Bus Snafus Plague RNC

If you've been monitoring the most popular Twitter hashtags for the RNC, you already know that the shuttle bus service for the press and delegates has been a nightmare since the event began three days ago.

On a political high from the convention speeches, delegates entered the humid night in Tampa to find a confusing transportation network devoid of signs and volunteer guides stumped on which bus was headed where. "There weren’t a lot of directions," said Utah House Majority Leader Brad Dee, R-Ogden. "Instead of lines for the buses, there were masses for the buses." Security checkpoints, closed-off streets and bus drivers who wouldn’t let passengers alight from the coach added to the fiasco.

And it wasn’t just Utahns stuck on the bus. Delegates from California, Texas, Arkansas and Connecticut found themselves back at their rented rooms two hours after the convention gaveled closed for the night. An enterprising Illinois delegate reported that he took up a collection of money on the bus to bribe the driver to get them back to their hotel. "We told the driver he could have it all, all $600 if he’d drive away," the delegate was overheard telling fellow Republicans at his morning breakfast.

My schadenfreude over this story is very muted as the Democrats have not yet even posted their own shuttle bus schedule, which was promised to us two days ago. I haven't been able to commit to a single event yet. The same bus company was hired for both conventions and my guess is that the DNC is scrambling for options having seen the fiasco in Tampa. (Tipped by JMG reader Dan)