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October 30, 2004
Third Time's the Charm
Today, three days until the election, Minneapolis, MN was honored to welcome President Bush. I had recruited about ten volunteers from St. Olaf to go to Minneapolis on Thursday and Friday night to help decorate the Target Center for the President's visit. I was told that all volunteers would receive rope-line tickets for their help. We just needed to arrive at 9:00 AM on Saturday.
When we arrived this morning, the staffers in charge of allowing people in the doors kept directing us to other entrances. We went back and forth between two sides of the building and stood in four different lines before we were finally allowed through the magnetometers. Then we went through the same process before we were allowed inside the arena.
Two hours later, we were finally inside. Once reaching the floor, however, a campaign staffer tried to put us to work as if we were event volunteers. I was so frustrated that I was almost in tears, but I calmly, though earnestly, explained to her that we had been promised rope-line tickets, but had to beg and plead just to get inside. The staffer curtly replied that her job was to make the event go smoothly and if all we wanted to do was stand at the rope-line, then we were already there. This scolding made me feel insanely guilty, so I tried to apologize and explain some more, but it was to no avail. The staffer strutted off, and I turned toward my volunteers and promptly burst into tears. I tried to explain through sobs that I had met that staffer before, and that she had worked for Bush since he was Governor, and thus she was a minor hero in my eyes. Fortunately, my roommate Julie was there to lead me away by the arm and calm me down.
The event itself was wonderful. Congressman Kline, Senator Coleman, and Governor Pawlenty, for whose campaigns Julie and I had volunteered in 2002, all spoke. Billy Dean and Mike Tice were also there, though I had less interest in them. (To be honest, I didn't even know who either of them was before.) Our wonderful First Lady was there. And I received my third handshake from the President -- a sure sign of the victory to come.
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Quote of the Day:
The last four years, Americans have learned a few things about me, as well. Sometimes I'm a little too blunt. I get that from my mother. Sometimes I mangle the English language. I get that from my father. But Americans learned, also, that even when you might not agree with me, you know where I stand, you know what I believe, and you know where I'm going to lead. -George W Bush, Minneapolis, MN, 10/30/04
Posted by Megan at October 30, 2004 09:09 PM