Students go behind the scenes at GOP convention

It was all part of a course,"The Road to the Presidency," taught by Joseph Pika, professor of political science and international relations, who has been studying presidential campaigns for 20 years, and Ralph Begleiter, UD Distinguished Journalist in Residence, who came to the University last year after a 20-year career as a political correspondent for CNN.

It was Begleiter who came up with the idea of the three-semester course, which gives students the opportunity to work side-by-side with politicians and media experts as the presidential campaigns unfold. It offers hands-on links between the history of American politics and its current practice.

Last spring, students worked at local media and campaign headquarters as the returns from Super Tuesday primaries came in.

"This course is everything I wanted it to be," Begleiter said. "When students take science, they can go into the lab and experience what they are learning. But, for political science students, it's harder to do that," he said.

Begleiter and Pika agreed that the course came as close to a laboratory in politics as a lab in chemistry--right down to students doing what Ralph politicians have to do: be interviewed by the media.

"I thought it was a fantastic experience, a once in a lifetime opportunity," said Ryan Gannon, a senior majoring in family studies, who did internships with the platform and official proceedings committees. He got to Philadelphia the Thursday before the convention began and sat in on most of the party platform discussions. He said he remembers best the heated debate on abortion and how articulate speakers on both sides of the issue were. He also said he was impressed with how careful the 100 members of the committee were about every aspect of the document. "They checked it word for word for everything from content to grammar. It's amazing how much they nit-picked," Gannon said.

Later, after the platform committee dissolved, Gannon served as a VIP escort. He rode with Colin Powell, Elizabeth and Robert Dole, John McCain and others from the airport to the convention and walked them to their seats or waiting rooms if they were speakers.

He said the public doesn't understand how massive an undertaking a convention is. "People work 24-7." Something was always CNN intern going wrong, he said, "It was like organized chaos."

What Gannon didn't expect and what unnerved him the most was when protestors blocked the car he was riding in. But, despite a few harrowing moments, he said he'd take the course again in a minute.

Gerry Peden, a social studies graduate student and a civics teacher at Cape Henlopen High School, had a similar experience. He also served on the platform and official proceedings committees, and he said he was equally ???impressed by the eloquence of the pro- and anti-abortion Ben Tabb speakers.

Peden got to watch some of the convention from the convention chairman's skybox, which hosted a number of dignitaries, including some Democrats. He had a half-hour conversation with former presidential candidate and arch conservative Gary Bauer, then chatted with Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign advisor, James Carville, who was in the skybox with his wife, GOP adviser Mary Matlin. Peden said even Delaware Gov. Tom Carper was at the convention.

Peden said that from his vantage point the whole thing was a "tremendous experience."

"What it is is a show more than anything else–it's a pep rally," Lisa Edler, a Master's in Liberal Arts (MALS) student, said. Edler, who interned with the official proceedings committee, said she volunteered GOP/Jennings for anything she could and eventually was given more to do. "At first, I did typing and data entry, but eventually I worked around people like Colin Powell, Elizabeth Dole, John McCain, and most of all, Cardinal Bevilacqua."

Edler, who is deeply religious, went into the greenroom while Cardinal Bevilaqua was waiting convention floor to go to the platform. She asked him for a blessing and they prayed together. His graciousness is something she said she will never forget.

Edler said she would like to work as a student recruiter at UD when she gets her master's degree, and she said she could use the "Road to the Presidency" to entice people to come to the University. "This course is one of the opportunities you have at UD that you can't get anyplace else, not even if you attend NYU."

Gregory Kaufman, a chemistry and English literature senior, had a different experience. He worked for ABC News and saw the convention mostly from inside the media's perspective. He pretended to be Peter Jennings when the crew was testing the sound equipment, and then let Jennings interview him for other tests. He said he had never experienced anything as fast-paced and, while he likes a lot of activity, this was a little too stressful for his tastes.

Several of the students did internships with Begleiter's alma mater, CNN. Stephanie Denis, a junior journalism major, was an anchor booth runner. "I got to see how a convention really works. There were more media representatives than delegates. When you're on the inside, you're completely immersed in the convention. We worked 12 hours a day," she said.

She did get outside the convention once when she went with a camera crew to cover the Unity 2000 protest march in center city Philadelphia.

Craig Beebe–a senior political science major, who couldn't say enough about his convention experience, the course or Pika and Begleiter–echoed everyone's thoughts. "It was one of the most exciting things I've ever been to. The course is really good, and Pika and Begleiter have excellent insights into politics and the media."

The final consensus?

It was an eye-opening, once-in-a-lifetime experience from which everyone, including Pika and Begleiter benefited.

The two professors agree that if the 2004 conventions are on the East Coast, they intend to offer the course again.

–Barbara Garrison

Vol. 19, No. 37

Aug. 10, 2000

Vol. 19, No. 37

Aug. 10, 2000

Students go behind the scenes at GOP convention