The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Fear and Loathing: Oceanfront View

Posted on | January 26, 2012 | 8 Comments

TV satellite trucks outside the press filing center,
University of North Florida, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.
Carl Cameron was standing near the satellite trucks parked next to the press filing center when I got back from the media walk-through at Lazzara Performance Hall on the University of North Florida campus, site of tonight’s CNN debate (8 p.m. ET).

“Beats the hell out of Iowa, eh?” I said. The afternoon was warm and sunny. UNF coeds were bouncing past in tank tops and shorts.

“Yeah, lots better than Iowa,” Cameron said. “When are you guys going to attack Newt?”

“Attack Newt? What do you mean?”

“National Review went after him today,” Cameron said.

“I drove here straight from the airport,” I said. “Havent seen anything yet. What happened? What did they hit him on?”

So then he starts telling me about Elliot Abrams going after Gingrich as a disgrace to the Reagan legacy, Bob Dole going after Newt, et cetera, et cetera.  Cameron was standing there with George Bennett of the Palm Beach Post, and we talked a while about this and that, the amazing meltdown of Rick Perry and so forth, and then I excused myself.

Got in the silver Chevy Impala I’d rented at the airport — unlimited mileage — and drove down to Butler Boulevard  and over to the beach, turned left up A1A , cut over to 1st Street and found a Comfort Inn.

The clerk at the desk was extremely helpful and gave me a free upgrade to an oceanfront room. I asked her if there was a Goodwill store nearby, so I could buy a cheap sports coat, since the only coat I brought with me is my big winter overcoat. She gave me directions. I’m on the second floor, with a palm tree right outside my balcony. It’s nice.

I’ve got to cover the debate tonight, then tomorrow I’ve got to do a 1,400-word article for the March print edition of The American Spectator, so this might be headquarters for the National Affairs Desk until Saturday, when there’s a candidate forum near Orlando. A couple more photos:

Inside the debate hall at the Lazzara Performance Hall.

On the balcony of the National Affairs Desk headquarters. Now I’ve got to go get that sports coat at Goodwill, take a shower and get dressed in time for the debate.

Category: Debates, Fear and Loathing in the Sunshine State, Florida, Newt Gingrich

Comments

8 Responses to “Fear and Loathing: Oceanfront View”

  1. richard mcenroe
    January 26th, 2012 @ 5:57 pm

    Pictures of the thrift shoppe tropical shirt, dude!  America needs to know…

  2. Anonymous
    January 26th, 2012 @ 6:14 pm

    Sheesh Stacy, I used to live near where you’re staying – In Jacksonville Beach, which is north of the JTB (J. Turner Butler blvd.). I rented a nice house at the corner of 7th and 7th. A little off the beach, but close to the Mayport Naval Station where I served aboard the John F. Kennedy.

    Staying where you are means you’re a mite ways away from UNF. You can also get back that way by going north to Atlantic Avenue or south and taking Beach Blvd.

  3. Donald Douglas
    January 26th, 2012 @ 6:46 pm

    Keep pluggin’, McCain!

  4. Quartermaster
    January 26th, 2012 @ 8:29 pm

    Looks like tough duty to me.

  5. Anonymous
    January 26th, 2012 @ 8:40 pm

    Welcome to FL.  Little warmer down south of you.

  6. Adjoran
    January 26th, 2012 @ 9:28 pm

    Yes, they do make straw Fedoras – much cooler.

  7. Bob Belvedere
    January 27th, 2012 @ 8:23 am

    Panama hats.

  8. Newt Gingrich: Graceless in Defeat? : The Other McCain
    January 31st, 2012 @ 2:01 pm

    […] Limbaugh, Endorsed by Florida State Sen. PlakonJan. 26: CNN JACKSONVILLE FLORIDA DEBATEJan. 26: Fear and Loathing: Oceanfront ViewJan. 26: Departing for Jacksonville: What’s Up Today Down in the Sunshine State?Jan. 25: Can Newt […]