A bit of conversation with a British journalist at the RNC

Blogging from Eagan, Minnesota.

I was posting an entry this evening at the Republican National Convention press filing center when I struck up a conversation with a man sitting next to me, who was a journalist for a major left-of-center British newspaper.

I asked him if he covered the Democratic National Convention in Denver last week, he nodded yes.

But then he added, "This week it's punishment."

I said to him, "Really, I'm from this part of the country, I have to speak up for it. Is Denver that much better a city"

He said, "No, it's not St. Paul, it's this," pointing at his computer monitor showing live coverage of the RNC--Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman was speaking at the time.

I told the reporter that I was from Barack Obama's state, and that the rest of the world doesn't know the real story about him--I talked about the people Obama has associated with, such as his jailed pal, Antoin "Tony" Rezko, his state Senate mentor Emil Jones, Jr., and of course, Bill Ayers.

A good ending to this story would be the journalist immediately wrote down the names of Obama's cohorts, and got on Google right away.

But instead he clicked on his e-mail box.

I can only hope that I got this Brit's gears clicking in his head. Perhaps a week from now, he'll say, "Maybe my readers will want to know more about Bill Ayers."

Conventions are about the interchange of ideas.

The con is on in Obama-land: Emil Jones' son takes dad's place on the ballot

Obama's state legislative record--he got a lot of help

Keeping the story alive: A collection of posts on Bill Ayers and the Weather Underground

Obama's pal Rezko: Convicted felon

Technorati tags: Politics Chicago RNC St. Paul illinois Bill Ayers Emil Jones cronyism Tony Rezko UK journalism