I've already met Bill Bennett and John McLaughlin on the plane to Boston

Well, pretty productive day already, on the way to the Dem Convention in Boston. I'd barely gotten on the plane, and who was sitting in the front row in business class but none other than former Republican Drug Czar Bill Bennett. I wasn't quite sure what to say to him, but wanted to say something - hey, I am here as a reporter, so I'm supposed to be nosy. So I look at him and said "going to Boston to show your support for the candidate?" He laughed and said he was going to do radio appearances during the convention. He said he expected it to be an interesting week, and a few other things I don't recall.

He was a fairly nice man, considering he's not a nice man at all. He was one of the leaders behind the Gay-Bashing Constitutional Amendment - I totally forgot that until I got back to my seat. I wouldn't have been as nice had I remembered. My friend Michael said I should have asked him "wanna bet on who wins the election?" :-)

Then, after saying goodbye to Bennett, two seats behind him was John McLaughlin of The McLaughlin Group. McLaughlin has been openly opposed to the amendment for a long while now. He also has been no friend of Bush. So, seeing as I was already on a roll harassing Republicans - that is the purpose of this convention, after all - I stopped at Mr. McLaughlin's seat and excused myself for interrupting, then I thanked him for his kind words on his show in opposition to the amendment.

Thus began a 10-minute conversation totally initiated by McLaughlin himself. Boy that man can talk. And you know, I really like him - at least from the 10 minutes I got. He wanted to know more about me, what kind of work I do, issues I cover, etc. I told him I do a lot of TV and he gave me his producer's email (McLaughlin Group here I come!). We had a nice chat about the amendment, he doesn't think it will EVER pass, EVER. And I met a young lady who I believe is his wife. Beautiful woman, and like 35 years old. Mazel tov! Finally, after 10 minutes of talking to him, with him continuing to ask me questions, I had to excuse myself and sit down as I was the last passenger standing.

Then in Logan airport, waiting for my bag that still hasn't arrived 4 hours later (I bet the Republicans wouldn't have lost my bag - one thing they do is efficient transportation, trains running on time, that sort of thing), I saw Senator Harkin (D-IA), one of the Podesta brothers (both are BIG BIG deals in Dem politics), and the French ambassador to the US. I think all of them were on my flight.

So all in all, kind of a fun start to the trip. More to come as the week continues. JOHN