Bob Hayes Online

Mary Gail is a delegate from the state of Massachusetts. Far from a convention “newbie” like myself, this is Mary Gail’s fifth Democratic convention. A long-time party activist back in Hamden County, Massachusetts, Mary Gail is the past chair of her town’s Democratic committee and the past chair of the Hamden County Democratic committee as well. Originally pledged for Hillary, Mary Gail expressed solid support for Senator Barack Obaa, telling me “when everything is over, we’re going to leave here very united. It is very important that we win the White House.”

So far, Mary Gail is enjoying the convention very much. In her civilian life, she is a senior high school teacher (US history and government) in Enfield, Connecticut, just over the state line. I caught Mary Gail as she headed over to meet some friends before the formal convention session starts later this afternoon, and she was gracious enough to give me a few minutes of her time to talk about the election. Reporting that journalists in her home town are still obsessed over the Clinton-Obama split, Mary Gail emphasizes that despite her early support for Clinton, and that the party must honor the depth of that support, she is solidly backing Obama.

“People have to understand that this was a good and hard-fought campaign on both sides. This is the first time a woman has gotten anywhere near this far, and that has to be honored, not so much for us [Hillary supporters] as for our children. We have to look to the future, into the 21st century, even as we respect our past.”

Tricia is local to Denver and comes to have a quiet smoke away from the hubbub of the passers-by on 16th. She is wearing an Obama button and tells me she’s been out at the events today. “I’ve been to some marches at Civic Center Park…US-Iraq Veterans Against the War”. She says that Obama is definitely candidate. Tricia has spent the last 15 years in Denver, and works as an office assistant at Presbyterian St. Luke’s Hospital. She believes that the important issues are Iraq, the economy, and education. Asked about other Democratic candidates, she shakes her head: “Barack from the beginning.”

Tricia liked Michele Obama’s speech. “I thought she did a good job. She was giving a message of unity in the country, to help the ordinary person.” She believes Obama will win in a landslide. “He is a very good person, and a very intelligent person.” Tricia is having a lot of fun this week - “It’s great to have the convention in Denver!” Alas, she was unable to get a ticket for the big speech on Thursday.

After a series of harrowing adventures on foot trying to navigate the wilds of Denver’s convention district yesterday, your humble blogger is taking a more sedentary approach today. Weeping only slightly for the expense, I’ve parked the news wagon at a secure location and am currently blogging from Writer’s Square, just a few blocks from the Pepsi Center. There is a lot of convention traffic, but it is not overwhelming and there are some ordinary denizens of Denver wandering about.

It’s a beautiful day - blue skies, nice and warm but not quite over the margin into oppressively hot. The odd demonstrator or activist waves a sign along the 16th Street Pedestrian Mall, and occasionally a chant is heard, but the protesters seem mostly confined to their cage for the afternoon. Although I am within spitting distance of the Pepsi Center, the convention element of the crowd is steady but thin. I’m hoping to do some individual interviews today, just talking with folks both attending and just living with the convention. Right now my immediate agenda is finding a table and some coffee. Perhaps the Starbucks twenty feet to my left can provide both.

Barack Obama just came on, live via video from whatever part of Outer Mongolia he’s camped out in.

His daughter is hogging the voiceover…”Daddy what city are you in?”

“Not now, Sasha, I’m running for president.”

No, that’s not what he said. But he’s chatting with the kids and sharing love to Michelle. Nice, but why is it on my TV?

Oops, over. Guess that was just to give us a taste so we don’t lose heart.

Crowd is pretty noisy for Michelle entrance. Unfortunate choice of color in her clothing - she’s blending into the backdrop.

She can feel her father looking down on her proudly. Aww, that’s kind of nice. Older brother has watched over her “every step of the way” along this incredible journey of discovery and exploration etc. She and he apparently get along, that’s nice too.

So far this is all emotional talk, no policy. I suspect the Obamas are going to have the Clinton problem - if she’s a policy wonk, then she’s in the game and is a fair target for criticism. If she’s the First Hostess, she’s off limits - so they’re presenting her as the emotive center of the family instead of Barack’s partner in practical politics.

Heart-tugging stories about her father’s decline in health, even as he worked hard for their family. “It was the greatest gift a child could receive - never doubting for a single minute that you’re loved and cherished and have a place in this world.” Amen, sister. The crowd cheers, but it seems somewhat forced.

