GREEN BAY

An hour of question-and-answer is a long time. But, Gov. Dean showed the 300 Green Bay supporters that he had thoughtfull positions on everything from dairy policy to the war in Iraq -- the audience was happy. The Gov. was ready to head down the hall to the overflow auditorium, where another 500 supporters were hoping for a glimpse of the next president.

We moved Gov. Dean and his traveling staff into position, just off stage, and I went to the far side of the stage to help/manage the network camera's that were carrying the event. The crowd erupted as he entered the stage. This was a perfect event: here was our "rockstar moment" just after an hour of "policy work."

Then, in front of folks rushing the stage, we saw him gesture. He wanted it. He motioned for the person to throw it to him. As it flew through the air, I caught the eye of another campaign staffer; all we could both think was, "Well... he asked for it."

Then he put on the cheesehead.


P.S. - The Wisconsin papers loved it. Go figure.

THE RELIGIOUS LEFT

I went to Catholic school, I went to mass every weekend (well, most) and I even read a lot of the bible (in hotel rooms).

Since becoming an adult, I have had a very hard time understanding how the religious right has found 200 ways to co-opt the supposably "morally high ground."

God is not a right-wing zealot
The Rev. Albert Pennybacker is a Bible Belt preacher with a drawl who's urging people to support "basic religious values." But he's no Jerry Falwell clone. This man of the cloth wants "regime change" in Washington.

ADVANCE

Political advance work is the basic stage management of a candidate/elected official's visit somewhere. I used to do this a lot and am getting back into it, in the run up to the 2004 election. Two quick stories:

DEAN AT THE MASONIC AUDITORIUM
San Francisco threw Gov. Dean a fundraiser/concert here on Sunday at the Masonic Auditorium, and I did my part to get the show on the stage. It was a great event. John Pettitt, the campaign photographer, took some shots as we were trying to get the good doctor off the stage and on to his next event:



MRS C' and FREE WILLY
One of my favorite trips doing this sort of stuff was to advance a trip Mrs. Clinton (then the First Lady) made to The 1999 Conference on Women and Democracy in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Once there, we spent a couple days setting-up a daytrip she was to make to the Westman Islands - a series of tiny, volcanic islands a few miles off the southern coast of Iceland. It was a crazy place.

On the agenda was a visit to see Keiko, the killer whale star of Free Willy.

Because they were preparing Keiko for a life in the wild, nobody could talk to, look at, or acknowledge this enormous whale, unless it was part of his pre-scheduled "social hour". We were standing on a floating platform in this enclosede bay with a huge whale trying very hard to get our attention. All the while, the woman in charge of the floating rig just kept saying, "Don't look at him! He can tell if you're looking at him. Don't look at the whale"

To this day, that remains the most surreal thing I've ever heard. We were standing above a 2-ton whale blowing water in the air and slapping the surface of the bay with his tail, and we're supposed to "act natural". Even the Secret Service guys were giggling.

A terrible storm kept Mrs. Clinton off the Westmans, so she never got to meet Keiko. He was huge and I wish I had at least winked at him. He could tell.

MISERABLE FAILURE

Google search: "miserable failure"

30 Point Lead

Holy Crap!

I know Dr. Dean was the Governor of the neighboring state (isn't helping a Kerry), but to have a 30 point lead, ahead of the other eight candidates is pretty amazing.

Couple that with his nabbing union endorsements from Gephardt and you've got to admit: Dr. Dean came to play.

1:56AM: FOR THE RECORD.

There are now three raccoons, and they really look like they're trying to get into Mrs. Nash's apartment. And they're cooing/talking to each other incredibly loudly.

I now have an icecube tray and am tossing ice at them to try and scare them away. The littlest one (the new one) is just chasing the ice as it hits the ground. It's not working.

I'm convinced that Maggie is about to come out of the bedroom to see me in my underwear, at the window, with a flashlight, and ice tray, and my laptop.

That's why I'm explaining this now.

1:30AM: SHUT UP!!

There's a big raccoon and a huge raccoon outside my bedroom window, arguing over who gets to push Mrs. Nash's pots around the patio.

I can't get down into her backyard, they are no longer intimidated by my flashlight, and they're really noisy. And pretty funny. And if I didn't know how nasty they are up close I'd think they were pretty cute.

I'm not gonna get to sleep: I apologize to everyone at the company meeting I'm suppose to run tomorrow morning. That thing's gonna need to run itself.

Damn raccoons, with their Hello Kitty Bikes!

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

Modern Drunkard Magazine's 365 Reasons to Get Soused.

December 2
St. Bibiana’s Day. Patron saint of hangovers. Bloody Mary.

and
The 86 Rules for Boozing