I had not intended to cover the rally as a journalists and even told Tom Noyes on my way to the event that I wanted to be just an attendee in order to let myself get swept away. But the crowd was so huge and my kids begged off at the last minute – so I took Mrs. Liberal on a little trip through the looking glass to show her how we journalists work these types of events.
I called liberalgeek on the cell because I knew he sent in a “media RSVP” and I was going to see if I could get him to the “press check in” table so when he saw me he could tell the powers that be that I was legit. (It is a funny thing about the press check in table. Once you are in you are IN. It is a black/white thing. You are in or out and if you are in you can vouch for people who are out because there are no gradients of legitimacy.)
He said he wasn’t going to use his RSVP, so I figured I’d just say that I was he. The only problem was that there were secret service and I didn’t want to flat out lie.
We found the corner of the square where that were checking in journalists and “VIPs” so we kind of just joined the line and decided to wing it.
Joe Klein of TIME magazine was standing next to us in line fuming about how we (in line) were clearly not journalists. “This is the journalists line?” he intoned, “You are all journalists?” I loudly responded, “Yes. Yes we are journalists.” More for the guy with the clipboard who I was trying to get past than for Joe Klein. Then I took out my camera to look more like a journalists and I was kicking myself for not having a steno pad.
I said to my wife, “I have to take a picture of JOE KLEIN standing around with us proletariat.”
He turned about a quarter turn away from me because he heard me mocking him and I just scooted back out in front of him and snapped the picture.
Klein got to the guy with the clipboard first and the guy with the clipboard asked, “You are with the press?” Klein said “Yes.”
“I need to see your press credentials.”
“I don’t have any.” the Iraq war booster said. “I’m Joe Klein from TIME MAGAZINE!” and someone from inside waved him in. Which was cool for me (having no press credentials either).
Then it was my turn. “You are with the press?” the clipboard guy asked.
“Yes. (Geeks Name) from DelawareLiberal RSVP’d for us. Is that the RSVP list?” (notice how I didn’t lie?)
“You need press credentials.”
“We are on the RSVP list…is that it?”
Now at this point, the clipboard guy had to make a choice. He knew I just saw Joe Klein get waved in and he had to decide if I was going to be a pain in the ass and I guess he saw a glint in my eye. Mrs. Liberal was pretty nervous at this point.
“Stand over there.” he said pointing to a little corner INSIDE the cordon. Cool.
But we were not home free. We needed to get a press pass issued from the press check in table and I still didn’t want to outright lie because the next step after that was getting metal detected by the secret service.
From my little corner I edged over to the press check in table and said, “Is that the press RSVP list?”
“Yes. Your name.” Said this nice lady: 
I said, “(liberalgeek’s name)…RSVP’d. We are with Delawareliberal. She is with me.”
She found (liberalgeek’s name) on the list and we were in.
Once we were checked out by the secret service I said, “Right now I’d like to find someone I know and get talking as soon as possible to cement this thing.”
I found Allan Loudell who asked me about the blogger awards banquet. I told it that it was all Dave Burris’s fault that it fell through and that was that.