First, I have to apologize to Cleveland for trashing the city in my column the other week. Granted, it’s only the first day of the convention, but so far, so good. The people are friendly, the internet works, and the food is good.
Last night, for example, I devoured wild boar and copious amounts of wine at a fabulous eatery called Luca (special thanks to Jamie Weinstein for bringing me). Before you accuse us of elitism (for supporting a local business), you should also know that, for much of the night, we were in the company of outsiders Roger Stone and Alex Jones.
Sadly, the details of that conversation (hazy as they may be) were off the record. This sort of fortuitous meeting (and the information gleaned) is probably the best reason to actually go to convention (Bob Novak’s maxim that the best place to watch a debate is on TV also holds true for convention speeches).
As is the case with many journalists, most of the best things that I learn are usually told to me in confidence. This informs my reporting in the long run, but in the short run, all I can reveal is that the wild boar is fabulous.
If you’re interested in something on the record, I interviewed prominent Trump supporter Jeffrey Lord on Facebook Live yesterday. Lord is (and was) a huge fan of Bobby Kennedy and Jack Kemp, and somehow sees Donald Trump as their successor. This interested me so much that it was only after I turned off the camera that Lord decided to tell me about his time as a working actor where he had bit roles in several famous movies. There may have to be a sequel.
Stay tuned here and on my Twitter and Instagram feeds for convention updates.