Arkansas Democrats kick-off a weekend filled with meetings and other party chest-bumping tonight with the annual Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock. Paul Begala, a former adviser to President Bill Clinton and a notable political commentator, will deliver the keynote address.
The Think Tank applied for a press pass thinking that a cozy spot on the press riser would be a fun place to catch the show. But no one ever got back to be so I’m guessing that means my request was declined. Another blogger I spoke to did the same thing and his request was ignored. Still, someone was nice enough to offer me a big kid seat.
So have no fear: thanks to my trusty BlackBerry I’ll be live on Twitter. You can follow me here. The show kicks off at 7:00 p.m.
UPDATE: Man, those Democrats sure do pounce when you question their credentialing process. Not long after this post I heard from not one, but two people that my credential request had been granted. Interestingly, no one ever bothered to tell me before I took to the Internet, and when I inquired as to why I never got a response. Apparently I didn’t provide a telephone number per the request guidelines, so maybe that had something to do with it.
I’m just messing around with the DPA folks, of course, but their much up for funny today. Still, I’m going to take one for the blogging team and cover it (that is, if they let me in).
UPDATE II: Right-of-center super blogger Jason Tolbert, whose broken a decent amount of national news that made his own party look stupid, wasn’t credentialed. He got his request in on Thursday, one day after the deadline, and thus was given the Heisman by the DPA staff. I don’t think he cares one way or another, but it would have been nice to see a Republican’s take on the event.
UPDATE III: Thanks for all of the email support. And, yes, I know that barring a play-by-play on the Rep. Mike Ross‘ meeting with White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, there won’t be anything newsworthy to come out of tonight’s festivities (other than Democrats ROCK, of course). But if he does you can expect national headlines. I’ll be on Twitter.
[...] Report: Blogger Blake Rutherford will take one for the team and cover the Arkansas Democratic Party’s big fundraising dinner tonight. (Blake’s Think [...]
I suppose you could ask the question, why do lame-ass events like this require “credentialing” for media anyway, to say nothing of a process that demands a minimum 48 hour notice? It’s not like the President is the guest speaker and all the attendees have to be cleared by the Secret Service. It’s Paul Freakin’ Begala, for chrissakes.
D.
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