Syracuse for Obama

More from the Neighborhood Ball

2009-01-21T11:42:00.004-05:00

Here are some photos from ABC.com, which covered the event live: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/popup?id=6698004&contentIndex=1&page=3&start=false Including one where you can see the back of my head as I take a video of the Obamas dancing while turning to look at Beyonce.

Also, here is a very short video of the walk into the hall:

And one of Barack addressing the crowd. Note that I am NOT one of the people you hear next to me yelling "I love you" to the new President. While I do have the highest regard, I had only had one glass of champagne at this point... and clearly others around me had made better progress on the alcohol line...

Neighborhood Ball

2009-01-21T01:36:00.014-05:00

After a rocky start to the day, the Neighborhood ball set it right, exceeding all expectations. Teresa and I staked out a place right near the main stage and were actually standing in a very narrow space between Beyonce and the President, when Beyonce sang for their first dance. By the time we got to Shakira, Alicia Keys, and then Sting with Stevie Wonder, we were actually in the front row, about 15 feet from the performers. I will post more photos and videos later, but for now, here are a few...

Below: Anton Konev, Andrea, Corey Ellis and me.

Teresa and I near the stage

Beyonce getting ready to go on:

Beyonce sings while the President and First Lady dance their first dance of the evening:

Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill make an appearance:

Sting warming up, before playing "Brand New Day."

Purple Ticket Fiasco

2009-01-21T01:01:00.003-05:00

Not having the heart to re-count this, I am pasting below my Twitter updates from the swearing in: (to be read from the bottom up.)

GREAT MEAL AT CAFE BELGA ~WILL 2 LIVE RESTORED about 10 hours ago from txt

BELGIAN CAFE 4 LUNCH~NEED A BEER about 12 hours ago from txt

Will laugh about this some day...just not any day soon. about 12 hours ago from web

Back home at Teresa's in time to hear the benediction. about 12 hours ago from web

#INAUG09 DENIED GATES LOCKED about 13 hours ago from txt

GETTING IN NOW about 13 hours ago from txt

TRYING THE OTHER SIDE about 13 hours ago from txt

#INAUG09 PURPLE LINE-PEOPLE GIVING UP about 14 hours ago from txt

#INAUG09 STARTING TO THINK WERE NOT GETTING IN about 14 hours ago from txt

#INAUG09 PURPLE LINE PEOPLE CHANTING LET US IN about 14 hours ago from txt

#INAUg09 80 YARDS FROM PURPLE GATE - NO MOVEMENT about 15 hours ago from txt

#INAUG09 WORST LINE MANAGEMENT I HAVE EUER SEEN about 15 hours ago from txt

#INAUG09 MORE MVT IN PURPLE LINE 15 FEET about 15 hours ago from txt

#INAUG09 SOME MVMT IN PURPLE LINE about 16 hours ago from txt

#INAUG09 PURPLE LINE AT IND+1ST NOT MOUING about 16 hours ago from txt

STILL IN "LINE." about 16 hours ago from txt

STUCK ON CORNER OF 1ST AND INDIANA - NO MOUEMENT about 17 hours ago from txt

TRYING TO GET TO BACK OF PURPLE LINE - CHAOS! about 17 hours ago from txt

This may apply to text messages too. about 18 hours ago from web

Have heard that cell phone service may be disabled for a two mile radius around to the capitol for the duration. about 18 hours ago from web

About to walk to the inauguration - gates open at 9, but don't want to be at the back of the line. about 18 hours ago from web

Volunteer and Staff Party

2009-01-21T00:55:00.002-05:00

At the volunteer and staff party Monday night, several of the Obama grassroots organizations from across the country were honored, including Syracuse for Obama. Jim Palk and I were there to give a shout for Syracuse when they did, and they had made up a very nice recognition certificate for the group.

I wore my "Yes We Did" dress to this one because it was less formal than the Tuesday night balls. It was quite a hit and several people stopped me and asked to take my picture.

On the way out I got this photo with the ubiquitous cardboard cutout of Barack Obama:

MLK Day Service event at RFK Stadium

2009-01-19T19:18:00.007-05:00

This morning I got a text message from the Obama team asking people to go to RFK stadium for a service event to assemble care packages for US military personal serving overseas.

