First Day of the DNCC: 8/25/08

I actually don't know where to begin... What an incredible day it's been. Our morning delegation breakfast, sponsored by the Teamsters Local 120, included speeches by Vice President Walter Mondale, Al and Frannie Franken, James Hoffa from Michigan, our honorary co-chairs: Dr. Josie Johnson and Melanie Benjamin from the Milacs Band of the Ojibwa's, and Howard Dean. All these folks were in addition to Amy Klobuchar and RT Rybak. Their comments were all inspiring and too numerous to repeat here. Howard Dean though made an impression. He told us to return from Denver and after resting for about 30 minutes, we needed to begin working so hard that we forget we were ever in Denver! The DNC 50 state strategy is translated in Minnesota to the 89 county strategy. He emphasized the "forgotten" people of rural America. The people who disproportionately carry the burden of the war, who struggle for healthcare both in terms of access and affordability. We need to convey to rural Minnesotans that a vote for John McCain is a vote against all their interests. This sentiment was reiterated later in the day when I attended the Rural Caucus. There, they handed out a multi-page list of all the anti-rural votes that John McCain has cast, many when his vote was only one of only a few senators to vote in that fashion. We were also treated to five MN delegates telling their stories. One story told by a mother about her son who had a brain tumor (he has survived and thrived!) brought me to tears (of course!).

Luckily, there are many of us so we can follow each other around to find the rooms to pick up credentials and all the various schedules and such. I took the light rail, along with several other delegates and had a great conversation with a Denver woman along the way. Then, I went to the program called "The Unconventional Woman". It was divided into three two hour segments and due to the schedule for the rest of the day, I made it to the middle session and a bit of the final session. Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi was interviewed in the middle segment. As soon as she came onto the stage, a large contingency of protesters from Code Pink appeared both down at the front of the auditorium as well as interspersed within the auditorium with banners and signs--shouting and interrupting. They were blaming her for the failure of the congress to end the war. Their protests ultimately prevented Congresswoman Pelosi from speaking for about 10 minutes and then resulted in periodic interruptions thereafter. All of the protesters ultimately required that they be physically removed from the auditorium. At one point, I shouted out at them, "Go to St. Paul next week!!" During the break, I spoke outside with one of the protesters, she happened to be Mike Gravel's daughter. They were much more reasonable outside than they were inside!

In the afternoon, I attended the Rural Caucus, as mentioned before, in order to hear about the concerns of this important population. The promise of alternative energy, which will happen in rural America, is an exciting future for our farmers. The biggest issue, however, is the lack of affordable and available healthcare, as mentioned above. The various speakers all revealed genuine enthusiasm for Barack Obama and a quote from Tom Harkin from Iowa summed it up, "I would have a hard time telling you when John McCain has ever stepped forward to help us on rural issues."

The people of Denver are very helpful. There are volunteers (and police!) everywhere and we delegates are wearing our credential tags around our necks revealing that we really don't know where we are going half the time! I have been asked if we delegates have been "purchased" or heavily lobbied while here. The answer is, "no". Apparently the media is trying to paint a picture that influence groups such as lobbyist and PACS are trying to purchase us with meals and gifts. I have not experienced any of that. The party that was specifically mentioned was, as I understand it, something for which attendees needed to pay pretty big money (therefore I did not attend!).

The end of the day, of course, was at the Pepsi Center. When I walked into the hall my first thought was oh my god, I'm on TV because the only other time I've seen this view before was while watching past conventions on TV! The MN delegation has a pretty good spot in the first tier off the floor, just above the CNN stage. We have a good view of the podium, though it is quite a distance. Once again, the evening was filled with exciting speakers--not sure which ones you all were able to see on TV but of course the highlights were: Senator Edward Kennedy (who looked great!) and Michelle Obama. I was interviewed by a Christian broadcast network for ABC Family Channel and supposedly it will be aired tomorrow sometime--didn't get the details since I needed to run back to my seat to cheer on Sen. Amy Klobuchar during her speech. Let me know if you see the interview--it was about party unity. Apparently, CNN caught me dancing to Santana!

The evening was breathtaking. I cannot believe this has just been the first day. It feels like the media is really trying to find a story of division between the Obama delegates and the Clinton delegates. I am not feeling that division. I am feeling Unity. Tomorrow night Senator Hillary Clinton will give her address and we will undoubtedly feel the support for her, yet I do not believe those delegates will resist backing Senator Obama. It will indeed be an emotional night.