I decided to catch the Tom Vilsack roadshow yesterday. Vilsack was an emcee of sorts for the DNC's daily roast of the republican convention. I walked to W40th and 7th Avenue, where I met up with Iowa-based AP reporter Amy Lorenzen. We continued down 7th Avenue past Madison Square Garden to 26th. … [Read more...]

One of the most interesting things about this convention is that there hasn't been a GOP-orchestrated trip to Ground Zero. Even though the rhetoric inside Madison Square Garden has invoked and evoked 9/11 over and over,  convention planners perhaps didn't want to endure the kind of criticism … [Read more...]

The dilemma for every big business trying to curry favor with a powerful member of Congress: what to get the US Senator who has everthing? Aegon today paid for a big breakfast for Chuck Grassley & the Iowans who're here at the RNC in NYC. The Iowans were giddy. After a no-food-served morning … [Read more...]

Before I write another line about the delegates here, I must spend some time talking about my fellow Iowa reporters in New York City. The first thing you need to know is Rod Boshart of the Cedar Rapids Gazette saved my life. We were walking to the Broadway show "Bombay Dreams" and I, of course, was … [Read more...]

Before I start telling you about the protests, the Broadway show and my next door deli, I must tell you about the Naked Cowboy. He's a nearly-naked guy who stands in the middle of Times Square (in the island in the midst of the street), plays his guitar and sings. He wears a cowboy hat, cowboy … [Read more...]

At approximately 11 o'clock on Friday night, I found myself curb-side, amidst a crowd chanting "Go on strike" to the cops decked out in riot gear. (BTW, I was observing, not chanting and as background, the cops are working without a contract.) Seems a bunch of protestors on bicycles had completely … [Read more...]

Former p.c. (that would be presidential candidate) Howard Dean spoke to the Iowa Democrats in Boston this morning, and he started by leaning into the mic and saying "Yahoo," then laughing and showing those teeth. It was not the YaHOO-OO of the www.yahoo.com commercials, nor was it Cowboy Pete-ish. … [Read more...]

So, when I saw Christie Vilsack this morning at the Iowa Delegation's breakfast here in Beantown, I asked her the question on the minds of, oh, at least two of my friends: Why didn't you take Matt Paul's advice? For those of you unfamiliar with Mr. Paul, he is the Governor's press secretary who has … [Read more...]

So, perhaps I could suggest my morning wake-up call came from Ben Affleck. Figuratively, it's sort of true. Here's the deal: I was, as they say, dead dog tired heading downstairs for this morning's delegate meeting in the hotel. The way I counter this is to eat before I go, then stand or stroll … [Read more...]