A simple white wooden cross and marble footmarker will be added to Arlington National Cemetery tonight. It will mark the spot where Edward Kennedy will rest. As the country lays to rest one of it's most influential public servants, I remember back to one time where I could actually say that I was moved by a speech and by a politician.
My story takes place at the Democratic Convention of 2000 that took place in Springfield, Mass. I was called the day before by a friend that ran the media department at the Civic Center. They had a teleprompter problem for the convention that was to take place the next day. They asked me to come by and see if I could make it work, and that they were in a terrible bind as Senator Kennedy was going to be using it for his keynote speech at the convention.
Well, I had worked with them a bit at Connecticut School of Broadcasting, so I said I would run over. I was met by several of Kennedy's aides who were anxiously waiting to call it a long day, but one with a working teleprompter. They were as pleased as I was only several moments later when I had the script running correctly on the monitors and lined them up for the podium. Turns out of a full day of speakers, only Ted Kennedy would be using the prompter, so they had no one running it. His young but extremely appreciative assistant asked if I would please come the next day, a Saturday, and run the thing for the senator's speech? Of course, I was billing them so I said sure and headed home with a last minute gig that would end up being pretty interesting.
The next day I made my way through the security net that included city and state police, and a large amount of what looked like secret service agents, complete with microphones, and remember, they were not yet stuck to everyone's head like the blue tools are now a days. So, there I waited until the very loosely scheduled event culminated in the senator's speech. He had not yet arrived at the venue, so I had plenty of time to watch the action and listen to the speakers from the unique position pretty much ten of twelve feet away from the podium.
Of course, there were plenty of mid-level state politicians that spoke and plenty of party line getting stoked with the packed house of believers. I was becoming one of them when an incredibly small Michael Dukakus walked up and asked my name. I could hardly believe I was actually looking down on the former Governor and all I could remember was the image of his goggled head sticking out of a tank. And, his eyebrows are truly something out of Mothra, but he is a very nice guy, and I think had all the best intentions for the state, and the nation. So, of course I told him my name and we chatted for a few minutes as the secret service looked on. Did I mentioned how short he is? I mean, I am not tall, so for me to notice, jeez, you got to be pretty short. He looks like a former jockey or something.
Anyways, a few hours later, it was time. He is in the building, I am told, and they are bringing him right over to meet me. Me. I was a little taken back, and I understood that I was helping them out a bit but I was pretty surprised when his handlers did in fact bring him right to me and introduce me as “the guy that saved the day with the teleprompter.” So he very loudly clears his throat in a way that I imagined he had done right before countless speeches, and shook my hand. Thanking me for handling his teleprompter, I assured him that I would keep pace with him. So he shakes a few more hands and goes up the short staircase to the stage to a huge amount of applause.
Now, if you have never run a teleprompter, let me tell you it is kind of cool. You are sort of reading along with the person, allowing them to keep their own pace, including dealing with rounds of applause that tend to break out at these political events. Well in this case, I realized at the time it was one of the most recognizable figures in the world and I was dolling out his script. Seeing ever line a few ahead, keeping pace with the Lion of the Senate as he spoke of President Kennedy, his legacy as well as that of his brother, Robert Kennedy. I thought being at a Democratic Convention, those were especially poignant words.
It was right around this point when I sensed someone looking over my shoulder and caught a glimpse of another Kennedy, and in fact I’m not sure which one it was. But he had enough physical traits for me. Of course, at the time I was paying close attention to not screwing up, which can really kill a speaker’s delivery. But all went well, and it was an excellent speech that evoked all the important issues that Ted Kennedy was known for being a tireless supporter of. One of those issues, interestingly was health care. Let’s hope we can pass reform without him.
Following his speech and plenty of applause, of course, he again thanked me and was whisked away into a van. This ends my brush with a Kennedy, one that I hope history remembers for what he contributed and stood for.
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