The students said they supported President Bush for his “leadership and strong values.” But there may be additional perks. Asked which Bush daughter he preferred, Purnhagen laughed.
“I’m actually a Jenna fan,” he said, grinning.
—Michael M. Grynbaum
WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE...
Security was tight at Madison Square Garden—so tight that employees at concession stands on Tuesday night refused to sell bottles of Poland Spring water with caps on them.
The vendor who sold a reporter a topless bottle said that she did not know why the policy existed and was only following orders. Perhaps, she mused, the Secret Service was afraid that overzealous audience members could throw the caps onto the floor.
When a reporter suggested that he might purchase another beverage instead, the vendor told him not to worry and promptly handed over the missing cap—after she received the $3.75 for the half-liter of water.
Lest delegates sought to quench their thirst in a more frugal manner, the friendly organizers at the Garden had taken care of that too: All of the water fountains in the arena were conveniently running dry. This proved a problem for the medical team in section 66, members of which complained that dehydrated delegates had needed treatment at the First Aid station, along with a few “elderly delegates who had drank too much.” Easy, cowboy!
—Joseph M. Tartakoff
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS MICHAEL MOORE?
Michael Moore’s cameo appearance at the Garden Monday night upset more than the usual suspects.
Journalists in the press box where Moore was seated were grumbling that the portly filmmaker’s presence interrupted their work, as photographers and camerapersons swarmed just as deadlines were nearing.
The next day, a Republican media representative attempted to assuage the notoriously demanding press, assuring journalists in the affected section that the “disingenuous filmmaker” would not be making an encore performance at the convention. (Free beer would have helped.)
Asked whether Moore had been expelled, the man replied that he had only been credentialed for one day.
Moore was in town to pen a column for USA Today.
—Joseph M. Tartakoff