Wow, What a Night!

It worked, the bold gamble to take the entire show outside and create the Obama Super Bowl worked magnificently. The amazing ability of the Obama campaign, unlike every other campaign in history, to continue to raise expectations and meet them is remarkable. Yes, there was a six hour wait either online trying to get in (Lindsey reported that folks were doing the wave on the 3 mile line waiting to get in) or in the stadium. Yes, there were a series of rather bizarre speakers in prime time – Barney Smith, the awkward, plaid-shirted Indianian was a particular crowd favorite with perhaps the best line of the night about needing a president who puts Barney Smith ahead of Smith Barney, and the endless parade of vets to assure everyone in America that Democrats aren’t all sissys (is there really a General named Fig Newton?) Although one note to event planners: unexpected fireworks with such heightened security concerns was a very bad idea – kinda scary there on the site.

The coolest pre-game activity for geeky me was the real-time text mesaging sign up that was shown on a huge computer map on the screen. In two hours 30,000 people had signed up to volunteer for the campaign by text message. But, ultimately, when the star finally came out, Barack was amazingly better than all of the sky high expectations.

Obama’s poise and confidence is unparalleled – the only person who seems to come close is Bill Clinton – but it took Clinton a long time to command a large audience. Obama is more lyrical, more comfortable in his own skin, less eager to please than Clinton.

It was a very different experience outside at Invesco Field than at the Pepsi Center. Peggy Noonan wrote in the Journal yesterday that an open air experience is risky for political speakers. She wrote, “My own added thought is that speeches are delicate; they’re words in the air, and when you’ve got a ceiling the words can sort of go up to that ceiling and come back down again. But words said into an open air stadium…can just get lost in echoes, and misheard phrases.” And she was absolutely right (although everything else in her article was dead wrong!) The rousing ovations for Michelle Obama and Hillary enveloped you in the Pepsi Center, you were inside of the sound. In Invesco the ovations went up and out and I suspect it was very loud for the TV microphones, for me sitting in the end zone it went up and out and didn’t stay with us.

But the outdoor transfer was also intended to allow more everyday Dems to join the party, not just the Party. And on this point, it was a smashing success. There was an underlying trepidation that was palpable at the Pepsi Center. And not just from Hillary supporters. I talked to Obama delegates who are nervous that the rest of America is getting Obama. There were the DNC finance people who are nervous about the double whammy of Obama opting out of the public finance system and discouraging 527 funding (those are the outside groups that can spend as much as they want on advertising.) In total that is about a $150 million hit that will be difficult to make up. There was no angst or worry from the 50,000 Obama supporters just unadulterated, unbridled enthusiasm for Obama. And this makes perfect sense, doesn’t it, it was there newcomers and activists who have powered the Obama campaign all along, not Democratic insiders. The topsy-turvy effect of being at Invesco was best illustrated by the fact that 50 yard line seats, the best seats in the house for a football game, were the worst seats for this event, blocked from the podium by the media tents and a better view of the entire event if you weren’t a delegate standing on the field, was from farther up in the stadium.

A final thought from Denver:

Democrats are rally cool and hip. When I worked for the Democratic National Committee in the early 90s were we old, creaky and slow, unions and big government, fear-filled and depressing. These Dems are young and optimistic, global, and above all really, really tech savvy. The coolest place I went to was the Huffington Post “Oasis” a floor of an office building above where the progressive bloggers were housed that had private chefs, organic snacks, massages and yoga. The blogosphere powered the Dean campaign and the Obama campaign. Of course, other factors like the worst president in history and a horrible war have also powered the growth in Dem registration, but certainly all together the Dems are now the younger, cooler party than the Republicans.

From Shuttles Buses to Seat Squatting

After the event at the Governor’s Mansion I wanted to hightail it over to the Pepsi Center for the roll call vote. I was really looking forward to the roll call, it’s what I remember best about the conventions as a kid (and when did they become non-prime time events – isn’t this the point of the convention?) My enthusiasm quickly turned to two hours of frustration waiting for a shuttle bus and then sitting in bumper to bumper traffic all the way to the Pepsi Center. I called my mother on the way, she makes up a major portion of C-Span’s viewing audience. She called out the states that had already voted as we puttered along at 2 miles an hour. Sitting behind me was a group of alternate delegates from Utah were increasingly aggravating about missing the vote. One of the alternates, Charles, is running against an incumbent for state legislator in Utah. He is running in a county with 16% Democrats, tough, right? Well, add to it the fact that Charles is African American in a county that has fewer than 1% people of color in total!  We’re up to Nebraska, mom said. Crap, I’m never going to make it!! While winding through the Six Flags Amusement park that neighbors the Pepsi Center a person on the bus announces that it’s all over, Hillary has released her delegates, making Obama the winner. Missed the whole thing, damn!

