1. That protester that was above my head during McCain's speech (that I was frankly worried was going to get tossed from his perch by angry Republicans) was Adam Kokesh from Iraq Veterans Against The War.
2. The infamous balloon drop was pretty cool, but it only hit the delegates on the floor and none of the people in the stands, which I thought kind of lame. I don't know that it was so cool that it was worth the whining that I heard about it not happening at Invesco, especially when people started popping the balloons and I was all thinking, yeah, that part of it would've totally freaked people the fuck out in Denver.
3. The swag bags, like in Denver, were mostly filled with things I wouldn't bother paying an extra fee at the airport to carry home (like fake Nalgene bottles, which I assume a legion of hotel maids in Denver, Minneapolis and St. Paul are currently enjoying or selling on eBay), but the RNC had the single best piece of swag of both conventions: RNC-branded Kraft Mac and Cheese. Also, as I mentioned once, here is John McCain's head-on-a-stick, a stress ball piggie (make your own jokes) and the 50 zillion press credentials the RNC insisted I carry around with me. But the really, really excellent part of the RNC Mac&Cheese? Yeah, elephants and pentacles are the shapes.
4. Overheard at the RIAA's Daughtry concert on Wednesday, from a girl drinking a Heineken while I partook of one of my several glasses of Korbel champagne, "They don't have any real American beers down there, like Bud or Miller. This is such an un-American party."
5. The Real Baberaham Lincoln. Look, the RNC was some slim pickings. Plus, you're notice that he was there pushing for D.C. voting rights, so I had to shout the boy out.
6. The story no one reported on: the logistics of this thing were a complete clusterfuck. The convention center wasn't near any of the other events, and the other events were miles away. One friend of mine never bothered going to the convention, whereas I spent 30 minutes (minimum) getting to the convention or an event from my hotel at the ass end of nowhere in the suburbs. The only people that made real money from this were cabbies.
7. Actually, there was one thing that worked far more smoothly than at the DNC — security. It was so much easier to get through security in St. Paul than it was in Denver even though all the procedures were the same, which made me wonder if the Secret Service had it out for Democrats.
8. The Hurricane Information Center was this really great idea when it looked like Gustav was going to be really bad, and they basically plucked this woman, Emily Roberts, from convention-volunteer obscurity and made her run it. By the time I dropped in on Tuesday, most of the conventioneers using its services (TV access, computer access, phones and fax machines) seemed to be regular people checking their email. The people who made the best use of the services provided by the RNC? The contracts from New Orleans who set it up the weekend before the RNC and were desperately trying to get home and get information to and about their families. So, the RNC did help some regular people out.
9. Thursday night was the best people watching of the night, where sightings included Henry Kissinger, Rosario Dawson's ass, every reporter I'd ever met and some I hadn't yet and Wonkette creator Ana Marie Cox, who actually recognized me when I introduced myself and who was exceedingly nice to me. We watched Kissinger together for a while, as though we'd be able to tell what he was talking about with the creator of YouTube. Her guess? China.
10. One person who thankfully didn't recognize me or the grin that says, "I really shouldn't be doing this"? Bill Kristol, who was actually incredibly gracious about it unlike Randy Scheunemann.

MEGAN: You know, it's only Tuesday and already I am really, really tired.

ASMA: Hey. I was wondering where you were!

MEGAN: Curled up under the covers having fallen back asleep despite no less than 3 alarms because I was tired and had the AC on too high!

ASMA: Ha ha.

MEGAN: Anyway, so, the RNC: far more protest-licious.

ASMA: Yeah, cool! I heart protest.

MEGAN: I heart protests, as long as they don't gas me at the same time.

ASMA: Did you get gassed?

MEGAN: No, but a friend of mine was leaving the convention center yesterday and saw it, so he barely avoided it, too.

ASMA: Whoa!

MEGAN: Tear gas is not a smart weapon... Anyway, so, what's been your experience so far?

ASMA: Denver was definitely mild protest-wise. I was kind of of disappointed actually. I wondered if it meant that the protestors were actually somewhat content with Obama being the candidate and thought that he would do his best.

MEGAN: I think it probably had more to do with the fact that they all came here on Wednesday because the protest organizers and leaders were all, "Leave if you plan to commit violence." In fact, Jello Biafra told the crowd last week in the Iraq protest to leave if they were drunk.

strong>ASMA: Well, I only just reached here last night. I then rushed off to do an interview. The funny thing is that everyone is all spread out between Minneapolis and St. Paul and everywhere in between. It's a bifurcated convention, with the actual convention being in downtown St. Paul and many of the events being in downtown Minneapolis. I did have a ticket to the Smashmouth concert but had to take an interview instead. So I missed it. But I am already in the throes of convention scheduling madness, with a blog due yesterday (still trying to get to it) and also a full day of events all over the place.

