Tenn. man has run GOP convention operations for 36 years

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- While most Americans will be paying attention to what happens on the stage, Mike Miller will be closely watching what happens behind the scenes at the Republican National Convention.

Miller is responsible for making sure everything runs smoothly at the four-day gathering in which Republicans will nominate John McCain as their candidate for president.

"It has been a great experience," Miller, of Maryville, Tenn., said Monday from the convention floor, just a few hours before the quadrennial gathering formally opened.

Miller is the director of convention operations, which means he's responsible for everything from finding workspace for thousands of journalists, making sure speakers get on and off the stage on time, and coordinating hundreds of volunteers.

It is his 10th convention and, he says, likely his last.

"I'm 71 years old and this is a big job," Miller said.

As Miller paused for a few minutes to reflect on his role, the sports arena where most of the activities will take place was abuzz with last-minute preparations.

An opera singer belted out "The Star Spangled Banner" and a young woman recited the Pledge of Allegiance during a sound check. Workers carried huge "McCain" signs across the red-carpeted floor. Delegates roamed throughout the arena in search of their assigned seats.

Miller has been preparing for this week for months. He came to St. Paul two years ago with the committee that was in charge of finding a city with adequate facilities that could accommodate a convention of this magnitude. The group looked at several facilities, but when Miller walked into St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center, he knew he'd found the right location.

'This is a great arena for television," he said. "It's very attractive. It's very vertical. There's not a bad seat in the house. It's the perfect place."

But no matter how perfect the location or how much planning takes place, unforeseen events can change things dramatically.

Monday's program was scaled back out of respect for residents of the Gulf Coast, which was hammered by a Hurricane Gustav. President Bush was scheduled to speak Monday, but backed out to coordinate the hurricane-relief efforts. McCain also asked convention organizers to suspend all but routine business matters because of the hurricane. They resumed an altered schedule Tuesday.

Strangely enough, the last-minute changes have made Miller's job easier.

"Operationally, so far it has made things easier rather than more difficult because we're having to do less," he said. "We have hundreds of volunteers, outdoors and indoors, giving directions. (Now), they have to work shorter hours, and we need fewer of them."

His convention operations debut came 36 years ago. A former Tennessee newspaper reporter for the Knoxville News Sentinel, Miller was working for Scripps Howard News Service in Washington and was looking for a new challenge when a consulting firm hired him to help coordinate the 1972 Republican convention in Miami Beach. He enjoyed it so much that he eventually went to work for the firm full time before setting up his own company.

Miller has seen a lot of changes in conventions over the years. Most have been driven by advancements in technology, communications technology in particular. The improvements have meant that more media outlets than ever before are covering the convention.

"It used to be you had three commercial networks," Miller said. "Then along came the cable networks. Then along came the proliferation of every other kind of network. Then came the Internet. Now come the bloggers."

Miller has experienced some memorable convention moments.

The 1976 convention in Kansas City stands out, he said, because it was the last of the contested conventions. Then-California Gov. Ronald Reagan decided to challenge President Gerald Ford for the presidential nomination. For a while, it appeared Reagan might pull it off.

"They started calling the roll, and you could've cut the tension with a knife," Miller recalled. "It was exciting. That's what old-time conventions used to be."

The last night of the 1992 convention was memorable for a different reason. A power glitch nearly left 45,000 people inside the Houston Astrodome in the dark, just as Vice President Dan Quayle was getting ready to speak and President George H.W. Bush was about to enter the building.

"Up on the podium, lights were going out," Miller said.

Miller's team quickly located the source of the problem -- a bad fuse. The Secret Service was dispatched to bring in a new one from outside the security perimeter, and Miller's crew installed with just moments to spare.

"The power stopped going down and started coming back up, to our relief," Miller said.

Miller moved back to East Tennessee in 1976 and retired in 1995, but he continued to work the GOP convention every four years. He vows this one will be his last.

"I think I've handled it pretty well this time. But I just don't think at the age of 75 I should even be attempting it again (in four years)," Miller said. "It's time to pass the torch."

(E-mail Michael Collins at collinsm(at)shns.com.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)