The Journey Begins

At the airport: While waiting for my flight from Atlanta to Denver, I spoke with Pam, a first-time Georgia delegate. She described how she was elected in a caucus (first time for her). The Georgia delegation is staying at Doubletree and will be in the nosebleed section at the convention itself. She mentioned that her Congressman supported Barack from the beginning, but his wife is still a stalwart Hilbacker. I asked her if she would ever think of running for a political office herself, and she said, "No way--too many skeletons in this girl's closet!"

I also talked briefly with two older men who were South Carolina delegates. After talking about Gamecock football and the SEC in general, one of the guys commented on South Carolina being a "paradise" but not having investment in infrastructure to make it a reality. He also went on to say, unsolicited: "It's time for a change...Anyone that does not realize that is living in a different world than us." There you have it!

On the plane: After I bid farewell to the GA/SC folks, I boarded the plane. There were lots of Obama pins and t-shirts, many with his big mug on them. You can feel the excitement in the air. It was interesting to see the contrast between Denver guys in cowboy hats heading back home, indifferent to what's happening this week, and the huge Dem contingent heading to the convention...

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, guess who sat next to me? Monica (Kaufman) Pearson, veteran 33-year news anchor at WSB in Atlanta! Monica will be in Denver all week and seemed very interested in talking to folks from Georgia as special interest stories, especially our documentary for the Lakes high school class in Chicago! She and I talked the entire flight and exchanged contact info. She wanted to interview me the moment we got off the plane! Her cameraman, Damon, was on the plane too and had his camera in hand ready to go.

We had barely arrived to baggage claim, and here comes Monica, cameraman in tow, luggage in one hand, microphone in the other--"Hi Scott, this must be your friend..." Lights, camera, action! She interviewed both of us and got some good B-roll shots of us standing awkwardly waiting for our luggage. I dropped all the cliches I could think of, Nuke LaLoosh-style in Bull Durham. All the gory details are here:

http://www.wsbtv.com/video/17285369/index.html