As I hopped into my car with my roommate Josh at 10 p.m. last Monday night, I couldn’t help thinking about how much I was going to learn in the next few days.As a political science major, I knew that attending the Democratic National Convention in Denver was an opportunity to learn things about the political process that could never be taught in a classroom or read in an obscenely large book.
So we loaded up my car and drove through the night eight hours to Denver for the convention. If you have ever seen the movie Swingers with John Favreau and Vince Vaughn think “Vegas baby, Vegas” but substitute Denver, that was the kind of anticipation and excitement we had at 3 a.m. in the middle of western Nebraska as we made the drive west on I-80.
Before I mention some of the highlights of my time at the DNC, I need to explain the reasons I missed the first few days of classes to attend the convention. Honestly, at first I was just going to go and hang out in Denver just to take in the atmosphere and “be there.”
I had no credentials or no real excuse to go other than the fact that I eat sleep and breathe politics in sometimes unhealthy doses. But as fait would have it, Josh and I were lucky enough to land positions volunteering for the DNC host committee (they are basically in charge of running the whole convention) working as suite hosts.
This basically meant we got to hang out in sky box suites that donors paid over a million dollars (per night) and watch the convention and make sure that the donors and there guests were completely taken care of. Now as lucky as we were to land this opportunity, it has also afforded me the opportunity to write about it and share some of my experiences with you.
Here are some of my highlights and observations from the Democratic National Convention:
Tuesday, Aug. 26
Pepsi Center Convention Day 2
Because of prior commitments in Omaha I was unable to attend the first day of the convention but after a long night of driving we arrived in Denver around 4am and were inside the convention by noon.
Literally 10 minutes after we had walked in, we ran into the correspondent’s of John Stewart’s Daily show and were actually in a scene with them.
So by 12:15 my day was already made and I couldn’t help thinking if things like this were happening already, what was the rest of the week going to be like?
The convention didn’t officially start until 3 p.m. everyday, but because of security etc. we had to be there at noon everyday. This gave me the opportunity to walk around, talk to people, and take tons of photos.
If you have never been to a major political convention, which I will assume you haven’t it is pretty interesting how everything inside the arena is set up. One thing I noticed immediately was where the different state delegations were sitting relative to the stage and other states.
Battleground states like Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nevada, Colorado, Iowa, Virginia were all seated basically front row and displayed prominently. Missouri another battleground come November was the only one that did not see to get any kind of special treatment for the logistics of the seating arrangement.
The media presence of both domestic and international networks at the convention was overwhelming to say the least. Every major network was there, from CNN to Al Jazeera taking up multiple sky boxes to set up filming areas and places to interview diplomats and dignitaries as they attended the convention. CNN definitely threw some major money around to get primo space and influence; they were all over the place.
Finally the convention got underway a few minutes after 3 p.m. From 3 p.m. until 9 p.m. there were a slew of speakers and performances took the stage to lay out the democratic platform.
Dennis Kucinich of Ohio who ran for president himself gave one of the most memorable speeches on Tuesday, yelling into the microphone and jumping up and down to get the crowd out of their seats as he chanted “Yes We Can!” and the like.
Other notable speeches came from Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, Former Gov. Mark Warner of Virginia (he is running for Senate) gave the Keynote address of the convention and finally Hillary Rodham Clinton gave her primetime speech. Gov. Sebelius was very good, Gov. Warner’s keynote address was not as good as most had hoped but unfair to Gov. Warner most people were comparing it to Barack Obama’s keynote address at the 2004 convention in Boston, which many point to as Obama’s first presidential campaign speech, one that brought him onto the national stage and really helped get him to where he is today, as the Democratic nominee.
Senator Clinton’s speech was both highly anticipated and worrisome to many of the attendees inside the convention.
What was she going to say? Would she convince her followers to support Barack Obama? Would she convince the media and pundits that the party really was unified going into the general election? After the speech, the sense I got was that she hit it out of the park.
Everyone seemed to eat it up and buy into her rhetoric of unity and strength within the Democratic Party. The energy and optimism was easily felt and you could feel an almost unison sigh of relief that it was over and done with.
Wednesday, Aug. 27
Pepsi Center Convention Day 3
With Hillary’s speech over, all eyes turned to Joe Biden on day three. The theme of the day was national security and foreign policy, but before any speeches could be given, the formal nominating process had to take place on the convention floor.
Nancy Pelosi presided over the procedure and after speeches were given nominating both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama there was a roll call vote of every state took place. This was a really exciting process, it was raw national politics.
Each state spoke and read the results of there votes in alphabetical order. As each state read off their votes Barack Obama’s total delegate count grew higher and higher, to formally become the Democratic nominee, he had to gain 2,210 votes from delegates on the floor. What I wanted to see more than anything was New York’s delegation. How would they vote? Would Hillary Clinton release her delegates to vote for Obama?
As the tension grew, whispers that Hillary Clinton would be on the convention floor during the roll-call vote only added to the speculation that something special was going to happen.
As New York’s vote approached Senator Clinton strolled onto the floor and as New Mexico yielded to Illinois – symbolic because it is Obama’s home state – Illinois yielded to New York, Senior Senator Charles Schumer spoke and then Senator Clinton motioned to suspend the roll call vote and declare Senator Obama the Democratic nominee by acclamation of all delegates.
