Schmoozing at ‘The Daily Show’

When I lucked into a VIP ticketto Thursday night’s taping of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" in St. Paul, I lucked into something else: an aisle seat beside Sam and Sylvia Kaplan, referred to several days ago by my editor, Bill Clements, as "Minnesota’s political power couple."

The taping was delayed, so we had some time to chat. The two of them were fretting because of the delay; they were expected at a fund-raising event in Minneapolis with Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, which was scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

We discussed GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s speech to the Republican National Convention last night, and we talked about the RNC protesters — specifically the ones who have been breaking windows and putting riot cops to work all week. "I don’t know what they are, but they’re not Democrats," Sylvia sniffed.

And we talked about "The Daily Show." Stewart "suggests that he’s nonpartisan, but the Republicans are so much more ridiculous," Sylvia said.

As the delay stretched on, the Kaplans continued to stew over the fund-raiser they were missing. They defied the "Daily Show’s" strict no-cell-phone edict by having Sylvia hold her capacious bag open on her lap, while Sam sent messages on a BlackBerry hidden in the bag.

I toldabout the sort-of riot that Bill and I found ourselves in on Monday. She said she used to be a photojournalist, and whenever she found herself in a scary situation, she took out her camera and started to take pictures. "That made me less scared," she said.

The show began shortly before 6:30, and the Kaplans laughed and applauded with the rest of the audience until a segment with former Arkansas governor — and one-time GOP presidential candidate — Mike Huckabee. As Huckabee took the stage, the Kaplans took their leave, slipping past me and out the door, hurrying to their next engagement.

That’s the life of a political power couple.