Obamamania, to the Barracuda to the Mall of America: Two Weeks of Conventino Mayhem

Hours after I picked Trevar up at the Denver airport two weeks ago today we kicked off a two week conventioneering binge with Frank Foer and Eve Fairbanks of The New Republic at the Ritz Carlton (courtesy of the lovely and generous Vivian Deuschl, VP of Public Affairs for the RC and now a FORA favorite). Eve and Frank provided a rollicking preview of the days to come......

Then twelve days later, a mere hour before Trev's flight back to SF, we wrapped it up with the surprisingly terrifying Sponge Bob Square Pants roller coaster at the Mall of America in Minneapolis. For those of you that don't know - the M of A is apparently the world's biggest mall, big enough to house not one but two roller coasters.

Trev's post on the DNC gave a vivid glimpse of the energy in Denver. It has to be said that the Republican Convention didn't have the same electricity, at least initially. This is partly an effect of the awkwardness of having a convention in The Twin Cities with delegates and camp followers split bt Minneapolis and St Paul. With convention action being in St Paul while most of the people stayed in Minneapolis, the vibe just wasn't quite as strong.

That said: The seemingly out-of-nowhere Palin selection worked like Red Bull in the veins of the Convention attendees and gave it a fun energy. Had McCain gone with a more conventional pick it would have been a far less lively setting. While much could be said about our convention experience, I will summarize it simply by saying: huge learning, great fun, some real successes. Lots to build on moving forward.

And most importantly, Trevar and I concluded that we agree on at least three issues: robust animal rights should be supported in legistlation, torture is bad and yogurt is generally good.