I know it doesn’t sound as excited when I write it but take it from me, the atmosphere was electric as everyone understood the kind of symbolism an act like that represented. It was a surprise no one saw coming, and it only increased the anticipation of Senator Obama’s acceptance speech the following night.
After the acclamation that declared Barack Obama the nominee, there were a slew of speakers all with large foreign policy pedigrees. House Majority Whip James Clyburn, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, former secretary of state Madeline Albright, John Kerry, Gov. Bill Richardson, and Tom Daschle all gave speeches on the importance of national security, and restoring Americas place in the world as a beacon of hope and justice through our foreign policy. Bill Clinton also spoke and got the crowd riled up before Senator Biden gave the nights keynote address to accept the vice presidential nomination.
Clinton’s speech was good and he said all of the right things, but what was interesting was that he talked more about himself and everything he had accomplished as if he was running for a third term. It was funny and classic Clinton.
After a biographical video, Senator Biden’s son introduced his dad to a standing ovation and a captive audience. With a reputation to talk your ear off, Biden was funny and humble. He kept his remarks relatively short and seemed to be received enthusiastically.
Everything I had described up to this point took place inside the Pepsi Center in downtown Denver. Capacity inside the arena is about 19,000 and after Joe Biden finished his speech the convention moved to INVESCO Field for Thursday’s festivities in front of 75,000 and millions who would be watching Senator Obama accept the nomination on TV all over the world.
Thursday, Aug. 29
INVESCO Field Convention Day 4
Like any good book, the reader inches to the edge of their seat as they read line by line sensing the climax of the plot approaching with a sense of excitement and mystery about what will happen next.
This is what the first few days of the convention felt like, a slow and steady progression, excitement building after each speech and each day, everyone knowing what was in store on the last night.
I arrived at INVESCO at 11:30am, the doors didn’t even open until 1pm but as volunteers it was important for us to get there early and get through security before the other 75,000 people who were coming to watch Obama accept the nomination. Once I got into the stadium things were slow, it was going to be a few hours before anything formal would happen on stage so I walked around the stadium and took in the atmosphere.
What I noticed first, and this goes for the whole convention not just on the last day, was how diverse the crowd was. It was amazing to look into the crowd and see every color, ethnicity, age, class, and race all there for the same thing. It was touching to see all of these people most with nothing in common, find commonality, in of all things – politics.
As the convention got started around 3:30pm, the massive stadium slowly bean to fill, I was interested to see who would speak and if there would be any kind of over-arching theme like there had been the other days. What I quickly realized was the purpose of the last day was to tie everything together and package it up in a way that could be explained and used on the campaign trail. As a side note, whoever planned the actually week of the convention was very smart.
August 29m 2008, was the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a Dream Speech” at the Lincoln Memorial. Too many, a lot of what MLK said in that speech would be realized that night as Barack Obama; an African-American accepted the Democratic nomination for the first time in history.
There was a whole host of speakers and performers during the hours leading up to Obama’s speech. Olympic superstar gymnast Shawn Johnson delivered the pledge of allegiance and Grammy award winner Jennifer Hudson sang the National Anthem beautifully.
Howard Dean the DNC chairman said a few words and there was a very touching tribute to MLK which ended in MLK III (his son) speaking to the crowd. Other heavy hitters within the Democratic Party also got primetime speaking slots. Gov. Bill Richardson, Gov. Tim Kaine, and Al Gore all gave remarks. Sheryl Crow and Stevie Wonder also performed for the packed house and got people out of their seats and dancing.
My favorite performance however was from Black Eyed Peas front man will.i.am and singer John Legend. They performed “Yes We Can” a musical version of a speech Senator Obama gave after losing the New Hampshire primary back in January. If you have never seen the video, it is definitely worth checking out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY
You can also watch the live performance on the DNC Web site: http://www.demconvention.com/ (click on the “Yes We Can” button on the right)
Finally, the senior Senator from Illinois Dick Durbin came on stage to introduce Barack Obama. Senator Durbin introduced him because he was the one who introduced then state Senator Barack Obama at the 2004 convention before he gave his now famous keynote address. By now it was dark and Obama walked onto the elaborate stage to 75,000 people standing and applauding for what seemed like forever.
I had heard Senator Obama speak before, but this was easily the most important speech of his political life. It signified the beginning of the general election and Senator Obama as the Democratic nominee, not the “presumptive nominee”. I didn’t know what to expect from the speech or what kind of rhetoric he was going to use.
As he spoke I realized that he wasn’t going to be giving a lofty vague speech that spoke to abstract ideals and high hopes. His speech became a concrete roadmap for his campaign that outlined exactly what he was going to do as the next president of the United States.
There was an undeniable determination in his voice and he seemed energized and ready for the campaign ahead. Obama’s speech ended with fireworks and the speakers blaring Brooks and Dunn “Only in America” as Senator Obama’s family joined him on stage.
As I left the stadium after the speech I felt like I had just witnessed something historic, like Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. It will be interesting to watch the Republican convention and compare the two and see which side has more momentum as we move into the last 60 days of the campaign.
This election is definitely “must see TV” but if you miss any of it, check out this blog and we will make sure to get you all caught up.