Dinner With George

It may be a bit presumptuous to think that many newcomers will be visiting Pete Chat for the first time. But considering the shameless self promotion that occurred today in Sacrament meeting I thought I might at the very least link to the post I mentioned to President Nixon. http://petechat.blogspot.com/2007/12/boldbroadgrand-gesture.html So for those of you have not read enjoy my take on the topic.

Yesterday I got back from a quick trip in Scranton, PA home of The Office and the fifth largest St. Patrick's Parade in the US. I took a lot of great pictures and I'll be blogging about that soon enough.

So unless you are Laura Bush chances are you don't eat dinner with the President very often. Last Wednesday, I along with about 2,500 of my closest friends got to do just that. I was lucky enough to attend the NRCC's March Dinner at the Washington Hilton.

Despite what you might think the light does not supersede her authority. Presidential limo in the background.

The whole day at work I was really excited about going to the dinner. I knew the food wouldn't be great (it turned out to be not too shabby) but any time you get to see and hear the President speak it really is something special. After work Shandi and I metroed up to the Dupont Circle metro station and then walked up Connecticut Ave. We were a little late and were slightly worried that we might miss our chance to get in. As we walked up towards the Hilton the Police were already in place and helicopters were hovering overhead. If you have never had the chance to see the Presidential motorcade you are missing out. I didn't get an exact count but there had to be at least 15 vehicles including two limos, an ambulance, motorcycle cops, Secret Service Suburbans, and what looked like some sort of communications vehicle. While the Motorcade went by we were forced to wait on the corner. The police Officer monitoring our corner was very much into her job and wow, intense does not even begin to describe her state of being.

We made our way into the Hilton and found a few of my coworkers waiting to get their tickets. There was a bit of confusion about the tickets but that got straightened out quickly enough. A quick trip through security where I introduced myself the Congressman Tom Davis from VA and we were in.

The place was packed. I saw a number of people I recognized, lots of members of congress, people I had worked with and people I recognized from the office. It was fun saying hi and pointing people out. We found our table and Tom one of the interns form my office was already there. It wasn't long before the evening got started. They announced the party leadership, complete with entrance music to the crowd. After a few opening remarks, it wasn't long before President Bush began his speech.

Wanting a closer look Shandi and I headed up tot he front. I knew that a "grip and grin" with the President wasn't going to happen, but we could still get up pretty close.

The most powerful man in the free world and President Bush in the background.

I guess after more than two years I don't "mark out" like I used to when I see important people (although I guess some of my coworkers might disagree with that statement ) but I was in full fan boy mode when POTUS spoke. He gave a great speech that hopefully rallied the party.

I was surprised that the President spoke as long as he did. He was probably there for 20 minutes, and when he was through he got a standing ovation. Everyone at our table was grinning like mad. They played a video showing the members who had served in the arm forces and it was very powerful.

Our table was very close to Buck's table so I made sure to say hi to Buck and Patricia. It was nice to have a quick chat.

Stevie, Shandi, the Champ, and Tom. Dominating at table 185.

The whole ride home on the metro we chatted about how cool it was that we had just had dinner with the President. That just doesn't happen everyday.