WITNESS: Playing hardball at the Republican convention

A general news correspondent with Reuters in the United States, Andy Sullivan has covered hurricanes, executions, elections, scandals and computer hackers. He has been with the company since 2000. In the following story, he describes playing baseball with lawmakers and lobbyists at the Republican event.

By Andy Sullivan

MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - Washington reporters may be widely mocked for not playing hardball with the city's politicians and lobbyists, but I got my chance on an actual baseball diamond with actual baseballs.

That's what the Republican National Convention is all about -- the chance to party with the powerful in unlikely settings.

If, as the saying goes, Washington is Hollywood for ugly people, the convention must be its Cannes. Most of the real business this month happened behind velvet ropes far from the convention hall in St. Paul, at hundreds of glitzy parties in nightclubs and hotel ballrooms.

And evidently at baseball parks like the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, home of the Minnesota Twins.

Though baseball has been eclipsed by football in Americans' hearts, the older sport has retained its status as a cultural touchstone, not to mention as a lazy metaphor for newspaper columnists looking to extol the national character.

Nothing happens much of the time in baseball, and some of the best professional players sport beer bellies. Baseball's demands are gentle enough even khaki-clad Washington types can play.

Georgia Rep. Phil Gingrey, sporting a red jersey with his name on the back, works on his swing with a Twins hitting instructor.

Former Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham heads to the buffet along the right-field line.

Behind the batting cage, California Rep. Elton Gallegly chats with former Twins' great Tony Oliva. A lobbyist for Microsoft hovers nearby.

Logos of the event's sponsors -- Microsoft, AstraZeneca, the National Sand, Stone & Gravel Association -- flash on billboards in the outfield.

It's the kind of scene that gives heartburn to ethics watchdogs, who say exclusive events like these allow lobbyists to build up goodwill that ensures lawmakers will take their calls.

After a series of lobbying scandals earlier this decade, the House of Representatives tightened ethics rules so members and staffers must pay market value for gifts they receive.

That inspired some creative legal thinking by those throwing the parties. For example, the Distilled Spirits Council of America augmented its liquor-and-cigars bash with an educational message about preventing underage drinking.

Sponsors of the batting practice event still buy blocks of tickets but they don't get to hand them out to lawmakers and staffers, who now attend for free, said event organizer LeeAnn Petersen.