, and have a bit of a rivalry going with the Wild.
Watching the speeches it occurred to me that on TV you never get the background noise, you get the mic feed directly. There was, through most of the nigh, the constant background noise of people talking, and chatter from all attending. When we were lead in prayer, it all suddenly stopped, and there was silence. Only one voice coming from the stage. This was the sound of people paying attention. And it happened again three more times last night. The rest was for Michelle Steel, who gave birth to a bumper stick slogan last night with “Drill, baby Drill!” Mitt couldn’t keep the silence thing going and neither could Huckabee. But Rudy Giuliani got it back, I really think he had the only truly great speech of the night, he seemed to be having fun on stage, and the crowd was experiencing that fun with him. It was easy to get caught up in the moment; I found my self standing up and sitting down more often than if I were at Christmas Mass.
The third time we had “the silence”, it was for Sarah Palin - the self described hockey mom. The energy was so high for her, the standing ovation when she entered was so long I wasn’t sure if we were going to sit at all during her speech… For me it was a nervous energy, there had been such a build up for her, by all the speakers - could she live up to it? And was this attention, this silence, something different? Did she hold the crowd spellbound like Michael and Rudy, or were they holding their breath? To be honest, it was a little of both, but in the end it was her night, and this hockey mom had the home field advantage, and her crowd was going to be there for her. And if the audience can make a difference in a game or speech and energize a speaker and carry them through, it happened last night. Sarah wasn’t the best speaker last night but you wouldn’t be able to tell that by the response she got.
McCain made a cameo, and then it was over. We shuffled out getting bottle-necked near an exit that always gets bottle-necked. And it occurred to me, this is the first time I have left an event here at the Xcel where I couldn’t tell you who won because the game just isn’t over yet. But if I had to pick a winner for the night it was Sarah Palin - after tonight, if there is “the silence” for her, it will not be because people are holding their breath.
Larry is a contributing writer, covering his evening spent at the RNC
Larry, it was a pleasure to meet you and I’m glad that you enjoyed your time at the RNC. I look forward to reading more of your articles at Newsvine and around the web.
Best regards,
Calvin