DNC Convention - Day 1

Whew!!  My first 24 hours here has been a whirlwind.  We checked in to our hotel - the Marriott Courtyard in the University Research Park area.  We got here about the same time as the two full buses of Tennessee delegates arrived. 
 
First order of business was to pick up our delegate badges - otherwise known as "credentials", and get briefed on what was expected for the week.  Basically, that means a delegate breakfast every morning, caucus meetings during the day, parties at night and Convention "gavel in" every day at 4 PM.

What I haven't quite figured out yet is how I party until midnight and wake up in time for breakfast at 7 a.m.  Somehow I forgot how to do this over the last 40 years!

The first event was a cocktail reception last night at Firewater Restaurant - not too far from the hotel.  Tennessee delegates share space with delegates from Ohio, Indiana and Oregon, so it's very exciting to talk with Ohio delegates and hear about their very frequent visits from the President.  Ohio is a critical battleground state this year.

One of the first people I met at the reception was Mayor Karl Dean of Nashville.  Then, I found Nicolle Crist and friends from Weakley County  Nicolle is a fellow OFA vol.  Helen Stapleton and Betty Fraley, who rode with us from Monteagle, also got there early.

The highlight of the day, for me, was celebrating my 45th anniversary with Jim - love of my life!!  He told me that somehow he never quite envisioned celebrating our 45th at the Democratic National Convention - but here we were, and we celebrated!

It was also great to see OFA colleagues, Colleen Janus and Nataly Morales.   Colleen has been in Wisconsin since early June and Nataly in Yakima, WA working for the campaign there.  Must say that we were up waaay too late, but loved every minute of our conversation and catching up with them!

The delegate breakfast this morning came too early, but was well worth the early alarm clock.  We heard from a bunch of state elected officials, got an update on various challenges to the photo ID and voter suppression efforts, and got more logistical info for the day.  The highlight was a visit from Governor Martin O'Malley of Maryland who fired up the delegates by reminding us that President Obama was going to move us "Forward, Not Back!"

Late in the morning, I headed downtown to check out the convention sites and get myself oriented for the next few days of convention activities.  It was amusing to see the conspiracy nuts alive and well.  Who does this to a perfectly good panel van??

Every day, there are opportunities to attend caucuses - these are constituency interest groups and they are held in the Charlotte Convention Center, about 11 miles from our hotel.  I chose to attend the Faith Council today.  Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, chair of the Democratic National Committee, spoke about her faith tradition and how she was taught to help those around her who needed help.

The theme of the panel discussion was how our faith and values intersect with public policy.  Rabbi Fred Guttman spoke passionately about his believe that the image of God is in all of us - regardless of our faith tradition, our gender, our race - all of us.  He asked the question: how can we be so concerned about abortion that we forget about the homeless, the hungry and the poor?  Rod Snyder, President of the Young Democrats of America, who grew up in the Pentecostal tradition, and described youth today who are concerned about issues of faith and justice in the broadest sense - issues like ending the war in Iraq, gender equality, hunger and cuts to the SNAP program, and affordable health care.

Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner reminded us of Dr. Martin Luther-King's statement that "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."  I was just so proud to be a part of this group of people who believe that how we live our lives in relationship to each other makes a real difference in the politics we support and who we elect to carry out those agendas.

Last event of the day for us was Carolina Fest - a Labor Day celebration in uptown Charlotte.  Entertainment stages, art exhibits, street vendors - it's all there.  The featured entertainer, one of my faves, was James Taylor.  He was introduced by Governor Deval Patrick, current governor of Massachusetts, as a son of MA and NC.  Sweet Baby James finished about 3 songs when the sky opened up and totally drenched all of us!  The concert was cut short and we headed back to the hotel to dry out! 

Long day - fun and inspiring - but long!!!  More tomorrow.