NM Pop Politics

I wonder about the ethics of convention journalism.

At almost every moment of the day, you’re bombarded by sponsors. Corporate, non-profit, independent. And why not? The Democratic National Convention is one of the great modern venues for free and public speech. And advertising, the right to advertise is also an important freedom granted by the First Amendment. (Which is why it’s more than a little shady that the cage set aside for protestors is being called the “First Amendment Zone.”)

I’m getting, and taking, a lot of free shit. Beer and pizza and burritos, some of which was fed to me by T. Boone Pickens. Buttons, pins, T-shirts, even a train whistle from Union Pacific. Breakfast in the morning from Qwest and the Democratic Party. I’ve got an entire pocket of my backpack filled with free condoms from Trojan. Those were being handed out within the Pepsi Center perimeter.

Is it ethical? I mean, really, can I justify it? I’m the first to go after a local politician for accepting contributions from lobbyists and corporate PACs…so, why have i had several drinks and a couple of cigars on who-knows-who’s (ahem, Brian Colon) tab?

I’m certainly a little troubled by it, the influence and attention that folks are able to buy, not just from policy makers, but from me. I’ll be posting video of T. Boone Pickens’ address to New Mexico’s delegation this morning over breakfast. There you go: feed the delegates breakfast, pour me coffee, and that’ll get you attention on our blog. It’s that easy.

But somebody’s got to pay for the convention, right?

I’ll tell you what makes me feel better about all of it. In 2007, I went to Austin for South by Southwest festival, which is kind of like the Democratic National Convention of indie music. The entire city is taken over. In fact, I didn’t even have tickets to the festival. I didn’t need them. Aside from the headliners, most of the bands, never full of fans and money, played shows at all the local clubs the same week. And most of these shows were free, thanks to corporate sponsors and party organizers

For example, cigarettes. Take as many free cigarettes as you like. Then, when you’re done, take as many packs of gum and breathmints as you like. Have a free Brand A beer, or energy drink, or CD sampler with BMW emblazoned on the front.

Would a music writer be unethical for taking as much free stuff as he can? Probably not. A food writer for taking a free sample at a farmers market? Hardly.

So, surely I’ve got an argument there. I’m not picking where I’m going and one’s got to experience the experience.

Nevertheless: All I’m taking home is a bunch of cheap, white-elephant souvenirs that I couldn’t rid of if I wanted (don’t worry coworkers; I’m actually buying good stuff for you). Foodwise…well, I’ll eat anything put in front of me. It’s a horrible habit from my deadbroke days in college.

Right! Now, I want feedback. Chime in and let me know how you’d deal with the ethical quandary.

Ooh! Colon’s on C-Span speaking on the floor during the roll call! He’s on friggin’ fire.

Denver’s DNC riot cops:

These two were outside a ritz downtown club, where apparently, celebs were hanging and getting ready to talk to the press. I couldn’t break through the paparazzi wall, so I skipped it. However, Val Kilmer is speaking tonight and I may have to make a choice: Richardson & Biden from the nosebleed or Nader and Kilmer from backstage. Hmmm…. Actually, it’s not much of a choice is it?

Wednesday was a fairly slow day for the New Mexico delegation; as far as I could tell the only local connection was Third Congressional District Candidate Ben Ray Lujan standing on stage waving. Since Thursday would be a bigger day, between Gov. Bill Richardson and Sen. Tom Udall taking the podium, so I decided to take it a bit easy and catch Hillary Clinton’s big speech on TV from a Mongolian Barbecue.

One Hillary supporter was especially passionate:

Here’s some post-speech (and post-emotional supporter) commentary from myself and NM Independent editor (and former SFR staff writer) David Alire Garcia:

Maureen Dowd writes in the New York Times that she too thinks there might be a little trouble for Obama later in the day when the DNC actually nominates him.

