Convention Fun, part drei

Hillary

So I promised a quick post about Hillary's speech, and I have to say that as I've spent the past few days digesting the convention I have become even more emphatic with my praise for her speech and poise at the convention. Beyond knowing that she spent 18 months in the hardest fought primary campaign in the modern era and that she has been now vilified by both the left and the right, she spoke with such passion and such grace that I couldn't help but beam with happiness throughout the speech: both for supporting her historic candidacy itself, but also for the unity our party has going forward to elect Barack Obama and Joe Biden in November. 

I was at Union Station for Hillary's speech, watching the MSNBC coverage. It was, for the most part, mediocre. Pat Buchanan is a blowhard, Chris Matthews was off his game (and a little angry) and Norah O'Donnell sounds like she has never ever read a book about politics, let alone has covered it on the national stage for half a decade. The one bright shining light was Rachel Maddow, who deservedly has been given her own primetime show on the network and is my favorite political journalist not named Tim Russert (R.I.P). Her analysis of each speech, particularly Mark Warner's subpar keynote address, was spot-on. Watch her show. And read her backstory, because she's led a pretty amazing life for a 34 year old. 

Back to the speeches though. The night started with the best quote of the convention, from PA Senator Bob Casey:

"John McCain likes to say he's a maverick. But he's voted with President Bush over 90 percent of the time. I'm sorry. That's not a maverick. That's a sidekick".

Now, I'm no Bob Casey fan, but he won me over with his passionate defense of Obama last night. Mark Warner, on the other hand, spoke as though we weren't Democrats, feverishly defending a post-partisan America that simply doesn't (and never should) exist. Ugh. I was a huge Warner fan coming into this campaign. I came away underwhelmed. 

That didn't last long though, because as soon as Hillary took the podium I was enthralled. Some of you probably don't know my backstory on Hillary Clinton: I used to hate her. Up through early last year, even, I railed against her running for the presidency and hoped she would stay in the Senate, away from the limelight. Watching the debates and the campaign unfold, though, I realized that my hatred for her was just a re-hashing of rightwing talking points: that she's a bitch, that she's too liberal, that she's this-and-that. Well, come June 2007 I was on the bandwagon, and by March of this year I had donated, phone banked, campaigned, caucused, and met Hillary Clinton, and was elected as a delegate for Hillary by my peers at CC (there weren't many of us, but we were passionate!). 

As she spoke, I was reminded of every reason I had for supporting Hillary for president. She has been knocked around by Republicans for 20 years and refused to back down. She fights back, and when she throws a punch it sticks to those she's aiming for. Within a minute of her speech, I knew what the next 9 weeks of the campaign would be like:

No way, No how, No McCain! Barack Obama is my candidate for President.

Hillary is the type of Democrat who takes a stand; rather than being anti-Republican, she is pro-Democrat. She spoke wonderfully about universal health care, about women's and gay rights, about ending the war, and finally about Barack and Michelle Obama. She only used the word "I" four times. This was a rallying cry to all Democrats, and she didn't let the symbolism of speaking on the 88th anniversary of women's suffrage go to waste:

My mother was born before women had the right to vote. This year, my daughter was able to vote for her mother for President of the United States. We've come a long way...this campaign you all put 18 million cracks in the highest glass ceiling in the United States.

When her speech ended, the crowd around me (mostly Obama supporters, rather than Hillary voters) erupted. I heard one man next to me say "if there is a Democrat out there who doesn't respect and admire Hillary Clinton right now, they haven't been paying attention."

I left Union Station later that night, knowing that that speech would stay with me for the rest of my life, as the culmination of a hard fought campaign that left this country better off than it was when it began.

Convention Fun, part one

The Kickoff Party

Well, there might not be a better time for political junkies (with the exception of election day itself) than the weeks of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. It does get so much better, though, when it's happening in your city and even your neighborhood. That is my life right now. I thought I'd give you at least a little piece of what's been going on here at the convention, over several posts, so you can better play armchair political quarterback at home.

First off, let me say that I don't have credentials. This is true for everyone who isn't a delegate (there are 4,300+), reporter or state-based blogger, Colorado politician/non-profit director or head of a major union/democratic donor. This means that only about 7,000 people are really "in the know" here, with thousands more volunteering. I am not one of them. My stories prove that you don't have to be in order to have a great time here.

