From Poker to Politics

 

PART 5: THE NATIONAL CONVENTION

 

The 2008 Democratic Convention in Denver was a historical mega-event. This convention not only had the first major party nomination of an African-American for our nation’s highest office, Barack Obama, but also gives every promise of launching a person who will become one of our country’s greatest leaders. Our nominee is the presidential candidate who I have been the most enthusiastic about in my whole life. Yes, even surpassing my adulation for JFK as a teenager.

 

Denver was a wonderful choice of venue by the Democratic Party. It is a beautiful city, bordering on the Rocky Mountains. I was fortunate to have a friend who lives in Lakewood (a western Denver suburb) put me up at his house for the duration of the convention. Most of the Michigan delegates stayed at a four-star hotel in Broomfield, quite some distance from the convention site but a very nice facility. I had to drive out to the hotel every morning to pick up my credentials for that day.

 

My first night in town, Sunday, August 24, my friend treated me to dinner at the Mt. Vernon Country Club, located at 8600 feet elevation in the Rocky Mountain foothills, with a beautiful overlook of Denver and the surrounding countryside. On the way up there, we stopped to watch a nicely antlered mule deer grazing close to the road. He was unafraid, lifting his head to look us over for about three seconds after we stopped the car, then going back to munch as if we were invisible.

 

The high point of Monday’s festivities was clearly the Michelle Obama speech. She was a good speaker during the campaign, but was a little on the serious side, not pausing sufficiently to bring her audience along with her after giving a stirring sentence. At the convention, she was perfect in her presentation. After she spoke, she was joined by her two young daughters. I heard one of the TV commentators later on that evening say the cute little girls probably got Barack a million votes each. Michelle will be a classy First Lady. Maybe she will even be the first female to break through that last glass ceiling (helped immensely by Hillary’s eighteen

million cracks, of course).

 

On Tuesday, Hillary Clinton brought down the house with her ringing endorsement of Obama. I never had any doubt this year that if Barack got the nomination, Hillary would strongly support the nominee of her party. I do not think her playing out the primaries until every state participated has hurt Obama’s chances. When was she supposed to throw in the towel? Obama’s nomination was not a lock until he won North Carolina by a landslide in May, and by that time there were only a few weeks left until the whole process was over.

 

On Wednesday, I was privileged to be a panelist at the delegation’s morning press conference, along with MDP Chair Mark Brewer, former Edwards campaign manager David Bonior, and one of the Michigan delegates. I and the other delegate were there to discuss veteran affairs. I must have done okay on the panel, since our MDP Communications Director Liz Kerr arranged for me to phone into a Detroit radio talk show the next morning and talk some more about veterans.

 

Wednesday was President Bill Clinton’s speech. We really gave him a huge ovation when he came to the speaker’s podium. Despite his overly strong efforts in support of his wife against Barack, it is evident that he still holds a special place in the hearts of the Democratic Party. We were really happy that he not only endorsed Barack, but said that Obama is now ready to lead our country. Excellent speeches were also given that night by Veep nominee Joe Biden, our 2004 presidential nominee John Kerry, and the feisty Governor of Montana, Brian Schweitzer.

 

Thursday was of course the big day. The venue was moved from the Pepsi Center to Mile-high Stadium, where a truly enthusiastic crowd braved long lines to get in for the historic moment where Obama would be accepting the nomination. I had my troubles getting into the stadium. Through a communication foul-up, I was told to go to a parking lot a few blocks from the Pepsi Center, to catch a shuttle into the stadium. But when I got there, I was told that there was no shuttle. One of the staff people there suggested I should go back to the Pepsi Center and take a bus over that the media was using. On my way there, I met a lady coming toward me who asked how to get into the stadium. I told her the line was ridiculously long, and suggested she come with me and try to get a media bus. She was not a delegate, but had credentials to get into the stadium. She accepted my suggestion.

 

To make a long story short, we were both able to get on a bus with the CNN people and get onto the stadium grounds. Then we encountered another long line. I decided to follow a few people who were taking a different route, and she again went with me. We got through security with some media people and everything was fine thereafter. The punch line is on my flight home, I started reading a book that was given to MDP delegates about progressive organizations in the Democratic Party. In the book was a picture of the lady I had helped. It turns out that she was the CEO of an organization that has a four million dollar plus annual budget!

 

When Former Vice President—now a Nobel Prize winner––Al Gore was well-received and gave a fine speech, much of it focused on energy and climate change. Some of the “little people,” ordinary folks who had suffered during the Bush years, delivered surprisingly excellent speeches. We all liked the punch line given by a guy from Ohio named Barney Smith, who had recently lost his job in the manufacturing sector. He closed with, “We need a President who will look out for Barney Smith, not Smith-Barney.” This brought down the house.

 

Barack Obama gave his historic acceptance speech as twilight began, to a crowd the Secret Service later estimated as 84,000 people. Naturally, he lived up to our high expectations, giving a detailed outline of what he would do as President, and using soaring rhetoric worthy of this historic occasion. When his speech ended and he joined Michelle, his daughters, and the Biden family, the fireworks display started. The initial crackling gave me a start for a second or two, at first sounding something like gunfire. I did not know this was on the venue menu. The rockets and confetti sure added to the ambience of the festivities. We all walked out of the stadium like avid Denver Bronco fans who had just seen their team win the divisional playoff for the Super Bowl.

 

Being a delegate to the historic 2008 Denver convention was one of the high points of my life, an unforgettable experience.