So Teresa, Angela and I drove over to RFK and found a massive operation that was more like a participatory piece of public performance art than a true service event, but it was very well organized and fun.

As thousands of people streamed in they were herded into lines where you would be handed a clipboard with a stack of sign in slips. You would fill in your name address, phone number and email address and then hand the slip and the rest of the clipboard to a volunteer who would collect the info and pass the clipboard back to a runner to go to someone else at the back of the line.

Once inside we were directed to a section of the stadium, where a groups of about 100 were seated together and a voluteer with a megaphone gave us instructions and then led us all in a very silly Obama dance that we were supposed to do in unison, followed by a few rounds of the "Fired Up, Ready to Go" chant with the group next to us.

After this preparation, we were sent into one of the entrances to a very long, heated tent facility, where we would snake through a line, pick up a plastic bag and walk our way past volunteers who would add their particular item into the bag, trick-or-treat style. Finally at the end of the long circuit we would hand the filled bag to another volunteer, who would seal it and put it with the others in groups. Then we would walk aound the circle, and go through the whole circuit again.

Finally, after several loops we were directed out to an area where everyone was asked to write personalized notes, which were to be put in with the care packages. This was set up whereby volunteers made sure that clipboards with stacks of thank you cards and a pen were placed at each stadium seat, so that wherever you went, you could pick one up and write one, or many notes, and then put the clipboard back on the seat for the next person.

In that manner, 75,000 care packages were assembled, and many thousands of volunteers were given a chance to participate. On the way out everyone was given a red target bag with a commemorative bottle of water, a note of thanks, and a brownie for the road.

DL21C Party

2009-01-19T12:10:00.003-05:00

At night Andrea and I went to the DL21C party at the K-Street Lounge. There we saw some familiar faces: John DeSantis from Syracuse for Obama, Alice Anderson and Shannon Anderson from the New York Obama team, David Pollack - the New York State Director for the Obama campaign, Anton Konev, who continues to be an organizer in Albany, and Paul Newell, who was a delegate from New York City, and whom I got to know at the Convention in Denver.

I also met a man named Drexel, who was intent on overturning the security rule that no pens were allowed in the club for "security reasons." In addition to being an obviously absurd rule, he pointed out to any of the staff who would listen, that this rule prevented anyone from exchanging phone numbers, which was clearly not the intended effect. Apparently they got sick of arguing with him, because he was later busily exchanging information with all those with whom he spoke. In the land of the penless networkers, the man with the single writing implement is king.

The only elected official I saw at the party was an obviously uncomfortable Congressman Nadler, who spoke to a few people and then hurried out a side door. This was an act of apparent civil disobediance in clubland, as I gathered from the staff reaction that opening one of the glass doors is just not done.

Concert on the National Mall

2009-01-19T11:42:00.004-05:00

Andrea and I arrived in DC just as the big concert on the national mall was starting. We thought me might try driving right to it, but decided that would be a bad idea when we heard on the radio that there were so many people that even nearby hills were packed to capacity with people trying to catch a glimpse. So, we went to her hotel in Arlington and took the Metro, which got us there as Stevie Wonder was playing. We could hear him as we walked around the perimeter of the national mall, looking for an access point. U2 played next, as we finally got in near the Washington monument (the stage was in front of the Lincoln Memorial.) Even this far away thousands of people were milling about trying to even see one of the massive screens set up all over the National Mall.

Shortly after the above video was taken, President Elect Obama came out and spoke. Videotaping this would have been pointless, as we could hear him very well, but only see part of the stage on the screen to the right of the Washington Monument. Still, we were glad that we got there in time to at least hear the speech before everyone scattered (or tried to scatter as best they could amid 500,000 people.)

Invitations to the Inauguration

2009-01-15T17:26:00.004-05:00

I, and several others from the Syracuse area are busilly getting ready to go to Washington for the Inauguration this coming Tuesday. I will use this blog to post ocassional items from the inauguration weekend.

