The Romney Visit: Behind The Scenes

Hurry up and wait.

It's the golden rule of reporters who cover political events. Hurry and get there early so you don't miss the candidate, and then wait, because he or she is usually late.

To be fair, Romney wasn't all that tardy. But the expectations of his handlers seemed misplaced. At one point, one of them said they never expected so much media to be there. Uh, he's running for President of the United States. C'mon guys. Plus, everybody read about it on this blog;)

Romney's event with his 100-plus supporters was a closed event. Totally acceptable, but it also handicapped our "Broll" opportunities of the candidate. (Broll is a slang term for video of the candidate doing his thing. It's all the pretty pictures you see in our stories.) The rule: we could get Romney walking in the room, and that was about it.

So, we waited, and complained to each other. Cuz that's what media do.

Romney finally emerged from a private meeting with 6 local Protestant pastors, side by side with Gov. Matt Blunt and former House Speaker Rod Jetton following behind. We got our walking shot, and then the door shut. Outgoing Assemblies of God Superintendent Rev. Thomas Trask was one of the pastors who met with Romney. Later, we saw him bust out of the event a bit early.

The Missouri Democratic Party's paid "tracker" was also there because of Matt Blunt's presence. At one point, the tracker was attempting to film part of Blunt's introduction of Romney between the shut door crack. He finally quit. Man, a tracker must be a lonely gig.

You could hear the speeches from outside if you listened hard enough. Blunt spoke glowingly of Romney's experience as a business manager, and savior of the Salt Lake City Olympics. Romney at one point said he never expected to be running for President.

Most of the crowd that came to hear Romney speak consisted of loyal local Republicans. But not all those in attendance were Romney purists. I saw several Republicans who have privately told me they support other candidates in attendance.

Rep. Shane Schoeller was the only local state representative I was able to spot. Schoeller tells me he's still uncommitted. Mavis Busiek, the head of the 7th Congressional District was also in attendance. But she made it clear to me she wasn't jumping on the Romney bandwagon just yet. She also says she uncommitted and wants to help lure other Republican candidates to Springfield. She hinted a visit from Gov. Mike Huckabee could be in the future. Local businessman Robert Plaster was also spotted.

The crowd that emerged after seemed in good spirits, although one sympathetic man told the media he felt sorry we weren't allowed in. "That doesn't seem to be a good idea," he said, as he walked away.

After the event, Romney's press people herded us to an open room to a brief press availability. For some odd reason, the handlers didn't want microphones hanging on Romney's lapel. So we had to hold them or go with natural sound. Odd demand, but who's going to argue.

After making a brief statement and taking three questions, that was a wrap. His handlers whisked him out of the room quickly and allowed us a few minutes to set up for our previously negotiated one-on-one with Romney.

In our brief encounter, Romney was amicable and gracious with his time. He didn't seem like he wanted to reveal too much about his Mormon faith during my questioning, but he did respond to most of my inquiries. After a quick 7 or 8 minutes, I got the signal from his people to wrap up and I did.

I thanked the Governor for the opportunity and he told me "good questions," which got me worried that they really weren't. He then took off upstairs, where he raised about $30,000 at a one-thousand-dollar-a-plate lunch.

Got me thinking . . .Who would you pay a grand to have lunch with?

Romney has raised more money in Missouri than any other presidential candidate. The irony is he'll probably spend most of that Missouri dough in Iowa and New Hampshire.