AUGUST 14, 1996
| Backlash | Getting Pinned | Reporting on Reporters |

Backlash
Minnesota delegates have apparently seen enough reporters to last a lifetime, and the backlash has started. Many delegates couldn't see the speakers Monday when reporters stood in the aisles interviewing delegates from nearby states (Pennsylvania is a popular stop). Eighth District delegate Therese Vaughn had had enough by the time the keynote speech started Tuesday and gave her seat to an alternate. "It's too much -- you can't hear or see anything," she said. Yesterday morning a delegate asked State Party Chair Chris Georgacus to tell reporters to "get off their butts and get out!"

Getting Pinned
I think I'm behind the learning curve in this pin-collecting business, which apparently is quite the rage at conventions.

I started today with my first pin ever in 20 years of reporting. National Public Radio gave me a lovely pewter pin that said, appropriately, "NPR." At the time, I thought it would be a nice touch if it said "San Diego 96" or something. So I traded it to the bouncer (although they're called "hosts") at the Bell South media pavilion in exchange for a Bell South pin AND a Bell South Election 96 pin. Later, I got an AT&T pin. I seem to have developed a telecommunications rut and a quick caucus of reporters here on Radio Row revealed I got taken by the telephone company.

I have one rule in covering conventions: when you start interviewing each other, it's time to go home. By the third day of a convention, the tendency for reporters and media folks to interview other reporters and media folks grows exponentially. Watch for it today, but not on MPR.

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