Up for Debate

When I was a student at Georgia Tech, we hosted the 1992 Vice Presidential debate. I volunteered to assist with the event and had two incredible opportunities. During the day, I served as a porter outside the venue assisting folks in unloading vehicles and carrying items to various locations. Mid-afternoon, a van pulled up loaded with a sawhorse, saddle, tables and checkboard tablecloths. The woman driving the van had been tasked with decorating Al Gore’s dressing room for the evening. As we were setting up the items in the room, a gentleman in a dark suit with an earpiece walked around the corner and asked us what in the world we were doing (his language may have been slightly stronger than that!)! Yep, I was detained by the United States Secret Service! As we were being ushered down the hall to a holding area, other agents rushed past us with bomb-sniffing dogs going to make sure the room was clear!

Once I was released, my evening duty was as a runner for the Associated Press. I was stationed inside the theatre about halfway up the aisle. Prior to the debate, I was hanging out at the rear of the theatre where all of the major networks had studios set up on scaffolding. At one point, I was standing within arm’s length of CNN’s Bernard Shaw as, I believe, Cokie Rboerts greeted him with a hug and a “Hey Bernie!” AP photographers were taking pictures (1992 = real film) throughout the debate. As several completed rolls of film were collected, a runner would take the film bag and run it to a mobile processing lab that had been set up in the Student Center. So I was in the theatre long enough to witness Admiral Stockdale’s famous, “Who am I, why am I here?!”

As the debate concluded, all of the action shifted from the theatre to the third floor of the student center where the spin rooms were located. I had been hanging out there since I completed my film delivery. The most memorable moment of the evening was when John Lewis made his way up the stairs. A woman (I am guessing it was one of his staff) loudly and proudly announced his entry, “Ladies and Gentleman, please make way for the representative of the 5th District of the great state of Georgia, Mr. John Lewis!” He shook hands all the way up the stairs and into one of the spin rooms where he began to speak with the national media.

That experience galvanized my interest in politics! There was so much energy around the event! I was definitely hooked.

Tomorrow evening’s Presidential debate will be very different for many reasons.

My family and I will be watching. I don’t expect the experience to be as positive as the one I enjoyed 28 years ago. But, I feel like it is important to be informed.