Tuesday-Matt

So it was the day of the Daily Show event. I was hoping to be there by noon but I missed the bus so I called a cab. I figured I wouldn't get there by the time I wanted but I knew I had to be there by 1. After about 50 minutes the cab never called or showed and the free shuttle was ready to head downtown. So i jumped on that went to Union Station, then took the free 16th Street Mall shuttle up to the light rail. Luckily the light rail went straight to University of Denver, where the show was being taped. I was able to get a hold of one of the faculty members who was there to let her know what was going on. She said it was fine so I wasn't so stressed. I showed up at the University of Denver and started walking toward the event. The University has a beautiful campus. I walked halfway across and started going down the street I thought would take me to the event. But after about 2 miles I realized I was going the wrong way. On the plus side I was able to see more of Denver. It's an impressive city. After an hour and a half or so of walking I finally made it to the event. They official staff got the message I would be late and didn't hold it against me. They put me to work watching the outside line. It was extremely hot and after walking for about 3-4 miles I was ready to go inside. Thankfully there was an ice cream truck parked next to the line so I was able to get some. 

After a while of waiting and watching the line security came out and told the people waiting there was no more room. Needless to say people were very upset. It was about then when one of the staff members knocked on the window and motioned for me to go inside. As discreetly and quickly as I could I grabbed my bag and headed inside in front of the line. Up to that point I wasn't sure if I would be able to actually view the taping of the show. I was so excited. Inside we waited a bit until someone came out to the floor. I soon learned his job was to get people loose, excited, and loud with a comedy act and instructions. He was hilarious! He would talk and poke fun at members of the audience. He made sure everyone knew they were "more than half of the show" because people at home would enjoy the show more with laughter from the audience. After he was done John Stewart came out to answer questions. Soon after the show was under way. It was absolutely hilarious. If you happen to see the first episode of the Denver edition of The Daily Show, I was there!

After that I headed back toward downtown. I had nothing to do, Peter and April were in their fieldwork and professor Jasperson was in the Pepsi Center. Unfortunately, I didn't get back into town till about 6.30pm and by 5 it would have been too hard to get into the Pepsi Center. So Dr. Jasperson gave my day credential to another student because otherwise it would have been useless. So I went over to Leelas to watch Sen. Hillary Clinton's speech. By the time she was on the cafe` music was turned off, the t.v. turned up, and just about everyone there was attentively watching the speech. It was such an amazing speech. She really did a great job in showing her party unity. After the speech there was a small applause in the cafe`. 

Dr. Jasperson had texted me to meet them all at the Pepsi Center because Rep. Ciro Rodriguez wanted to meet everyone from UTSA. I didn't make into the Pepsi Center but was able to speak to him briefly over the phone. It was a good thing because I intern in the Commissioners Court where Rep. Rodriguez's younger brother "Chico" Rodriguez works. 

Soon after I met up with Dr. Jasperson, April, and Peter at the Cheesecake Factory. As it was the night before, the city was filled with people heading to after-convention parties and events. We didn't have any access to any for the night so we made out way back to the dorms at Regis. 

It was such a great experience to view the taping of The Daily Show. I really want to thank Dr. Hicklin for giving me her slot! And to Dr. Jasperson for taking me to the training session and for giving me so much support!

Monday-Convention is in full swing-Matt

So, last week I seriously began to have my doubts about what I could get out of this program. It seems The Washington Center dropped the ball with my fieldwork, so I really don't have anything to do. Definitely, not what I had expected. But thanks to Dr. Jasperson and Dr. Hicklin, another one of our faculty leaders, things really started to turn around. 

The day started out with Peter, April, Dr. Jasperson, and I meeting up at one of the many Starbucks, downtown, to discuss our game plan for the day. After that we all headed to the Texas delegation lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe` downtown. There we were able to mingle from delegates from cities such as Houston and Dallas. Soon after we arrived Peter and April had to go to their fieldwork assignments. While we were there professor Hicklin showed up. While we were there we heard an interesting speech by Charlie Wilson about how he got started in politics. It started when during his childhood when Mr. Wilson's neighbor poisoned his dog. To get revenge Mr. Wilson burned his neighbors lawn. But that wasn't enough.  When they were older Mr. Wilson ran for the same political office as his neighbor and was able to influence votes by telling the story of his poisoned dog when he would drop voters off at the polls. In the end Mr. Wilson won by 16 votes. "That's the day I fell in love with America and the day I fell in love with politics" said Mr. Wilson. 

While we were there I was also lucky enough to meet and interview Texas Rep. Charlie Gonzalez. I will put up the interview at the end of this posting. Also, a staff member from Sen. Leticia Van de Putte's office provided us with credentials to get into the Pepsi Center for that day and for Invesco Field on Thursday for Sen. Barack Obama's historic acceptance speech! I was so excited. I knew that this trip was now worth taking now that I was guaranteed access to see Sen. Obama give his speech. 

After the lunch reception I made my way over to an "Unconventional Woman" event where Speaker of the House Nanci Pelosi was to speak. Unfortunately, I had just missed Speaker Pelosi but I stayed to hear other key note speakers, including female senators, to talk about the importance of women in the political process. They also showed a sneak peak of an independent film entitled, "14 women", about the first 14 women senators and their personal stories and successes. 