Before I go, I thought I would share the actual invitations to the swearing-in ceremony and the inaugural ball I will be attending. In addition to getting a coveted ticked to the swearing in ceremony, I was also fortunate enough to get a ticket to the "Neighborhood Ball," which will be the featured ball of the night (televised live on ABC), and the one at which the new President and First Lady dance their first dance of the evening.

Click on any of the images below to see the full sized image.

The formal invitation, but not the actual ticket to get in:

The actual ticket that I will use to get in to the "purple standing area," which is a very good and hard-to-get ticket:

A "Silver Ticket," which will go to one of our many faithful volunteers. This is also very hard to get, but will be further away, on the other side of the reflecting pool. Over a million people are expected to watch from even beyond this point in the non-ticket length of the National Mall, where Jumbo screens will be set up:

The Speech - part II

2008-08-30T11:38:00.002-04:00

Several people mentioned that I titled my last post "the speech," but did not actually say anything about the content. This was mostly because everyone was watching from home, and because it was really late by the time I got to a computer to post about the day.

In the spirit of correcting that though, here is a link to the speech, in case you were not one of the 38 million people who watched it live:
http://my.barackobama.com/barackspeech

As for commentary, I think on this one occasion in my life, I will let Pat Buchanan speak for me (see video below). Pat Buchanan and I have one thing in common - a love for great political speeches:

The speech

2008-08-29T03:25:00.006-04:00

Lisa Daly, Ken Preston and Ray Rivera

I spent most of the time this evening with Diana and Corey and the rest of the delegation. I saw Ray Rivera again - since leaving as the Northeast Field Director, he has taken up responsibilities closer to home in Colorado, and he was the campaign spokesman who made the regular announcements to the crowd about signing up for text messages. He must be pretty fearless - there were 80,000 people in that stadium, but he did a great job at the podium.

After Al Gore's speech, and after Sheryl Crowe and Stevie Wonder performed, as it came time for the main event, a producer from WABC in NY, pulled me aside and asked if I would watch the speech with them and comment afterwards. I hesitated, because I did not want to give up my prime seat in the New York delegation, and wanted to watch with my friends, but she promised I would still be on the field, so I took a chance. It paid off, as I now got to watch the speech from the press risers, which were about 10 feet higher up and closer to the stage, so I got an excellent view and watched it with Joe Thompson, a fellow New York delegate with the reporters working around us. When it was over, Bill Ritter from WABC interviewed us live about our reactions.

Link: http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/media?id=6358167

After it was all over and the red white and blue star-shaped confetti had all fallen, we tried to take the shuttle buses back, but our luck with the buses had not been great, and the line for buses was filled with people, and with no clear indication of how those people were being directed to which buses, so... we walked back the couple of miles, and probably got back sooner anyway.

On the walk back we finally got something to eat, and ran into a couple of familiar faces - Gustavo Santos, joined me at Subway for something to eat, and we saw Ashok Malhotra again as well. Over the past few days we have gotten to know many of the members of the New York delegation from around the state, and as the week is ending it feels as if we are leaving behind a lot of new friends. I am hopeful that as the campaign goes forward in New York that we will continue to remain in contact with them, as they organize in their communities, and we in ours.

Last Day

2008-08-29T03:14:00.003-04:00

Today was the big day. We took the shuttle buses over to Invesco Field for the final night of the convention. The logistics were such that we were warned to leave very early, which we did. It was a good thing that we did because there was a lot of waiting in line, both for the buses, and after we got off, waiting to get into the delegate and press entry to the arena.

Fortunately, the time waiting in line flew by, because were in line right behind E. J. Dionne, my favorite columnist from the Washington Post, and Mitchell Berger, who had been a senior advisor to Al Gore when he ran for President in 2000. We had a fascinating conversation with them for about an hour as the line inched along. E.J. asked me about the delegate buttons, and I told him I would make one for him and mail it to him, but he asked instead if I would make one for his son, who has been a very big Obama supporter for quite some time, and I said I would be happy to do so. When we finally got into the stadium, E.J. gave us a big hug, and headed off to the press area, and we went to the delegate area.

