Spanking the Donkey ... In Houston

Interesting excerpt of Matt Taibbi's new book "Spanking the Donkey: Dispatches from the Dumb Season" which covers a the Presidential campaign from the press pool view. The excerpt includes a mention of Kerry's pre-convention stop in Houston. Unlike myself, the author didn't sit through the too-long discourse on health care and veteran's benefits, but rather bolted the scene to talk to some "real folk" ... as in, a few miles from my digs:

A wrong turn in Houston the next morning forced me to accelerate this increasingly ridiculous routine. At the Houston Community College in the well-heeled Bellaire suburb, I took off due north the instant the bus arrived, but quickly found the way blocked by that great nemesis of campaign journalism: train tracks. I doubled back and ran full-speed back to the event, where I found a Dennis Kucinich supporter named Gary Hardy standing and vainly trying to hold up a giant "Peace" banner in the wind. (It kept blowing down, despite three people trying to hold it up.) I explained my situation to him and he immediately packed me into his car and drove me a half-mile in the opposite direction, to a Central American barrio called the Southwest district. This time, there was practically another country sitting right in the shadow of Kerry's Town Hall event.

At an open-air flea market we jumped out of the car, and with Hardy's help -- I don't speak Spanish -- I quickly practiced what journalism I could. A nineteen-year-old named Eleu Aguirre was wandering out of the car parts stand where he worked.

"Do you know who's running for president?" I asked. He nodded.

"Boosh," he said. "And -- Kennedy."

Hardy prompted him. "You sure about the Kennedy thing?"

He snapped his fingers. "Oh, Kerry!"

"What are your concerns this election season?" I asked. Hardy translated. The answer came back: "The security is good."

"The security is good in this country?" I said.

"No," Hardy said. "The security is good at this flea market."

First off, there is no "Southwest District" in Houston ... this was in Gulfton, about as high a per-capita ratio of gang members as there is in town. Knowing the flea market in question, security at the market is, indeed, a critical question that seems to trump a host of other issues. Regardless, it sounds like Taibbi had a more eventful day for this than I did.

Taibbi also reviews his own book. Yeah, you read that part right.