I had to run to the NM Delegation breakfast before the video finished processing. It may be up to a half-hour from posting before you can actually watch it. If there’s a problem, I’ll fix it once I’m back in the Big Tent.

You can’t make it to Denver for the 2008 Democratic National Convention? No worries; it’s a madhouse anyway. But, let’s see how you would have navigated the convention of the century.

1 It’s Sunday night, the eve of the DNC, the hotels are booked bulging and even if you could find a room, it would cost you a kidney. You:

a. stay with your younger sister, a law student, who lives a dozen light-rail stops away from downtown. In exchange for the futon, you promise to defend her choice to study criminal rather than patent law to your parents. (You decide to use former New Mexico Attorney General and current Democratic Party Platform Committee Co-Chairwoman Patsy Madrid as an example of how far a prosecutorial background can get you.) Go to #2.

b. decide to crash on a hard floor in a downtown loft, within blocks of the Pepsi Center, home of the DNC. Thing is, you’re sharing that floor with a half-dozen other people. Go to #3

2 After a night of many cigars and free drinks on Friends of Brian Colón’s tab (though, you’re told, the night is mostly coming out of Democratic Party Chairman Colón’s personal pocket), you return home to discover blogger Joe Monahan has used his confidential sources to belittle New Mexico journalists at the DNC. You:

a. stay up late blogging a razor-witted response. Go to #4

b. let it go and go to sleep. Go to #5

3 You’re close enough to downtown to get to the live taping of Morning Joe on MSNBC at a downtown diner. You show up at the 7:30 am New Mexico delegate breakfast and, as a result, are invited to several swanky evening parties, including New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson’s poolside reception, sponsored by the firefighter’s union. You:

a. promise to attend and decide to spend the day shopping for bathing suits. Go to #9

b. explain that you’re playing it by ear. Go to #7

4 At the Denver Convention Center, where various caucuses are meeting, you run into Terri Holland, a jovial delegate who is still wearing her “Hillary for President” pin. She too is curious to know who gabbed to Monahan. Then you rendezvous with NM Independent editor David Alire Garcia and Obama delegate Gaye Pollitt, who is dressed like a parade float. You:

a. follow Garcia to the Hispanic Caucus. Go to #6

b. follow Pollitt to the First American Caucus. Go to #7

5 You wake up from a humiliating nightmare about man-eating alligators and guys typing in their underwear. You pack up and go home. Game Over.

6 The ballroom for the Hispanic Caucus is only half-full, even when Sen. Hillary Clinton arrives to rouse the crowd into Obama-fever. The applause and cheers fill the entire convention center and, when she’s done, you’re inspired to go directly to the Pepsi Center. Unfortunately, it’s completely dead. You:

a. decide to stake out a seat, which you sit on until the evening when Michelle Obama gives the keynote address. Go to #8

b. get bored, especially when you can’t connect to the Internet and head back to the 16th Street Mall for coffee and Wi-Fi. Go to #9

7 Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean speaks before the First American Caucus, committing especially to end poverty. But then you hear enormous cheers coming from down the hall. You:

a. leave the ballroom to go check out the noise. Go back to #6

b. are so inspired by the discussion of the plight of the downtrodden that you decide to go check out the protests on the 16th Street Mall. Go to #9

8 You wait and wait and wait and by the time you’ve sat through House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr, Barack Obama’s siblings and a dozen other speakers, you’re so exhausted that you sleep through Michelle Obama’s address. Afterward, you fall down the Pepsi Center stairs because of the pins and needles in your legs. Game Over.

9 Outside one of the umpteen Starbucks on the 16th Street Mall, you’re caught in a fierce (and somewhat smelly) protest march by a coalition of anti-war, anti-government and anarchist groups organized by Re-create 68. You are arrested for standing in the street and blocking the free downtown shuttle and the police take you to the temporary warehouse detention center in Denver’s suburbs. Two days later you are released and immediately attend Ralph Nader’s “Open the Debates” rally, where you also see Green Party presidential nominee Cynthia McKinney and New Mexico-based actor Val Kilmer speak. Game Over.

