Several weeks ago, Mo got an e-mail from the “booker” for Diane Sawyer, the ABC News anchor. He was trying to get a group of freshman Congressmen to join in a discussion with Diane of why they ran and what they hope to accomplish. Mo e-mailed right back and said he would be interested. Not all the freshmen were as anxious to do the show, however. There were e-mails going around warning that Diane might try to “trap” the conservatives and make them look foolish by creative editing. In the end eight new Congressmen and two new Senators agreed to appear.
The booker was very appreciative of Mo responding so quickly, and he invited us to have breakfast with him last Friday. His name is Polson and he is an Indian-American. Very nice guy. We enjoyed the breakfast a lot. He kept mentioning how impressed he was that Mo personally answered his e-mail.
So on Tuesday, the day before swearing-in, Mo, Chelsie, Grady and I went to a committee room in Rayburn that had been set up for TV. There were about 5 cameras, booms, producers, directors, make-up artists, wires, cables, lights, etc. The producer ushered us into a side room to watch the TV and to get some powder on Mo’s face. Not only was the room for spectators and makeup, it was the control room, where the technicians and the director were set up.
The first shots were of the newly-elected Congressmen and Senators milling around talking to each other, film for what they call the B-roll that they can run as background. Next, they took them into the hall and filmed them walking. More B-roll. So far, we haven’t seen Diane Sawyer!
The most interesting thing is listening to the director. We were warned to be very quiet so that the technicians could hear the director. He was hilarious! I would say he was definitely an “artiste”. He would yell out, “Very good, very good!”, then turn around and chew someone out. He would scream “If you don’t get that cord out of the shot, I just don’t know what I’ll say!!” My favorite was when he said, “Go tell Bill to move that camera.” His helper said, “Bill decided to try it this way once.” Director: “Repeat to me what I just said!!!!” Helper: “You said to have Bill move the camera.” Director: “Then what are you going to do!?!?!” Helper: “I’m going to have Bill move the camera.” He did not seem at all concerned about the spectators listening to him throw his hissy-fits.
Finally, Diane Sawyer appeared. She looked like a really beautiful and elegant woman even though I never saw her in person, just on the TV in the side room. They all introduced themselves and chatted informally. Diane seemed very familiar with Mo. I think it was probably his name. They then strolled down the hall again. Finally, they got down to the questions and discussion. If you would like to see what was aired, go here: http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/republicans-day-spent-preparation-democrats-congress-senate-tea-party-obama-politics-12541381 and http://abcnews.go.com/watch/world-news-with-diane-sawyer/SH5585921/VD55105096/world-news-105-112th-congress starting at 5:07
I think Mo got more than his fair share of airtime, don’t you? The ending shot of Mo moving in to his office (wearing a suit?!?!) was re-enacted that evening. That’s showbiz for you!
Well, this would be enough excitement for one day, but there were several other things going on as well. The girls, along with Tiffany, took off to work their magic to decorate the office and turn it into Party Central. People were swarming around the office installing computers, setting up internet and phones, hanging pictures and plaques, and dropping by to introduce themselves. Friends and relatives were beginning to arrive. Many people were flying on AirTran into Baltimore and since there are only two flights a day, they were meeting each other on the plane!
In late afternoon the girls called and said they were on the way to the office with party supplies. They had stuffed the trunk full, then they got inside and stuffed groceries all around them until they were totally buried! Sandy’s job was to protect the cake, a job she took very seriously. It took seven people two or three trips from the car to bring in all the loot. On the first trip we had to send everything through the metal detector. I remarked to the Capitol Policeman that it was probably the only time he had ever scanned a cabbage. He said it was definitely the first one today! After that I brought down my spouse I.D. and they let everyone walk around the scanner.
That night, after another Capitol tour, we returned to our condo and began to get all eleven of us settled in for the night. It was wall-to-wall blow-up mattresses. It was wonderful!
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