On Oct. 24 the impact of the presidential election showed up at my dinner table.
I was home in the kitchen finishing making my world famous Shepherd’s Pie when my wife called and said she was going to be late for dinner. She was stuck in traffic.
Gridlock.
No one was moving. What could it be I thought? A bad accident? A road closure due to a gas leak? A structure fire? All of these possibilities were going through my head as I called the WSB Traffic Center to find out what was going on.
Then I remembered.
Republican vice presidential hopeful Paul Ryan was in town for a fund raiser in Cobb County. The media had been notified about his arrival earlier, but were not told the details of his trip or his motorcade.
It turned out that it was his motorcade that was causing massive delays.
Ahhh. The infamous motorcade delay.
We don’t get them often here in Atlanta, but when we do, they certainly can cause havoc on the roads, especially when they happen in the middle of the rush hour.
I thought about it for a few minutes debating whether or not to start eating dinner without my bride. Then I realized that in my 15 years as a traffic reporter, I had never heard of a VP candidate get the motorcade treatment.
I contacted the Georgia Department of Public Safety to find some answers. They told me that all of the coordination is set up by the Secret Service.
The Secret Service contacts whatever agencies they need to help assist them in the motorcade. They determine who gets a motorcade and how it is set up. The bottom line is, the Secret Service runs the show.
According the the Secret Service website “major presidential and vice presidential candidates and their spouses within 120 days of a general presidential election.”
This apparently includes motorcade service. More from the Secret Service: “The assistance of the military, federal, state, county and local law enforcement, and the public safety organizations is a vital part of the entire security operation. During protective visits, Secret Service and local law enforcement personnel form a network of support for members of the detail working in close proximity to the protectee.”
Thankfully in Atlanta, motorcade delays are a rare occurrence.
In Washington D.C. they are more common.
“When the President is on the move, the police shut down streets - sort of a rolling roadblock as he zooms around town,” said WSB Washington Correspondent Jamie Dupree.
“As someone who lives here, you just shake your head and think, ‘Really? Right now? Right when I need to be somewhere?’ Usually though it is over fast.”
Tuesday we will go to the polls and determine who will be provided with Presidential motorcades for the next four years.
Luckily for my wife, Shepherd’s pie reheats well.
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