Protesters and more

2008-08-28T03:10:00.009-04:00

All week there were roving protesters who would come down the street with handkercheifs over their mouths, banging on drums. It was not clear what their message was except that their signs were vaguely anti-nuclear. There were also abortion protesters all over downtown (no doubt about what their message was), and the occassional trio or foursome of uncomfortable looking McCain supporters hoisting McCain lawn signs in the air and halfheartedly chanting something. (I don't mean to stereotype, but with the exception of the anti-abortion protesters, it does seem pretty clear that the left is WAY better at the protest thing than the right. We are pretty much forced to protest our own, just to make sure it gets done right...)

In that vein, here were a couple of the more entertaining sights of the week: PETA protesters in pig suits, among other activity:

See article for what they were up to.

Protest demanding a stop to "Bird Porn"

And the flier they were handing out:

Finally, some supporters right outside of the Pepsi Center, "Rednecks for Obama"

More media interviews

2008-08-28T01:54:00.003-04:00

All of us do multiple media interviews each night, but it is becoming apparent that a lot of what gets recorded does not get used. Tonight I was interviewed by German television, XM Satellite radio and HKS Network (Harvard Kennedy School students?), in addition to WSYR TV and WSYR radio in Syracuse, and WRVO Oswego. The Entertainment Tonight footage from yesterday apparently never aired, and neither did the Daily Show interview. We are constantly on camera, but it is difficult to tell if it is the the pool feed, a local Denver TV station, or something else.

As we were walking out of the Pepsi center for the last time, a delegate from California lamented that all the attention from the press is somewhat addictive, and wondered what he would do when he got back home and no one any longer cared about his opinion(!) There is definitely an unreal feeling to the entire experience.

While I write this in the hotel lobby, former California Governor Gray Davis is waiting in line across from me at the desk for something or other...

Parade of Stars

2008-08-28T01:51:00.003-04:00

We got the front row again tonight - here's the roundup: Mo Rocca, Chevy Chase, Kirstin Dunst, Etan Thomas (go SU!), Joe Scarboro, Senator Chuck Schumer and Jamie Fox each worked their way through the crowd immediately in front of us, in addition to the news correspondents who would come and go. Apparently Corey had an actual conversation with Spike Lee this time, but I was not around to see it at that particular time. Ken Rudin is still working the mental telepathy on getting Diana to mail him her delegate button. I think she may do it...

Big night for speeches and special appearance by Barack

2008-08-28T01:49:00.002-04:00

Tonight there was a great lineup of high powered speakers. We had John Kerry, former President Clinton, Joe Biden, Madeleine Albright, Tom Daschle and several others. I will leave the analysis of their speeches to others, but would say that the crowd was definitely fired up tonight, despite the chronic lack of sleep that just about everyone is suffering from.

At some point during the evening, a DNCC staff person whispered to me "he's here." I asked who, and he said that Barack was going to make a surprise appearance. I didn't believe him, but he said - "you watch, you are going to start to see secret service very soon," and he was right. When Barack walked out on stage the crowd cheered and screemed at the surprise and anticipation of the big night tomorrow.

The final night of the convention will be at Investco Field, rather than the Pepsi center, and everyone is getting ready to get there very early to make sure we don't miss a thing. Rumor has it that Bruce Springstein will play, but other than that and the actual acceptance speech, most of us do not know what the agenda will be for the evening...

Roll call of states

2008-08-28T01:47:00.002-04:00

Today we finally found out how the rollcall vote works. This morning when we got our credentials, we were also asked to vote for our candidate with an X next to the name and a signature. I found my name on the list, marked an X for Senator Obama, and signed the sheet. Senator Clinton met with all of her delegates at 3pm today, just prior to the rollcall, and released each of them to vote as they saw fit, while stating that she was supporting Barack and hoped they would too. As an Obama delegate, I was not present at the meeting, but just knew what Clinton delegates had told me about it. I am not sure if the New York Clinton delegates were directly told this ahead of our morning vote or not, but many seemed to know already and voted accordingly.

It was very exciting to be in the arena for the actual rollcall. I have watched this tradition on TV since I was a kid, and it was somewhat surreal to actually be there in the arena as it was happening. We were very worried that we would not get in on time, but we only missed the first couple of states. By the time we were safely in our seats, the roll had gotten to Florida. We knew that the roll would be stopped at NY, but did not know exactly how it would work.

