Impressions from Monday's Convention

crossposted at Prairie State Blue

It was a really big show! as Ed Sullivan might have said.

I suppose that my final impression from Monday Night's Democratic Convention was really formed before it even began. At the Platform Preview Party, which the DNC put on for contributors et al before the Convention began, I really got a sense that there were a lot more people here for the Convention itself than in Boston. And I suppose this should have been obvious, given the fact the Howard Dean has expanded the base of the contributing class of the party from (basically) Terry McAuliffe's friends to, well, everyone.

So it should have been no surprise that not only was Pepsi Arena full, it was packed. Even when the seats were seemingly all taken (there were empty seats with bad sight lines), the entrances were packed with SRO observes AND the halls outside were pretty congested as well. So believe me when I tell you, being a Democrat is cool. Dude.

I filmed the Illinois speakers from the TV and Camera Stand area. I was literally above the MSNBC suite. So basically, that meant I was on the 3rd floor of a building that had at least 6 floors (Radio broadcasters are up on the 6th floor space). I went down to the floor a few times, including for Ted Kennedy's speech, which was an experience in and of itself.

It was an open secret that Ted Kennedy was in town. The thinking of the Kennedy family, I learned before the night's events, was that this was Kennedy's last convention and there was no way he was not going to show up. He came, I was told, to pass the torch. "And there's been no more deserving recipient than Barack Obama."

Like I said, everyone in the convention knew that Carolyn Kennedy was going to introduce her uncle. So there was an electricity in the air as she was speaking. Everyone was moving towards their position. Not me. We had lots of problems with the exchange of our floor pass, and by the time I got it, I needed it to continue filming from where I was. Josh handed it off right before the Kennedy's spoke, and I was never able to make it to a seat. The floor was just packed. Not that it was any less moving standing up.

As I pushed my way through one entrance while Carolyn was speaking, I could see that there would be no joy down that aisle. Even after I got inside the arena, the aisle was packed. So I pushed my way back and tried one that I could see was less packed.

Until I got there. It must have been me. I could walk down to the floor, but once I was on the floor, movement was exceedingly limited. When Ted Kennedy came to the stage, I basically stopped. What was the point?

The people around me were mesmerized by Kennedy as he talked. Completely focused. Some with tears streaming down their faces. I looked around, as I am prone to do, and every face was turned towards the podium, every conversation suspended, eyes moist and placards held tightly.

I did run into Don Harmon while I was waiting for Josh. I introduced them. Don had volunteered at the Chicago Democratic Convention, but this was his first time as a delegate. And he had been observing from the upper decks before he headed down to the floor. He also mentioned that Matt Fruth, a one-time campaign aide that I had previously come into contact with, was here volunteering at the convention. There are many, many people from Illinois here in that capacity.

My next venture onto the floor ended before it began. The Fire Marshall sent in five people and they stopped letting people onto the floor. So I wondered over to the Blogger's Lounge for a bit. But I did learn that it doesn't make much sense to try to get on the floor after about 7pm local time.

I mentioned before, from my time at the Platform Preview Party, that there were a number of contributors at the Convention. Their Credential reads "Finance Guest" (iirc). On one of my many trips up and down the elevators, a young woman on the elevator asked someone with that credential what it said. She held it up and showed it to the inquisitor. I guess after she realized what it said, she said, "Thank you." Thanks for supporting the Democratic Party. I had heard that, in a more formal setting, before the convention began. But it was interesting to here someone not connected to the party, someone who didn't have to say it, say it. Touching, actually.

There are many spaces where Financial Guests could view the convention. They have their own lounge. They had seating near Joe Biden in the audience. But even with all the extra contributors over what were present in Boston, there were still a lot of people seated on Monday night. I could understand why the Fire Marshalls were concerned. In section after section upstairs people were seated anywhere there was space. If one section tried to enforce the rules, people would complain that other sections in plain sight were not. I suppose it's not that easy to be a volunteer with that role.

In the end, though, it was a good night to be a Democrat. Michelle did a fabulous job -- both Pat Quinn and Jan Schakowsky mentioned that to me. Ted Kennedy was a real shot in the arm, and I seriously wondered whether he didn't go home and collapse after that. Alexi was terrific in his speech. And the convention played it's role. Barack Obama -- it's an American story. Rags to riches, no, no, no. Pulled himself up from his bootstraps, that's it. A real dedication to public service. He's not ambitious, nope. He's just driven to bring real change to this country. And the time was so momentus -- the damage from the Bush Administration was so great -- that it had to be now. Yep, that's what I heard.

Will you remember tomorrow? Will you tell your friends and family? We may live in a celebrity culture, but politics happens the old-fashioned way. As my grandfather used to say, you change the world one heart at a time. I'll never forget those words he spoke from a pulpit in Alpena, MI...


You can find extensive coverage of the convention from the bloggers at Prairie State Blue.