After I left I stopped off briefly at Leela's, a European Cafe` that soon became our favorite internet cafe` hangout. I didn't stay for long because I was to meet Dr. Jasperson and Hicklin at the Pepsi Center. I soon learned what the actual convention is all about. It's full of speeches to get people excited and emotional about putting democrats in office. It's also about officially passing resolutions by groups such as the Rules and Credentials Committees. And of course it's mainly about officially nominating the candidates for the office of President and Vice President. 

Because my fieldwork position fell through, professor Hicklin was kind enough to give me her volunteer slot for The Daily Show with John Stewart. So professor Jasperson and I left the convention center to make the training session at the University of Denver. It was madness around the Pepsi Center. It took us more than 30 minutes to get a taxi. Even though it was close we made it to the training session. It was pretty straight forward though. All we were going to do was guard certain points of the building until the show began. 

After that Dr. Jasperson and I made our way back to the Regis University. The original plan was to head back to Regis, rest up for a bit, then make it back to the Pepsi Center for Michelle Obama's speech. Unfortunately, we got times confused and we realized she was speaking earlier than we thought. So we wouldn't make it to her speech. But there was a Texas Gala event afterwards that we began getting ready for. 

After waiting forever for our taxi to arrive we hopped into another students taxi despite there being 5 people to 4 seats. Haha, we made it though. We met up with Peter and April at the gala event. We talked to some delegates and hung out for a while. They had some amazing food. We didn't stay too long though. So after that we grabbed another taxi, cramped again, and headed back to Regis University. 

This day was very important. I learned what the convention is really about and I also learned that things were going to get much better. 

I would like to thank Dr. Jasperson, Dr. Hicklin, Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, and Rep. Charlie Gonzalez for making this day so great!

I would also like to apologize to all the readers for such a late posting. 

Here is my interview with Rep. Charlie Gonzalez.

When I asked how Rep. Gonzalez got involved with politics he said he didn't really have a choice. He was raised in a political family. His father was a major source of political exposure. After his father retired he followed in his footsteps and became a lawyer, practicing in many types of law such as family, criminal, and workers compensation. He go his basics taken care of at San Antonio College and then graduated from UT Austin. From there he went to St. Mary's to study law. He says he was just "trying to survive". After that he became a county judge. 

When I asked him what his personal key issues were he responded by saying that they always revolved around his assignments as Chairman of Environmental Study. Those issues included energy, commerce, telecommunications, and technology. As far as energy goes he was looking for alternative energy sources to help cure global warming and independence from foreign oil. He was also very interested in the "digital divide". The internet is becoming a growing tool and to advance ourselves we need to get more people involved as it impacts all aspects of life. It has become a center and tool for commerce. 

I asked Rep. Gonzalez what he thought were the most important things he thought people should walk away from the convention with. He said there are two main things he would have people walk away with. The first was a true recognition of what's at stake with this campaign. The second was a focus on what the republicans were doing and a more vivid contrast between them and the democrats. 

Computer Problems Revisited-Matt

NO!! Once again my blog was deleted before I could post!!!

I really apologize to all the readers. I will start posting in shorter bursts so this won't happen as often. 

From the DNC- Goodbye Denver -April, Matt and Peter

We would like to thank Leticia Van de Putte, Ciro Rodriguez, their staff, and Time Warner Cable for all of the assistance and favors you did for us these past two weeks in Denver. We have some great photos to post, but Matt and I are boarding the plane for San Antonio right now! Peter is about to board for Austin too. We are all very appreciative for all of the opportunities and hope that we gave a glimpse of what the DNC looked like "from the ground up."
-April, Matt and Peter

From the RNC. Pics I could not post yesterday

Eugene Alpert, Senior Vice President The Washington Center

Reception at the gorgeous Landmark Building.

Six of the seven students from Texas. The seventh one took the picture.

Jill reading over a Peanut's character shoulder.

Frank ouside the St. Paul Hotel

From the RNC - Xcel Energy Center and fieldwork - Hilda

The enthusiasm increases in the students attending The Washington Center seminar as the days go by. Today there were two important events. First, the students got fieldwork assignments. Second, we got a special tour this afternoon of the Xcel Energy Center.
First, let me tell you about the fieldwork assignments. Each student will give several hours of volunteer work to this convention. Students will be working with the Republican Party, with the media or with interest groups. These jobs provide great opportunities for students to network, to make a good impression that in the past has resulted in internship or job offers. It also provides the excitement of working hands on with those who will be reporting the news (CNN, Washington Times, Fox News and many more) to the nation, or in receptions given to dignataries attending the convention. These are just two examples, but the list of jobs and the list of benefits from giving our time to the volunteer work is long.
The second thrilling event was the tour of the Xcel Energy Center where the convention will take place starting next Monday. Those in charge started workin on the center July 20th. The amount of work that has gone into it is astonishing. A giant screen, second only in resolution and size to the one everyone saw during the Olympics in China, is behind the podium. The Xcel is a well-designed building with nice view from just about anywhere in the center. Just being there built up our excitement. We all could imagine how it will look next week and cannot wait to be there.
We walked from the Xcel Energy Center to the Landmark Building to attend a lovely reception offered to us by The Washington Center. The park between the two buildings has sculptures of the Peanuts characters honoring its creator from Minneapolis, Charles Schulz. Around the corner is the Fitzgerald Theater (named after Scott Fitzgerald, also of Minnesota), where Garrison Keillor's Praire Home Companion shows take place.
Starting this weekend there will be a number of events, parties, and of course, the convention itself, all of which promises excitement and fun. We will continue to keep you posted.

Matt-DNC

So my blog was deleted when I tried posting. I apologize and will re-post tomorrow.