The anticipation built as each state called out its votes, and some states announced unanimous votes for Senator Obama, which caused a great cheer to go up. When we got to New York, and Speaker Silver began the littany, "The great state of New York, home of..." a murmur went up through the crowd. I could not see what everyone was looking at until the big screen showed Senator Clinton working her way toward the delegation and Speaker Silver. As she moved through the crowd we wondered what she was going to do? Then in dramatic fashion, she took over the microphone and moved that all the votes be counted, but that Senator Obama be made the nominee by acclamation. The cheering was deafening, and whether due to a sense of the significance of this gesture, the realization that at long last it was official, or just plain sleep depravation, I, and many around me were moved to tears.

Service Day

2008-08-27T16:41:00.004-04:00

Today is delegate service day, and all delegates were encouraged to sign up for one service project within the city of Denver. I signed up for a project to build a new playground for Force Elementary school. I was worried that with so many people signed up that it would just be a photo opp, and not real work, but they actually did an excellent job of organizing the effort and making sure that we all had real work to do. With so many people there the playground went up very quickly and was done, landscaping and all, in about an hour and a half. The kids came out for a little bit to watch and say thank you in unison.

I think that delegate service day was a convention first. I hope they keep it for next time, as it was an excellent opportunity to give back a little bit to the community that is hosting us, and was a very pleasant break from sitting and listening to speeches all day.

After Party

2008-08-27T04:09:00.003-04:00

Tonight the New York, Pennsylvania and Florida Delegations had a combined reception at Investco Field. We took a bus there, and must have driven five loops around the city before the bus driver found the entrance to the stadium. The bus situation is a real shame, because Denver has an excellent public transportation system, but has shut it down for the week for security concerns. The result is that thousands of delegates are spending hours on shuttle buses covering relatively short distances.

In any event, when we got to the arena, and took the escalator up to the reception, we heard the booming voice of former President Clinton, speaking to the gathering. He and Senator Clinton greeted delegates before making an exit and leaving for what I would imagine would be some much needed rest.

I was there for a while before I noticed that people were sneaking out to look at the stadium as it was being prepared for the big acceptance speech Thursday. I don't know if you get a sense from the video below, but walking out into that stadium at night was sort of a goosebumps kind of moment. I don't think the video quite encompasses the enormity of a 70,000 seat stadium
filled with empty seats, but people just sat quietly staring at it, realizing how big that moment will be Thursday night. It felt a little bit like looking out at the stars and realizing what a small part of the universe one is. Each of us has organized hundreds of people to work on this campaign, and yet, looking out on that stadium, I could not help but appreciate how much vastly larger this is than any one of our individual parts in it...

Mission Accomplished

2008-08-27T04:05:00.001-04:00

Before heading over to the convention this afternoon, Diana and I walked down the 16th St. Promenade and saw all the vendors selling Obama T-shirts, buttons and other souveniers. Before taking a left to go to the Pepsi center, we stopped by the MSNBC stage, where Chris Matthews was taping Hardball live in front of a crowd. I was able to get him the delegate button I made for him, and was able to talk to him for just a moment. He seemed genuinely pleased, and said something like "oh, aren't you sweet! You made those? That's great!" Keith Olberman
was not around, so no dice on that one.

The only remaining celebrity buttons I had left were for the cast of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, which is taping this week from somewhere in Denver, but no one seems to know where. I had just about given up on this one, but when we left the stadium after Senator Clinton's speech, we got a little lost and ended up in a parking lot, where I saw John Oliver from the Daily Show interviewing a Clinton delegate. When he was done, I explained the delegate button thing and said I had one for him. His button said, "John Oliver, Honorary Delegate: Bedford,
England." He seemed touched that I had made this and had put his hometown on it. I told him I had buttons for the other cast members as well. When I dug out the other buttons he asked if I would want to be interviewed, to which I believe I said, "hell yeah!"

