A couple of WashU students are gushing right now after meeting U.S. Sen. Joe Biden during a sound check.
Biden even asked one of them for advice on which tie to wear — a light blue one or a dark blue one. The student, senior Julia Latash, told him to wear the dark blue one with small white dots.
Dark blue may also be the color Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will wear tonight. Junior Danny Gaynor said she appeared to decide on a navy blue suit after holding up different suits on stage during a run-through. She was deciding between suits in red, tan, navy blue, and another color he could not remember.
Gaynor and Latash played Biden and Palin yesterday during a mock debate on the stage while crews tested out camera shots, sound and lighting. They were asked to return this morning for more sound checks.
While they were rehearsing, moderator Gwen Ifill hobbled into the hall, Gaynor said. (Ifill broke her ankle earlier this week.) Gwen started asking the students questions as part of the test. Gaynor said she asked him why he was wearing a blue tie.
Then Palin walked in, Gaynor said, his eyes alight.
“She’s really, really beautiful,” he said. But he added that she looked “kind of nervous.”
About 30 minutes later, Gaynor said Biden walked in. Gaynor, who is a huge Biden fan, said Biden was also very business-like, but seemed more laid back.
Biden asked Latash which tie he should wear, Gaynor said. Gaynor didn’t approve of the choice, but didn’t say anything. “I didn’t like the tie,” he said.
While Biden was on stage, someone pointed out Gaynor in the audience as the person who played him.
“He looked at me and said, “If I had hair like yours, I’d be president not vice president,” he said.
Later, Gaynor shook Biden’s hand. Biden asked him about what he was studying. He talked with Latash about taking the Amtrak, Gaynor said.
“This has been the absolute best experience I’ve had at WashU,” Gaynor gushed.
As a thank you, Latash and Gaynor both got tickets to watch the debate.
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Two WashU football players waiting backstage in suits will have a somewhat impromptu role in tonight’s debate: they will help carry or assist moderator Gwen Ifill to her seat.
Ifill broke her ankle earlier this week. So the university scrambled Wednesday to figure out how to make sure she can gracefully get to the moderator’s desk. John Schael, the university’s athletic director, recruited two members of the football team.
Starting quarterback Buck Smith, who stands 6′3 and weighs 200 lbs., and defensive lineman Tim Taylor, 6′2 and 210 lbs., were tapped for the job.
Rob Wild, the chairman of WashU’s debate steering committee, said one of the requirements was that the players already own suits. Smith and Taylor apparently do.
“It’s been an adventure,” Wild said.
Smith, the football team’s captain, is a senior from Alabama and threw for 1,891 yards and 13 touchdowns last year. Taylor, who was injured most of last season, is a junior who hails from Maryland.
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