When I finally got to the Center, I was drowning my sorrows with an $8 chicken finger at a stand-up table with a portion of the Oklahoma delegation. I asked them why they looked down as I felt and then I noticed that they were all covered in Hilary buttons (Oklahoma went 2:1 for Hillary in delegates.) They came all this way, they said, and didn’t even get to cast their vote for their gal!

I had a great seat in the press section just to the left of the podium tonight. The press section nearest the floor is reserved for daily news orgs – smaller dailies higher up, larger dailies and periodicals like Newsweek and Time closer to the floor. I settled in an empty seat reserved for the Pueblo Chieftain. My neighbor was a young fella named Jeremy writing for the Coloradoan. We chatted a bit, then had an awkward exchange where he congratulated me on the Pueblo’s article on a state senate race, I asked about the House races in Colorado. After a pause we realized that we were both faking it! Jeremy is a blogger for Politico who was squatting in the good seats just like me. We hit it off well. Over the past few days I have perfected a cranky (not hard), heavy sighing, loud typing journalist imitation to ward off any squatter ejectors.

Testosterone national security night was fun, more red meat criticism of Republicans than the previous nights. The Center is beyond full, people are literally draped over banisters and in aisles, I heard that the doors were closed by order of the fire marshals. The Big Dog got a rousing reception – no boos as had been speculated about — although I didn’t think he really nailed the criticism of the Republicans. John Kerry nailed them more, I thought.

Closing thought for the night. I talked to a few DNC insiders who said that Joe Biden is a person who is very comfortable with who he is. And I guess he has to be as he was so quickly overshadowed by Obama’s surprise entrance — it’s very clear who is #1 and who is #2 on the ticket.

Big day tomorrow, I was warned by a campaign worker to leave an extra — extra! — 3 hours to get into Invesco Field.

Jim Lehrer’s Leftovers Anyone?

There was a subdued feeling in downtown Denver this morning. Hillary hangover? Or maybe just a breather at the midpoint of the convention. I thought about being offended when a teenager looked at me then turned away to give someone hipper, and presumably younger, a pass to their hip hop party tonight, but then was thrilled to be handed a free peanut butter energy bar. And that got me thinking about food at the convention. In a word, absymal!! Most of the concession stands inside the Pepsi are closed for some reason which sets off a mad scramble for the few available hot dogs and corn dogs. As I was scrounging the other night, I was tempted to try to snatch something off of Jim Lehrer’s leftovers cart. Here it is:

I finally broke down and bought the $7 hot dog.

As I wrote yesterday, most of the event organizers have been cheap, cheap, cheap on food and drink. Except for the reception I’m at right now at the Governors Mansion (where they thankfully have free wifi — at least until some security guy kicks me off!) and the food is great!!

Bottom LIne at the convention: Michelle and Hillary two thumbs up. Food and wifi two thumbs down.

Hillary’s Night

It was finally Hillary’s night, but it was only Tuesday not the Thursday slot she expected.  She was the salutatorian not the valedictorian.

After suffering through a long line of incredibly boring speakers, HIllary electrified the hall tonight.  Convention goers waited through hours of yada yada by a string of largely little known elected officials.  Listening to the incredibly dull Mark Warner who was the keynote speaker.  He followed Obama as the Tuesday night keynoter in the same way that some guy followed John Elway as quarterback of the Broncos.

I wasn’t sure how the dullness was playing out at home, so I called my sister and she confirmed that it was just as dull at home as it was in the hall.

Maybe it’s purposeful on the part of the DNC to make the good speakers that much more exciting to listen to in comparison to the dullards – or maybe it’s reflective of just how hard it is to be a good speechmaker.  Or maybe I’m just overthinking the whole thing!

But at last, Hillary takes the stage in her peach pantsuit.  It was fascinating to watch an army of fluorescent-vested volunteers passing out Unity handsigns to all of the delegates on the floor.  The precise choreography between Hillary’s speech, the raised lights for celebrations and substitutions of the signs went flawlessly.  Hillary didn’t have to have great oratory, she could have just stood at the podium and her legion of delegates and fans would have cheered themselves hoarse.  Of course, she gave an articulate and rousing speech that was electrifying to hear in person.

