Impressions From St. Paul
Charlie Brown and Snoopy, relaxing in St. Paul.
Source: ThunderChildtm
TOTN producer Susan Lund is in St. Paul, keeping an eye on the constantly changing GOP convention story as it flexes and responds to Gustav news. She's been there for a few days already, and has been sending impressions of a city where Pepsi is King, Charlie Brown lolls in the grass downtown, and where, after a chance encounter with an Iraq war vet, Susan realizes she's not in DC anymore...
I arrive at the Minneapolis airport early afternoon on Saturday. Walking to the baggage claim area I see a pizza place and decide to get a slice. "Do you want something to drink with that?" I'm asked. Coke, please. "We only have Pepsi." Hmmm, I'm one of those who really could take the Pepsi challenge and tell right away which is Coke, which Pepsi. No thanks, I say.
Check-in at the hotel. NPR has about 40 reporters, producers, editors, audio engineers, IT and logistics staff in St. Paul. Many have come straight from Denver. Some, like me, are joining the GOP leg. The hotel is decorated with American flags, red, white and blue bunting and bunches of colored balloons. I see a vending machine and go to get a Coke. Only Pepsi. I stop by the hotel restaurant hoping I can get a coke there. Nope, just Pepsi.
Four of us head into St. Paul for the media party. NPR's hotel is about 20 minutes from St. Paul in a place called Lake Elmo. We walk around downtown trying to find the place. I see a bronze sculpture thing ahead, it's close to the ground. Is it a statue? Public art? We get close. It's the Peanuts's character Schroeder. He's playing the piano -- and there's Lucy leaning on it and gazing into his eyes. Awww, that's cute. We walk some more. Wait, what's that? It's, it's Charlie Brown sitting on the grass at the base of a tree. We walk on.... Who's that? It's Linus, with his blanket, and next to him, Sally, Charlie Brown's sister. They all look exactly like Charles Schultz drew them. Adorable. They are small, at the height of children. Nice touch. We wonder, was Schultz from St. Paul? TOTN listeners, let us know. (By the way, at the media party I ask for Coke. "Is Pepsi okay?")
Not everyone has cars out here so we send out emails regularly asking for or offering rides to and from the NPR workplace. Reporter and host Linda Wertheimer, and Carol Klinger, an editor at All Things Considered, ride with me. Thanks to Linda's personal GPS we find the work site no problem. After getting oriented in our workplace at the spacious, and highly secure, studios of Minnesota Public Radio, Carol and I head to the Xcel Energy Center, site of the GOP convention. We find NPR's table on Radio Row -- right across from the food court -- noisy already and the thousands of delegates aren't even here. Today it's just journalists and members of the RNC. Hmmm, will we be able to do our live interviews from here? We'll have to check with NPR's crack audio engineers. We then go way, way up to the top of the Xcel Center to find NPR's broadcast booth. Three engineers are there getting everything ready. I walk straight to the edge of the booth... I'm looking straight down on the stage where John McCain will stand. It's an incredible view. NPR is smack in the center of the action. Off to the right, there's CNN's booth and the BBC's, among others. Over to the left, PBS and the Newshour with Jim Lehrer -- NPR is right in the middle high above the stage. Amazing location.
Susan meets an Iraqi war vet, after the jump.
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Sarah Handel
11:14 AM ET
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09- 1-2008
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