WCVB Executive Producer Jenny Barron covered the Republican National Convention for Newscenter 5.
Our final day at the RNC started with what I hoped was not an omen.
Reporter Janet Wu and I woke up early, as usual. She wanted to get out for a run. (I’ll pass on that, thanks very much) I was planning on hopping on the daily conference call hosted by the Democratic National Committee. Over the course of the trip, it was a good way to judge how the other side was reacting to what was going on here in St. Paul. I also like to go through all the major newspapers, both in Boston and around the country and pop in on some of my favorite political blogs. (I highly recommend ABC’s “The Note” and Time Magazine’s “The Page”…see links below).
But, that was not to be. It seems everyone in the hotel had the same idea, because the wifi signal was down. It is amazing the little things that can throw your whole day off. After muttering a few profanities at my innocent computer, I decided to spend my morning with CNN.
We headed out the hotel with a rough plan. Some Republican vets were planning a news conference to tout Sen. John McCain’s war record and policy on Iraq. That was sure to be a big topic in his acceptance speech.
We also hooked up with Nightline’s Cynthia McFadden to get her perspective on the week. With McCain’s big night looming, the buzz was simple: could the top of the ticket…top…the woman he’d chosen as his running mate?
The prevailing wisdom among delegates and media alike was that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin had hit it out of the park Wednesday night. She fired up the party’s conservative base…and proved that she wouldn’t shrink from the controversies surrounding her.
Now it is her running mate’s turn. The plan is to reconstruct the stage in the Xcel Center just for McCain. He’s always seemed to shine in town hall formats…and that’s exactly what they’re going for here tonight.
The excitement is building here, we’ll just have to see if the GOP can close out this convention with a bang!
links: The Note: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TheNote
The Page: thepage.time.com
