At lunch time on Thursday in St. Paul, I was trying to figure out how best to stay awake when I suddenly looked at the TV screen, and saw something that made me jump. And it wasn't the pushpin that I had been sticking into my knee in hopes of remaining alert.
On the tube was Elizabeth Hasselbeck, one of the women on "The View." Standing there talking to her was - was I seeing things? Was I so tired after two hellish weeks of power political journalism that I was hallucinating?
Nope. There he was. Todd Palin. Husband of GOP Vice Presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin. And he was about to speak!!
10 seconds later I was a bubbling heap of laughter, realizing how insane I had finally become on this 2008 Double Political Convention Trip.
I was worried about Sarah Palin's husband and what he might say, mainly because Mrs. Palin isn't allowed to answer questions from reporters right now.
"I have news for you," said a giggling Hasselbeck, as she introduced Palin to the lunch crowd, "You better get your game face on - you've got competition - because America fell in love with your wife last night."
All I could think was that I have had my game face on for the past couple of weeks, getting ready for this crazy Washington-Denver-Minneapolis-Washington voyage.
"Todd Palin, everybody! Give him a warm welcome!" Hasselbeck crowed with a big smile.
So there he was.
"Thank you all for coming," the First Dude said nervously.
"Is it just me, or do things move quickly around here?," Palin added to huge laughter.
"It seems that just a few days ago, I was at work on the North Slope - working night shift - and here I am today," he said to more chuckles and applause.
"I don't have to tell you that the Palin family has had quite a week," he added. "You just never know what the future has in store for you."
That's the understatement of the world.
"If someone had told me that ten days ago, that I would be standing here today, introducing Cindy McCain, I would have thought that they were a little nuts,." said Palin.
"But then, if I had a crystal ball a few years ago, I might have asked a few more questions, when Sarah decided to join the PTA," Mr. Todd deadpanned.
"It wouldn't have mattered though. When my wife starts talking about reform, corruption and making government work for the people, it's just best to get out of the way," he said.
"I already feel a bond with the lady that I'm about to introduce," Palin said of Cindy McCain.
Mrs. McCain returned the compliment with a funny aside to the lunch crowd.
"Todd, I know ten days ago you had no idea where you were going to be," she started, "and I am so grateful that I don't have to worry about what he's going to wear," bringing great laughter.
"We don't have to compare notes, I love it, I love it."
After filing this report, Mr. Dupree was brought to the GOP convention infirmary by concerned colleagues, who had noted that he was already muttering about his plans to cover the 2012 primaries and conventions, while furiously waving a tattered copy of "Fear and Loathing On The Campaign Trail."
Doctors reported that Mr. Dupree seemed to improve almost immediately after being given a 32 ounce bottle of Gatorade, a bag of cheese curls and the college football preview section from Friday's USA Today.
Mr. Dupree made no comment, other than to refer interested parties to the following paragraph in the late Hunter S. Thompson's book:
"When a journalist turns into a politics junkie he will sooner or later start raving and babbling in print about things that only a person who has Been There can possibly understand."
At lunch time on Thursday in St. Paul, I was trying to figure out how best to stay awake when I suddenly looked at the TV screen, and saw something that made me jump. And it wasn't the pushpin that I had been sticking into my knee in hopes of ...
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