How "open" should our convention be?

Published 2024/07/18. This was sitting in draft, and I reused some of it in a separate entry, but never finished this one. I seems worth publishing as a snapshot of my thinking at a delegate headed to the 2004 Republican National Convention.

As a senior in high school, you wait excitedly for the big envelope that tells you you've been accepted to a college. As a delegate to the Republican National Convention, you wait excitedly for invitations to receptions and most of all the big packet from the host city -- all the wonderful things to see and do, at a special discount. A couple of weeks ago National Journal sent me their convention preview issue, which has maps of the convention hall, a directory of credentialed media and where they will be located, and phone numbers for the organizing committee and other Republican officials.

But just today I got the fat envelope from the Committee on Arrangements of the Republican National Committee. Everything was helpfully enclosed in a translucent blue plastic envelope. Here's what we got:

• The official New York City guide for Summer/Fall 2004
• A special "Come Early, Stay Late" booklet, listing special discounts for convention delegates
• A "Welcome to New York" DVD
• A welcome letter from Mayor Bloomberg
• An order form and brochure for tours of New York City
• Info about tourism and concierge services
• An invite to a $100 per person golf tournament at Van Cortlandt Park
• A list of the official providers to the RNC (AMTRAK is the official rail carrier. Google is the official provider of adwords. Didn't know we needed adwords.)

And finally, a sheet listing things we won't be allowed to bring inside the security perimeter near Madison Square Garden. We are warned that "the list is NOT all inclusive and should only be used as a guide." We are told that this list is for the sake of safety and security:

1. Weapons, knives (regardless of size) and explosives
2. Fireworks
3. Camcorders and cases, large camera with lens (over four inches)
4. Umbrellas
5. Strollers
6. Poles and sticks
7. Laser lights and pointers
8. Coolers
9. Backpacks
10. Containers of any type - bottles/cans/spray canisters
11. Aerosols
12. Mace/pepper spray
13. Noise makers/horns
14. Banners/signs
15. Carry cases for binoculars, cameras
16. Tripods for cameras
17. Laptop computers
18. Sharp and other pointed objects (i.e. scissors/knitting needles)
19. Leatherman or similar tools

The memo ends with this: "By working together, we can help create an environment that is safe and secure, while ensuring a productive and enjoyable experience for everyone."

I should state clearly for the record at this point that I accept the need for tight security in light of the War on Terror and the presence of so many dignitaries. Many of the items on this list are the same things routinely excluded from airports -- anything that could be used as a weapon or an explosive.

But as I look at this list, it reminds me of the early days of TSA, when they were confiscating nail clippers. It looks to me like three separate lists shuffled together: Items which would be excluded from an airport (potential threats to safety and security), items which would be excluded from a rock concert or ballgame (potential threats to the sale of obscenely marked up merchandise), and items that don't pose any threat to anything, except possibly to the ability of the organizers to maintain uniformity and control the message coming from the Convention.

1, 2, 18, and 19 clearly fall into the safety-and-security-threat category, 6 and 7 may as well. As for 12, I thought mace and/or pepper spray was standard equipment for women in New York City, and female delegates might feel more secure so equipped, but I understand that it can be used offensively.

No coolers and containers -- so much for bringing in sodas bought at Sam's Club to save a few bucks. A plastic bottle of Diet Coke doesn't threaten anyone but the concessionaire who wants to sell me the same amount of fizzy water for $4. And isn't "containers" awfully broad? Could I bring in a sealed two-ounce packet of peanuts? How about a Ziploc full of trail mix? Will a pocket packet of Kleenex be allowed? My pen contains ink -- is that OK?

Laser lights, pointers, noise makers, horns: Threats to safety? Maybe. Obnoxious? Absolutely.

I don't know if I can manage without a small backpack. I'll try to leave as much in my room as possible, but the hotel is a mile away, and I'm going to want to have a city map, the little guidebooks from this packet, a packet of Kleenex, a contact lens case and my glasses, in case my eyes get itchy and I need to pop out my contacts, my camera, extra film for the camera (or extra batteries and flash memory, if it's the digital), the Oklahoma pins I'm bringing to trade, and a place to stow the bits of paper we'll be given -- platform, rules, agenda, and other assorted ephemera -- and a copy of the NY Post and the NY Sun for when the proceedings lag a bit. I suppose I could find room in my official Oklahoma delegation blue blazer's pockets for some of this, but a backpack would make life easier. Will ladies be allowed purses? And if so, could I paint my backpack hot pink, sashay a bit at the checkpoint, and get away with telling the guard, "It's just a purse, heartface?"

I'd like to keep my little compact umbrella in the backpack, too -- although that's also prohibited, even though the hotel is a mile away and it could very well rain. And a bottle of Diet Coke and a package of M&Ms would be nice to have handy.

This same fat envelope included a catalog for an audio/video/camera megastore just a block away from MSG -- we're encouraged to shop there, but we won't be allowed to bring our purchases into the convention hall. Looking through the references to electronic and photographic equipment, it appears I can bring a small still camera, but not a camcorder, and not a camera and lens big enough to take decent photos of whoever is at the podium. And although I can bring the small camera, I'm not allowed to bring anything to carry the camera in -- not a carry case, nor a backpack. I assume that the credentialed media will be permitted video cameras and large still cameras and camera bags for tape and film, and I'm not sure why the people who are there to observe the event should be given more liberty than those of us there as active participants.

The final blow is the prohibition against laptops. I had hoped

That's where I stopped writing. I continued the thought about having my laptop in the convention center in this entry, noting that bloggers had more privileges in the convention center than delegates.