It pays to have a backstage pass. That’s one thing I learned at the Republican National Convention. All of the speeches and videos and pageantry on television amount to what independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader called “political theater”. The real action at the RNC was happening backstage.
“You can’t even count the number of oil companies, drug companies, banks, financial institutions… they’re all over the place,” Nader observed. Everyone was milling around wheeling, dealing and networking.
On RNC Day 4 I spent the better part of the day talking to reporters and bloggers on Radio Row and outside the Convention’s back door at the River Centre, which connects to St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center.
Liberal radio host and blogger Cenk Uyger of www.theyoungturks.com, told us about an interview with the Hip Hop Republicans that nearly came to blows.
I ran into hip hop journalist Davey D of www.daveyd.com. He dropped some knowledge about the strategizing he had observed at the RNC and explained why it was different from the Democratic National Convention held in Denver the day before.
“The Democratic Party was a lot more festive,” Davey said. “In Denver there was a party everywhere! Nelly had a party. This guy had a party. I went to all of them. “Ain’t no parties here.”
So he asked delegates, “What are you doing at night?” They told him they were strategizing.
“Don’t sleep on these folks,” Davey D warns.
Sway from MTV News agreed. “The vibe is a lot more serious here,” the hip hop icon said. “I see a lot more young people in coats and ties.”
Outside the River Centre Ralph Crowder and Monica Mayberry of GBA Entertainment were covering the issues that are important to African-Americans, and engaging Black Republicans. Education is a key issue for the Minnesota based media company. Minnesota has the nation’s largest academic achievement gap between Black and white students, according to Crowder. “We really need to be focused on, not only our youth, but all of the policies and the politics surrounding our youth.”
Lobbyists from OilChangeUSA.org were handing out dollar bills with an elephants photo showing the total amount of dollars Republicans receive from big oil companies every year – $164, 968, 695 to be exact. “When politicians accept money from a special interest like the oil industry, they’re working for the interests of the oil industry and not the interests of Americans,” explained Mark Trius of Oil Change USA. “What we want to do is take away [government] subsidies from the oil industry and give them to renewable industries.”
Stanley Stone wasn’t having much luck getting economic help from Republicans at the RNC. He was selling McCain/Palin t-shirts outside the River Centre entrance. Business had been slow, but was starting to pick up in anticipation of McCain’s big speech.
I left the RNC before McCain’s speech. I would catch a million replays later on. That evening, I went to a super rally featuring presidential candidate Ralph Nader, vice-presidential candidates Matt Gonzalez and Rosa Clemente and former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura. They were organizing support to open the presidential debates for third party candidates. Nader and Gonzalez explained it in an interview near Radio Row earlier that afternoon:
The most exciting event of the day was a mystery for many hours. MTV Street Teamer Charlie Berens of Wisconsin was missing for several hours. It turns out he was arrested while covering a protest at the Minnesota State Capitol. I interviewed Charlie when he got out of jail the following morning.
So don’t get fooled by the slight of hand and wizardry that goes on in the mainstream media. The real issues are often passed over for the magic and the spectacle. The real stories aren’t played out in the headlines. Most often, the truth is hiding backstage.