I have no idea whether it will actually air or not, but it was fun either way. He asked me if, now that I had heard Senator Clinton's speech I felt the the party was totally healed. I said, "Yes, I think she gave a great speech and everyone left feeling very unified and motivated to go on and win the election." He said, "Are you sure?" I said, "Yes, I am pretty sure." He said, "Pretty sure? But what about that thing with Nevada?" I asked what thing, and he said, "you know, I heard they weren't so happy." I said, "Oh. Well, I didn't know about anything going on with Nevada, but it seemed really good from the New York delegation." I think he said something like "Well, that's not what I heard," and then moved on to "So, by healing, do you mean that there is a giant scab formed now?" And I said, "Well, sometimes the healing process can be kind of painful, but I think we are totally healed now." To which he said, "But if we scratch off that scab, will there be a horrible infected wound underneath, or healthy skin cells?" "I said, I think there would be totally healthy skin." He said something like, are you sure there wouldn't be infected puss underneath? To which I said, "no, I think you would never know anything had happened. Totally healed." Then he thanked me and that was it.

Senator Clinton's night

2008-08-27T03:52:00.004-04:00

Walking into the arena, both Diana and I were interviewed by a reporter from NPR in Boston about who we would like to see Senator Obama name to his cabinet for foreign policy issues. This was a much more substantial than usual question, but we both offered some thoughts.
As we got into the arena, Diana led us over to the NPR booth because she saw Ken Rudin, NPR's political editor, and is a big fan of his work. Ken and his colleague were eager to trade buttons. Ken specifically wanted an official delegate button (the ones that the state gave us to identify ourselves as NY delegates and to gain access to New York events.) We explained that we needed to keep those, but I offered them a Syracuse for Obama button, which while clearly not the plum that an official delegate button would be, was pretty unique. They accepted it and gave me an NPR button, which I pinned to my credentials. We saw them again later in the night and Ken smiled and made another plea for a delegate button, but to no avail. I think he smelled weakness on Diana, and thought she still might be persuaded, but no luck.

You could tell that this was the night that Senator Clinton was scheduled to give her big speech, because the international media was all over the New York delegation. Everyone wanted to sit with us, even the guy who played Toby on the West Wing (Richard Schiff). He walked by, chatted us up and asked if there was a seat open for him, to which the people behind me said they would make room for him. He climbed over and stayed with us for the rest of the night.

Scan of NY delegation, plus Richard Schiff:

Diana, Cory, Mark Poloncarz and I each sat in the front row of the New York delegation area tonight, which was a prime spot for people watching, and speech watching. While we were there, Dennis Kucinich came by, and Missouri Senator, Claire McCaskil. a lso, a famous actor whom none of us could successfully identify (including the Entertainment Tonight guy who interviewed him)... Corey remembered that he had been in "And the Band Played on" on HBO, and complimented him on his performance, which un-named famous guy seemed to appreciate. [Late update - mystery famous guy was Matthew Modine.] Angela Basset walked by us, and Mark Sheilds from the PBS News Hour stopped to talk for a minute.

Before Senator Clinton's speech we had speeches from Governor Mark Warner of Virginia and Governor Schweitzer of Montana. While these speeched were going on, Art Harris, from Entertainment tonight asked if he could sneak in with us, interview us and watch the speech with us. We agreed and he asked Diana, Corey and I what we expected from the speech, shot some reaction shots while she was speaking, and then interviewed us again when it was over. He also did periodic stand up shots where he referred to himself as being "embedded" with the New York delegation. He did not know for sure, what if any of it would be aired, but said it should run tomorrow night. At one point while he was doing one of the stand-up shots, I had moved so that I was sitting facing the delegation on the railing in front of us. Someone knocked into me, and as he did, Cory called out to Spike Lee, who greeted him, and did not in any manner apologize for pushing me off my ledge :)

As we got nearer to Senator Clinton's speech, I was interviewed by a woman from an African news network. She asked if anyone there spoke French, and I said "un petit peu." She asked me a few questions in English, but wanted at least one response in French and I had to beg out, because my French is no longer good enough to say anything of much intelligence, so I apologized and said "trop difficile." She asked me in English if I understood what an important moment in history this is. I said I did, and I put my hand over my heart and whispered, "I think we can do this." To which she smiled at me and said "thank you America."

For all this circus-like atmosphere, everyone really did listen intently to Senator Clinton's speech, which was very warmly received in the hall. It is one of the strange things of being in the center of what is going on, that you simultaneously have a very acute sense of what is going on around you, but no sense at all of what other people think is going on. None of us have seen any news or commentary in days. So, I have no idea how the speech was received, but it seemed like a home run within the arena.

