Convention Coverage: Reporter's Notebook

Schweitzer Turns Heads in Staff Basement at Convention

By Jill Kuraitis, 8-26-08

I was caught standing in a basement hallway at the Democratic Convention when Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer began to speak. Big televisions line the hall where media producers and editors have booths of equipment and cameramen lunge around with lead-weight backpacks, passing so fast you have to keep moving or get flattened.

In that hallway, nobody but me was listening when Schweitzer began.  But within just a few minutes, Pepsi Center workers began to pause at their jobs and hang around the screens. Journalists and political staff did the same.  The center of the hall was still a thruway, but now many Schweitzer-watchers leaned on the walls.

When Schweitzer hit one of his winning applause lines or did his twinkly-eyes thing, the housekeeper standing next to me, Lorena, would clap and laugh.  “Why didn’t you people nominate HIM?” she wanted to know.

A very young Biden staffer turned to his co-worker, leaned over and said, “Geez.  Learn something from that guy.” They nodded in conspiracy.

“Who the hell is that?” asked a reporter from Maryland.  I told him.  “Montana?  Montana has a guy who can burn a barn like that?” he asked. 

“He’s completely under the thumb of a border collie named Jag,” I said. 

Maryland:  “You people out here hire dogs as media consultants?” he laughed. “There’s my story for the day.”

When Schweitzer began to shout out the names of the states and called in his high-spirited way for the delegates to stand, the in-house cameras cut to Joe Biden’s face.  He looked so amazed and delighted by Schweitzer’s speech that the two young Biden guys looked at each other.  “Joe is so loving this,” one said. Serious and important nods at each other commenced.

A door to the convention floor just a few feet from me suddenly was opened by a scary-looking tribe of geared-up Secret Service guys, and for a minute I could hear the end of Schweitzer’s speech both live from the floor and slightly delayed from the monitor.  The combination created an evolved sort of rodeo sound, a little like Brian Schweitzer. 

Click here to also read Robert Struckman’s report on Schweitzer’s speech from inside the convention.

And for other NewWest.Net coverage from the convention, bookmark www.newwest.net/politics.

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