One more Saturday night

I had the -- let's call it, to be diplomatic, opportunity -- to film Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton when she touched down in Washington County during a five-stop whirlwind tour of Pennsylvania on the final Saturday before the primary.

Now, I've never been exactly a 9-to-5 guy when it comes to my job. I learned 23 years ago, when I first started working for newspapers, that you don't just drop everything and go home at a certain time. That's not the way the news works.

But I can't admit to being ecstatic about Sen. Clinton's visit, given the projected time of her appearance (7:15 p.m.) at California University of Pennsylvania. I knew it wasn't going to be a case of waltzing in, shooting some video and being done with it 'til Monday.

With these types of events, of course, the best idea is to arrive very early, so that the proper security measures can be taken. So some three hours prior to the senator's scheduled arrival, there I was on campus. Our photographer Celeste Van Kirk actually had arrived at 4, after receiving word that was the time to be there. She didn't have an opportunity to grab a bite to eat beforehand.

Before entering Cal U.'s Hamer Hall, we members of the media had to set all of our equipment in a line outside, where a dog sniffed around for any funny business. The equipment checked out, so the next step was a quick metal-detector search. After that, we were free to set up wherever we wanted, except in spots designated for the "traveling press."

Speaking of which, there was a food spread set up, but the only members of the media who were allowed to partake were of the "traveling" variety. We poor local schlubs could only smell the viands, which must have been torturous for Celeste. (I'd stuffed my face in mid-afternoon, anticipating a long night.)

So I set up, then looked at the clock. Two hours and 45 minutes to go, if Sen. Clinton was on schedule. I called my wife to complain about abject boredom.

Fortunately, my friend and colleague Brad Hundt, the O-R's entertainment writer and member of our editorial board, showed up because of his deep interest in politics. I talked with him at length, and also checked in with Celeste and our staff writer Scott Beveridge periodically. Plus I knew a few others in attendance, so I managed to gab my way through the waiting period.

Prior to Sen. Clinton's arrival, we were "treated" to rousing speeches by the two Democratic Washington County commissioners, as well as such luminaries as state Rep. Pete Daley, who seems to be quite charismatic, and Angelo Armenti Jr., president of Cal U.

Meanwhile, the Clinton caravan was delayed for 45 minutes, and when the senator did arrive, she was accompanied by people who took the microphone before she did. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing LauRen Merola, 2008 Miss Pennsylvania USA -- that's her in the picture; everyone knows what Hillary looks like -- who gave her endorsement for Sen. Clinton. Then Gov. Ed Rendell put in his two cents. And then came the featured attraction.

In a 25-minute blitz, the senator provide a list of "solutions" to help Pennsylvanians and the rest of America on the road to recovery from our various difficulties. Several times, she hit on the problems with oil and gasoline prices, and with the effect that's having on everyone, I decided to use those comments as the basis for a three-plus minute distillation of her speech.

Click here, and you can check it out.

I'll post the entire speech when I have a chance to process it Monday morning. By the time I finished with the excerpts and got everything ready for the newspaper's Web site, it was going on midnight Saturday, meaning I'd basically worked an entire shift to capture a 25-minute speech for posterity.

In case you ever wondered, sometimes that's how it works in the news biz.