Saturday, August 16, 2008
Live From the Civil Forum, its Hot and Crowded!
Just twenty minutes from my quaint little existence in Irvine California is a highly secured, wired to the hilt Christian compound. Its ten degrees hotter here, and buzzing with a quiet tension and anticipation… blah, blah, blah! Saddleback Church is hosting its Civil Forum on the Presidency and the church and its surrounding several blocks is locked up snug and tight.
This would be a great day to knock off a convenience store since every Orange County Sherriff Deputy apart from Mike Carona is stationed within spitting distance of Rick Warren’s pulpit.
My first stop of the day was getting my credentials and parking assignment. As a lowly blogger, I was assigned the parking lot at the Oakley corporate office about a mile away from the Saddleback campus. I was feeling slightly dissed until I saw how packed the parking lot was more than four hours before the start of the forum. Transportation to the campus was set up rather perfectly as more than fifteen shuttles waited to transport press, volunteers and ticket holders alike. On my run, I shared space with a pair of reporters from Trinity Connections Magazine and several event volunteers and a couple attendees who may have been under the impression that U2 was opening the show.
The chosen ones
My feeling of being disrespected blogger faded when I noticed that one of Barack Obama’s foreign policy advisors was a few spots from me.
Once I got settled in my spot amongst mostly print and internet outlets, I went on a tour. There is lavish outdoor café where food is available for us. I went with the cheeseburger platter.
My spot on “press row” is a few spots from CNN’s Candy Crowley and one row in front of NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell. O’Donnell has been touring with the McCain campaign from the beginning.
On campus, I was surprised by how early the line inside the auditorium had formed. Ticket holders understand how hot the ticket they hold is.
This would be a great day to knock off a convenience store since every Orange County Sherriff Deputy apart from Mike Carona is stationed within spitting distance of Rick Warren’s pulpit.
My first stop of the day was getting my credentials and parking assignment. As a lowly blogger, I was assigned the parking lot at the Oakley corporate office about a mile away from the Saddleback campus. I was feeling slightly dissed until I saw how packed the parking lot was more than four hours before the start of the forum. Transportation to the campus was set up rather perfectly as more than fifteen shuttles waited to transport press, volunteers and ticket holders alike. On my run, I shared space with a pair of reporters from Trinity Connections Magazine and several event volunteers and a couple attendees who may have been under the impression that U2 was opening the show.
The chosen ones
My feeling of being disrespected blogger faded when I noticed that one of Barack Obama’s foreign policy advisors was a few spots from me.
Once I got settled in my spot amongst mostly print and internet outlets, I went on a tour. There is lavish outdoor café where food is available for us. I went with the cheeseburger platter.
My spot on “press row” is a few spots from CNN’s Candy Crowley and one row in front of NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell. O’Donnell has been touring with the McCain campaign from the beginning.
On campus, I was surprised by how early the line inside the auditorium had formed. Ticket holders understand how hot the ticket they hold is.
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