After the speech was over I did a very brief interview with a reporter from BBC1. He was looking for reactions to the speech. I said I thought it was a very good speech, and that I thought it was particularly important that Senator Clinton had stressed that it is not about the personalities, but rather about the issues and people we care about. That if we believe in getting healthcare for all Americans, or if we believe in changing the course in Iraq, then we just cannot afford to have good people stay on the sidelines.

NY Delgation Breakfast Day 2

2008-08-26T12:36:00.003-04:00

This morning's breakfast was dedicated to the theme of women in politics. Diana got there early and got us seats right up near the front. I got a chance to speak with Congressman Rangel about Dan Maffei's Congressional race, and was seated next to Westchester County Executive, Andrew Spano.

Congresswoman Louise Slaughter was among the speakers, and I got a chance to give her her delegate button, and to mention that I work for a Rochester based company (LogicalSolutions.net). She sends her greetings!

The featured speakers this morning were Caroline Kennedy and Arizona Governer Janet Napolitano. Governor Napolitano got a big laugh when she mentioned that her state of Arizona is the only state in the country that does not have a governor's mansion - so she lives in the only "Governor's Condo" in the country.

The women's caucus events are today, and Governor Paterson will be speaking at the convention this afternoon. Everyone I know here is crushingly tired from running from event to event and party to party. I am thinking that there better be a nap time this afternoon...

Willie Nelson concert

2008-08-26T04:06:00.003-04:00

Ok, so this was even better than I expected. It wasn't actually in Investco field, but rather, in a party tent outside. The event was set up to promote environmental sustainability and alternative fuels - something that Willie has invested in and promoted. It was definitely invitation only. I am not sure how I was selected, except that I have some involvement with environmental issues, and I am a delegate. None of my colleagues got an invitation. It was a great concert and Willie stayed after to sign everyone's credentials.

Chuck Todd

2008-08-26T04:00:00.002-04:00

Yes, I am this big of a political geek...

To the actual convention

2008-08-26T03:49:00.005-04:00

Diana Cihak, Corey Ellis (an up and coming City Councilor from Albany), and I went together to get one of the shuttles to the convention center at around 3pm. The gavel on the convention is at 4pm local time, but we were told to get there early if we wanted decent seats. The shuttle ride there could not have been more than a mile, but it took almost a full hour - we are definitely walking tomorrow. When I watched convention coverage in the past, I always wondered why people in the hall always seemed to be kibbitzing and not paying attention. Now, I get it.

Diana, Corey and I sat in seats set aside for the New York delegation. Throughout the evening, people would stand up and turn around as one famous politician after another took a leisurely stroll down our aisle, soaking up attention and shaking hands as they went. First, Governor Richardson of New Mexico came through, then John Kerry, Chris Dodd, etc.

Also, as various people would speak handlers would come through the aisles and pass out message-specific signs to wave at the appropriate time. When the Republican Congressman (Jim Leech) spoke and edorsed Senator Obama, we got signs that said "One Nation" in large letters. When Senator Kennedy spoke, we got plackards that said "Kennedy." When Michelle Obama spoke we first got tall vertical signs that said "Michelle," then placards that said "common values, common purpose."

People started to pay better attention as we got nearer to prime time though. The tribute to Senator Kennedy moved many delegates to tears, and Michelle Obama's speech did as well as she spoke about her father, how hard he had worked to give her the opportunities she had been given, and about the values he had instilled in her, which she hoped to pass on to her daughters.

Lunch Conversation

2008-08-26T03:48:00.003-04:00

Having bought a sandwich and a frozen hot chocolate at the Colorado Convention center, I looked for a place to sit and eat, and a gentleman at one of the tables offered me a seat. He turned out to be on the DNC finance committee, and we had a fascinating conversation about the primary in Puerto Rico, where he is from, and where he works on issues of internet security. Like me he has a PhD in something totally different that than the area he works in - in his case, physics. We discussed energy policy, and also his days in law school with Barack Obama. There are so many fascinating people here!