I was up at 2:30 a.m. after about 2 1/2 hours' sleep in two stretches. I caught up on the Yahoo! groups and the blog until 3:30, then showered, shaved, dressed, and headed out at 4:45. I was at Sams 3, site of "Morning Joe," at about 5:10. There was no traffic, and there was plenty of metered street parking at that hour as 50,000 delegates, media, and assorted hangers-on were preparing to flock to the airport.

Zoey/LuAnn was already there. We probably bored to death the guy sitting between us at the counter. A great time was had by all except for the guy in the middle.

Wes entered the restaurant at about 6:00, carry-on and medium suitcase on wheels in the hands of some MSNBC guy. LuAnn, Wes, and I exchanged pleasantries after he had greeted some people he clearly knew and after several patrons stopped him to say, "Hello." Lu Ann got a big hug, and I told Wes that I don't get up at this hour for just anybody. He seemed very appreciative of our efforts to welcome him and watch the appearance.

Wes joined the MSNBC table and got some breakfast. Having watched him spend a few of his days, I was very glad that he got some sustenance. At the table was the black pundit, whose name escapes me (Capehart), a lady I didn't recognize, and after a few minutes Andrea Mitchell. If you think Mitchell is...errr...uhhh...trying not to be nasty, here...shall we say, "less than gorgeous," she is even less so in person. Another impression: Pat Buchanan walks like a 90-year-old, kind of hunched over and almost shuffling.

If you remember the Willy Geiss-Andrea Mitchell conversation about the McCain speculation just before Wes's segment, Wes was right across the table, who had to duck to get out of the camera shot.

There was no sound for the patrons of the restaurant. The TVs did show the closed captions, but you can't watch the goings-on and read the text at the same time. So I had no clue what the people on the show were saying. I had to wait to get back home about 7:15 to watch my recording.

I was surprised that the only time you saw me was when I stood up to take a pic or two. I was basically just behind Brzinsky's right shoulder. I think the cameras were set low and I was behind the half-wall behind Joe and Mika. I held up my "Colorado4Clark" sign, but it was never visible.

After the segment, a person sitting with LuAnn and me took this picture.

All of my pics are here. I had messed up my camera. The first several pics I took ended up being movies, and they didn't even have any video in the uploaded versions. Also, a large almost white circle appeared in the pics. The spotlights on the stage in the first set of pictures I took as movies may have burned out some of the pixels. Either that, or my 5-year-old camera needs to retire to the great electronics heaven in the sky.

After the segment I asked Wes if his minimal luggage is what he had with him in Europe. He said that it was, and added that it was eight-days' worth. I can't go overnight across town with that little stuff, much less an eight-day sojourn including Europe.

I told him to go to Little Rock, hug Gert for me, and sleep all weekend. He kind of chuckled on the sleep remark, as if to say, "Yeah, right. Your'e kidding, aren't you?"

He volunteered at some point that he had slept four hours the night before, and only slept on the plane the night before. He looked very tired. I wondered if he had sandwiched in any swimming, but didn't ask.

It was great to see him for the first time since last October in Seattle, and it was equally great to meet LuAnn in person for the first time.

And so to bed.

Stan Davis
Lakewood, CO
Wes Clark -- Make America All It Can Be!