Almost everyone thinks that the convention starts Monday. Oh no no no. The convention really has three different start points: one for Coloradans (Saturday afternoon), on for the media (Saturday night) and one for the delegates and convention-goers (Monday morning). Saturday consists of two big parties; one is put on by a local law firm which also serves as the head counsel for the Convention Committee and a local polling outfit. We called it the RBI/Isaacson party. I say we because I got to go. My boss, Carol, who I effusively praise whenever I get the chance, was invited to this event, and two of our friends at RBI, Toral and Niki, came by on Friday afternoon to pick some stuff up from us. They casually mentioned the party, and I was handed an invitation and told to RSVP. I'm thinking there is no way I can do that the night before the party, but I call anyway because as any of you reading this know, I have no scruples when it comes to politics. Well, they say that it's fine, and that I should be there between 5 and 8 at this martini bar called the Corner Office. Done and done. Then they ask me if I'm bringing a date. Without thinking I say "yes", we end our conversation, and then I realize I don't actually have a date. So I call up Ash Merscher and ask her to be my fake-date arm candy for the evening, she says yes, and we're on our way.

After getting lost and trying to navigate Denver streets with their new configurations (read: half of them are closed), we get to the party. Now, I'm ready to be disappointed. I figure any party I can get invited to can't be all that posh. Wrong. Ash and I walk in and get our nametags (mine is printed, funny story about that later) and our 3 free tickets for drinks, good for martinis. Naturally, we go to the bar. This place is posh though. There's a spread with sushi and creme brulee spoons (which I ate all night), there are about 150 people in suits and cocktail dresses...it's a good party. As I walk in the Lt. Gov. of CO, Barb O'Brien, is heading out, and Ash and I soon see Governor Ritter, John Hickenlooper (Denver's mayor, and a brewmaster at Wynkoop brewery), Rep. Diana DeGette, a bunch of superdelegates, and the like. We only briefly say anything to a few of them, because we're both in a bit of shock that we're here at all. So we drink, and talk with Niki, Toral and Kevin (who graduated with us at CC), wander around and whatnot.

Come about 7, everyone is getting a little more friendly, and some of the important people are leaving for the media party, the other major event that night over at Elitch Gardens. Diana DeGette, my representative and a CC grad, is surveying the room (this is while Ash is getting a drink) and I walk past. She cranes her neck to try and see what my nametag says, so I slow down so that she can. She nods, and whispers to her neighbor while pointing at me as I walk past. This happens in about 6 seconds, but it was pretty sweet to have my Congresswoman whispering something about me. What was it? IDK. Could've been that she hated my tie. I doubt it, since I'm always well put together, but you never know (especially since she was wearing this awful floral print mumu-esque top...what can you do?)

So as the night is winding down at the bar, Ash and I introduce ourselves to two of Niki's friends, who just got their master's at DU. We decide after talking to go for drinks, and after meandering around the bar for a bit, Niki and I get pulled aside by a partner at RBI, Rick, who offers us two press passes to the media party. Keep in mind that these were impossible to get before this week unless you really know someone. But it's 8:30, the event is ending at 10, and we want to hang out in LoDo. Toral, meanwhile, is drunk, so we hand off the tickets to her and her boyfriend, tell them that they owe us, and send them on their way. They're thrilled, and so are we. We head into the town to keep the night going, and wind up at Willie G's at 16th and Lawrence, one of my favorite places in Denver. We're dressed well, so they are very nice, and give us a great table with a great waiter named Dave. We drink some more, order some food, and talk politics. It was awesome, as always. Niki and I chatted about SAFE and polling, then we all talked about what convention parties we were going to try and sneak into and how we'd do it.

After two hours or so, everyone's sobering up and the night is getting away from us, so we pack it in. Niki takes Ash back to her place at DU and I make my way home. It was a great way to start the convention.

I'm leaving tons of stuff out (Ash and I getting hit on by lawyers at the bar, meeting the chairman of Britian's Liberal Democrats party, you get the idea), but overall, you get the picture.

So that was Day 1. Days 2, 3, and 4 (which were all fun, but not as crazy) are coming soon. You'll be able to hear all about running into senators, a guy Ash thought was named "Wolf Blitzen", protestors getting pepper-sprayed in front of me, the Fred Phelps brigade, and of course, Scott, Mike and me trying to sneak into one of the biggest parties at the convention (unsuccessfully).

Time to head back downtown for more coverage. Make sure you watch Hillary tonight!