And now the DNC is clearly done highlighting women.  How do I know?  Well, of the 25 speakers who will talk in prime time for the next two days only two are women.  Sure hope those 23 are a lot more exciting than the slew  of them who spoke tonight!

A Quiz

What do you get when you combine a bad economy and new ethics rules? A lot of stand up parties with no food!  The economy has put a damper on what used to be free flowing fetes, and the new ethics rules prohibits outside groups from paying for sit down meals with delegates.  Emily’s List “Gala” just wrapped up and can only be defined as a gala event if you find it great fun to stand for 2 hours with two thousand women standing cheek to, well, cheek. Great line up of speakers, but, honestly if you are asking all of these undernourished women to stand for so long, couldn’t they have asked the speakers to cut their talks down a bit. Ellen Malcolm, founder of Emily’s List went on a bit, Nancy Pelosi, looking a bit worn down, went on and on — and then on a bit more. There was thunderous applause for Hillary followed a few speakers later by Michelle Obama. Michelle was also looking a little bit tired, a little bit more down-to-earth and human than her otherwordly performance last night. In particular, I loved her flat ballerina slippers (my convention obsession with women’s shoes continues!) That’s a woman who understands comfort like me, I’m going to try to find a picture of them online somewhere.

It’s suffrage day today, the 88th anniversary of the passage of women’s right to vote. Pelosi did make a beautiful historic reference when she said that the last Democratic convention in Denver was 100 years ago and five delegates were women. This theme will presumably be carried forward tonight when Hillary speaks.

Who’s Who?

Hanging with the women from Lifetime TV, great fun, particularly watching the all-out panic when Rosario Dawson’s limo didn’t show up at the airport (reason 998 why I’m delighted to be extraorganization!)  But not sure I fit in, guess which shoes are mine?

From the Cellar to the Floor at the Convention

It was a very exciting first day and night here in Denver.  My friend Lindsey Palmer of Redbook Magazine and I arrived at the Pepsi Center around 6 pm and went in search of the press area.  A few wrong turns here and there (turns out Lindsey has just as bad a sense of direction as I do!) and lo and behold, we landed in the Denver Nuggets locker room!  It was very plush, not at all like the high school locker room I recall unfondly — here, you can see us here.

We finally finagled our way to the convention floor in time for the prime time spots.  Here I am in front of the podium:

The two highlights of the day for me was watching the sea of flashbulbs bathe Michelle Obama in a constant stream of popping light throughout her talk (don’t know how she was so able to concentrate) during her very moving talk.  I’m beginning to see a pattern — seems I like the spouses better than the politicians like Elizabeth Edwards, Hillary, and now Michelle!  But my favorite moment of the day was a talk I had with Peggy Montes an elderly African American woman from Chicago who was the women’s advocate during Harold Washington’s mayoral administration in the 1980s.  She said that when she met Obama twenty years ago she thought he’d make a nice mayor – but both of their ambitions have grown since.  Bathed in Obama buttons she shook her head slowly when I asked her what Obama means to her and said, “I cannot believe that I am seeing a black man nominated to be president by the Democrats – never, ever, ever did I think I would see it in my lifetime.”

Why Not Me for VP?

So, I’m off to Denver for the Democratic National Convention. It’s very exciting, lots and lots of events on issues and great people, particularly amazing women who are changing politics, including my friends at Redbook Magazine! But, in all candor, have to say that I’m a bit disappointed that I wasn’t tapped for the VP slot. Really, there are very compelling reasons why I would have made an excellent choice:

1. There was a short list and, well, if you haven’t met me, being short is one of my more clearly an asset of mine.

2. There seems to be a general lack of understanding by too many men in this election about what women want, and on that note, I would be of tremendous help as I know exactly what we want. We want good jobs with health care that pay more than childcare costs, we want schools that teach our children what they need to know to succeed in a global marketplace and we want chocolate (the only real kind, dark, not “chocolate” that pretends to be real with names like “milk” and “white”) available in bulk at discount prices for PMS and migraines. That doesn’t seem so complicated, does it?

3. I cover the key demographics that would put the ticket over the top. With my help, we would have the abnormally proportioned, Jewish, northeast, liberal, sports-fanatic vote — and that’s a winning ticket!

Anyway, heading off at an unseemly hour of the morning tomorrow, will blog from the first event called “Unconventional Women” and start asking the one question I want to try to answer during the convention: How are women political donors changing politics? Would love any thoughts readers have on that as well!