Today on our NARN show, Mitch Berg and I interviewed Doug, a volunteer driver who worked for the Republican National Convention Committee in St. Paul.  His customers included the Washington Post, MS-NBC, and some of the McCain campaign.  According to Doug, this allowed him to peer behind the scenes in both media and politics, and he saw some very interesting things:

• According to Doug, MS-NBC apparently took no chances on questions from the crowd.  Rather than get caught with a question that might make Republicans look good, their producer pre-screened questioners, and Chris Matthews pretended it was random.
• Republicans were good tippers.  MS-NBC stiffed the drivers.
• Media people talked in the cars about how effective the Republican convention turned out to be, while publicly saying something else entirely.

Compare this to MS-NBC’s promotion of their coverage before it started:

“MSNBC is dedicated to bringing its viewers the most comprehensive coverage of the Republican National Convention,” said executive producer Tammy Haddad.  “We are building upon our successful DNC coverage by giving people a chance to walk up and give their opinions of events as they are happening.”

As long as those opinions send a tingle through Matthews’ leg, that is.