TV Reporter Maintains Straight Face Reporting on Super Silly Superdelegate

March 3rd, 2008 9:02 AM

I have to give WISN TV reporter Kent Wainscott of Milwaukee a lot of credit for not breaking out laughing in the middle of his report on a Democrat superdelegate. If you think of Democrat superdelegates as hardened cigar-chomping big city type professional pols, think again. Democrat superdelegate and college student, Jason Rae (photo), is the exact opposite of that old stereotype. In fact, one could say he is just plain silly as you can see in this video report about him. Among the things that makes Jason Rae so comical is his bloated sense of self-importance which Wainscott breathlessly plays into at the beginning of his report:

Jason Rae may look like a typical college student but he has suddenly become one of the most important players in the race for the White House...

...He's had a string of national interviews and some unexpected and, to him, unbelievable phone calls...

...And it's all happening because this 21 year-old Marquette University student is one of the most sought after voters in this election---an uncommitted superdelegate.

"Uncommitted superdelegate" was put into bold above because you can actually hear the bold in Wainscott's voice as he enthusiastically stresses those words in his report. Wainscott's attitude of awe is matched by Rae's sense of just how important he considers himself to be:

There is a possibility in August...my one vote could decide who the nominee for the party is.

However we must give Jason Rae a bit of credit for making a brief stab at modesty after yet more awe-struck buildup by Wainscott about being a celebrity:

I like to kind of lay back and play an average college student every now and then, you know, without people knowing I'm on CNN all the time...

Despite Jason's brief foray into modesty, it isn't enough to hide his immodest opinion of himself as we can see in this quote from him in 2004 when he was the youngest delegate at the Democrat National Convention speculating on his political future:

...Someday, being at the Democratic National Convention, accepting the party's nomination...You could be interviewing the future president of the United States right here.

Jason's silliness could be written off as due to his youth but what really makes this report funny is how earnestly Kent Wainscott treats this superdelegate who just loves to be courted by the candidates. It sure makes me curious how many takes, due to interruption by his own laughter, it took Wainscott to put this report together.