MEGAN: Ooh, I made it to the concert, though! There was a lot of white man overbite! Also, I met the biggest and least gracious Republican of all time.

ASMA: Who was that? Hulk Hogan?

MEGAN: So, Bill Kristol: totally gracious about having his picture taken. Rudy Giuliani: completely nice to my friend in an Obama hat. But you know who is too good for all that? Randy Scheunemann, McCain's foreign policy adviser and a huge dickhead.

ASMA: Except for the Black Eyed Peas at the DNC, I am not really a fan of any of the bands performing at the Conventions. And the Black Eyed Peas were performing during Bill Clinton's speech. So I obviously went to Bill Clinton's speech over their concert.

MEGAN: He and his goontastic sidekick tried to get me booted for trying to take a picture of him. I was with a Republican lobbyist friend who recognized him, too, and he basically called us Obamabots and was like, we heard you Obama people got in. And I'm like, ummmm, I'm actually credentialed media. And he was like, I don't believe you, I'm called security. So, I am now making it my mission to tell everyone that he is an ungracious dick. It helps that we were in a public place at a party where I knew more people — including Fox News correspondents — than him.

ASMA: What? That's ridiculous! "Obamabots": kind of a funny term though. I give him credit for originality.

MEGAN: I would, only I've been using it since January.

ASMA: Oh! Okay, well never mind that. I do think there is some liberal media bias/bias towards Obama at play. But, all is fair in love and war. No need to kick people out of a public event! Also, he should be relaxed because, on foreign policy, his guy has more actual experience. Playing partisan distracts from that fact. Unless he is truly threatened by Obama's foreign policy theories, but he shouldn't be.

MEGAN: Also, I am who I said I was, so he couldn't get me "kicked out." And, even worse, so was my friend. He works for a company that doesn't even really support Democratic Congressional candidates. He was stunned. I know he's a huge McCain donor. I think Randy just assumed because I was a young woman and knew who he was because I follow foreign policy I couldn't be anything other than some rogue protester. Which is sad, because plenty of young woman follow foreign policy and vote Republican...

ASMA: He sounds like a goofball. I think he's paranoid that everyone is pro-Obama. The campaign needs to be more confident and focus on its own message, not trying to play catch up.

MEGAN: It's funny that he's paranoid about that... at the Republican convention.

ASMA: My big convention news is that I was so thrilled that, the week before the conventions, I had my inbox down to 150 e-mails. Now, guess what, 250.

MEGAN: Good luck with that. My Blackberry has 1,141 unread messages.

ASMA: Yes, he should just relax. This is their time to show what they stand for and not being paranoid. And if an Obamabot wants to come to an RNC event, that's great. I am a registered Republican and attending the DNC was good for me. It really exposed me to some of the good ideas the DNC has and, actually, more compelling, the community feeling that Obama supporters have. I liked that. The RNC should be open arms to Obamabots.

MEGAN: I think that he and his goon actually enjoyed being dicks to someone figuring there would be no consequences for them. I mean, really, if Bill Kristol can be gracious and shake my hand and pose for a picture...

ASMA: Well, Bill Kristol knows that he has to appear to be neutral, even though we know he is horribly biased too. But he at least tries to appear fair. So he had to shake your hand!
I am just reading a ticker saying that the President may speak at the Convention still. Bad news, kind of!

MEGAN: No way! Oh my God, the next 3 days are going to be so horribly long!

ASMA: Yes, it will be a busy convention. I think you are having Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from the DNC! It'll be interesting to see that now that Gustav seems to be over, is the party going to be like, "Okay, it's over, not that many people died, so let's go CRAZY!!!!!!!

MEGAN: Oh, I totally am. I just want to hide in bed until this is all over. Too bad my hotel doesn't have wifi — it's hard line DSL only, so I have to sit at my desk! I don't know, the parties were already pretty wild last night. It's just the Red Cross hit everyone up for donations at the door.

ASMA: Ha ha. Mine has Wi-Fi, but it doesn't seem to be working so I had to plug in. But, yes, otherwise, I'd be doing this from bed.

MEGAN: I miss bed.

ASMA: I am not a big party person. I just think that political convention-goers + parties = going to bed too late for something not really worth it. If I thought I could get a good interview or see a celeb or politician I like, I might go, but, honestly, not really in to that scene. If that makes me less of a blogger, well, then so be it.

MEGAN: I went to 4.

ASMA: I know, I can't wait to go to bed tonight!

MEGAN: Hey, if we end this now, I can go back to bed really soon!

ASMA: That works for me!