10 You happen to get a temporary floor pass the moment before Michelle Obama takes the stage. You catch the ailing Sen. Ted Kennedy’s eye just as he promises to be at work in the Senate when Obama takes office. A Secret Service agent taps you on the shoulder and leads you to a private lounge party sponsored by a labor group. Kennedy asks you to be Barack Obama’s ambassador to Bali. With a speedy confirmation, you accept.

But wait, how did you get here? #10 wasn’t even an option. That’s right, because, more than anything, surviving the DNC is about luck, spontaneity and straying off the course.

Crossposted at Sfreporter.com. Photo by Matthew Reichbach.

And I thought the inflatable Trojan condom tent within the Pepsi Center perimeter was a bit low for the Democratic National Convention.

Nope. It gets lower. Actual mascots running for president within the stadium halls. Here’s Captain Morgan, of rum-bottle fame, discussing the planks in his platform, so to speak:

OK, so I am indeed a virgin convention-coverer. Someone tell me, is this typical?

The Stormfront Community (a racists-welcome messageboard) linked to my arrest video from last night on their Democratic Convention thread. Over there, the bigots are calling the presumptive nominee, “Obongo.”

Also, a lot of Russian livejournal sites are linking to the Swing State conference room, which may be why we have all sorts of lurking guests in the chat. Bots, I think.

In which I show off my excellent videography skills by cutting off the top half of Obama delegate Brad Lyau’s head for most of the interview. Kind of embarassed about that, but I’ll get Lyau on video later in full.

A long-time Democratic Party activist, Lyau was in Denver two weeks ago, not as an advanceman, but as an advanced thinker… the occasion was the 2008 World Science Fiction Convention.

I got mentioned in a piece about the blogger tent in Fort Collins: Now, a newspaper serving “America’s best place to live.” Um, here’s the bit:

More than 5,000 bloggers applied to gain access to the Big Tent. Of the 500 that did receive credentials many are literally looking in from the outside. Many don’t have access to the Pepsi Center where much of the “action” happens at the DNC.

One of the exceptions is Dave Maass, a reporter for the Santa Fe Reporter, a weekly paper and a blogger for www.swingstateofmind.com.

Maass wears the hats of both a traditional journalist, with DNC credentials and access to the Pepsi Center, and a new media blogger with Big Tent credentials.

However Maass admits the line between new and conventional media is blurring more and more with new technology.

“No one knows exactly where this is going or what’s going to work,” said Maass of the roomful of bloggers. “We try different things and have different levels of success.”

I think he missed a joke opp with the hat thing. Man, the hat’s getting me a lot of attention…I’ve done a few interviews now and had a camera in my face a dozen times. What I love is that I can turn my live camera at them, and I get to broadcast them first.

Joe Monahan, you should let your “alligators” know they’re on notice. I’m still irked about the anonymous quote on your blog that painted Santa Fe New Mexican writer Steve Terrell, New Mexico Independent editor David Alire Garcia and myself as friendless losers, avoided by everyone.

I’ve decided to take up the case and to out whoever’s talking smack about New Mexico’s press corp.

My first suspect: alternate delegate Sean Stimmel, the youngest New Mexico delegate in history, who accepted a $250 travel grant from Monahan. Did the money also come with a debt of gossip? Stimmel swears it didn’t.

Last night after experiencing Sen. Ted Kennedy and Michelle Obama, I made my way to the Crown Plaza Hotel, where Gov. Bill Richardson was to be welcoming people to the Democratic National Convention. Unfortunately, I stumbled onto a deserted street lined with riot officers. The cops were keeping the media out, but I decided to investigate anyway.

Sure looks liked we’re living in a police state. But then again, everyone seemed quite calm and safe on the ground.

I did make it to the poolside reception later and even had a chance to finally meet Bill himself, but I’ll save that for another post.