“Barack and I were raised with the same values”. Word is your bond, treat people with dignity even if you don’t agree with them, do what you say you’ll do. Well, she’s doing a good job of courting the values vote!

Value of work, America should be a place where if you work hard you can make it. “We know what fairness and justice and opportunity should look like.” Let’s strive for the world as it should be.

Anniversaries, King’s speech and the 88th anniversary of women’s suffrage. More about hard-working moms and dads.

Whoops, here comes Iraq. Service men and women love America so much they leave their families to defend it. Hillary Clinton gets into the mix somehow, in a positive sense. Hillary put 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling. Joe Biden also heroic. “The world as it is just won’t do…That is the thread that connects our hearts.”

“The current of history meets this new tide of hope. And you see, that is why I love this country.”

(I knew she’d end up saying that. I should be on CNN.)

Again with leaving the law firm job to work in community service. OK, we get it!

Barack did something similar in his community activism, says Michelle. He’s fought to ensure that our veterans are welcomed home “not just with medals and parades, but with good jobs and benefits, and health care, including mental health care!” That’s why Barack’s running - to end the war responsibly, to provide world-class education from preschool to college, and free health care for everybody.

Hmm, I think Michelle Obama just committed her husband to free college for all Americans. That could be an interesting session at the strategy meetings.

Everyone’s shared love of our children is what will bring us all together. Not sure about that one; (mostly) everybody loves their children and we still manage to kill each other.

“The Barack Obama I know today is the same man I fell in love with nineteen years ago.” Back to awww.

Barack was determined to give his daughters what he never had - “the affirming embrace of a father’s love.”

“This time, we listened to our hopes instead of our fears.” Stop doubting, start dreaming, etc.

Now exhorting Democrats to work to honor the work that has been done before, and make Obama president.

“God bless you, and God bless America.”

Well, overall very impressive! I had never thought much of Michelle Obama’s oratory but this was well-delivered and hit the heart notes. The crowd is supportive overall, but I don’t sense a lot of excitement. Now they’re playing her off to “Isn’t She Lovely”. Hmm, sexism at the DNC! Alert the feminist caucus.

Starting with video about how great Michelle is. The video is evidently to introduce Michelle’s brother, who will in turn introduce Michelle. I find myself resenting that there isn’t a slide show that introduces the video. You can’t just throw people into the introduction to the introduction, Democrats!

OK, she was a hot corporate lawyer. Then she met the dream man. Then she decided to go do public service law. People who worked with her think highly of her.

But she’s also a great mom! Her kids are grounded. “It’s all about her kids.” Her mom says that Michelle found the balance between career and family life. (Great, Michelle, show us how!)

She is motivated by her father’s compassion and good treatment of others. There are worse motivators. Mom hopes America gets to know Michelle, because she is remarkable.

Michelle’s brother comes out. Craig Robinson - “Michelle Obama is my little sister!” He also thinks she’s great. Not that we expect a character assassination, but come on, you’re her brother. Rag on her a little bit. No?

Apparently no. Michelle is great. Michelle memorized every episode of the Brady Bunch. Michelle worked and studied hard, had good parents - while constantly being reminded about how great America is, in case you’re wondering. Or so Craig says, anyway.

She’s a great mother, instilling good values in her children. Michelle’s mother is in the audience, and apparently Michelle wouldn’t have campaigned if it weren’t for mom being willing to babysit. (Ah, there’s the balance - have someone else do it.) Michelle has dedicated her life to the people struggling with life’s challenges. Impressive list of public activities and charities etc.

Manages to work in a plug for the Oregon State Beavers, where he’s a basketball coach.

Brother-in-law Barack is “confident but not cocky”, a “team player who improves the people around him”, and “he won’t back down from any challenge”.

Finally, on to the main event.

Must…stay…awake….

Jim Leach, moderate Republican, addressed us after Kennedy went off. Remember all that energy from the Kennedy speech? Yeah, bye-bye. Way to drain the energy out of the room, Jim. (Apparently he’s a secret Republican operative. Good work, Jim!

Too dull to blog about. Michelle Obama is next up.

Just hauled in to catch the Kennedy speech. First impression, wow! Apparently the rumors of his feebleness were exaggerated. I detect a political mastermind at work there, but it was an effective moment nonetheless.

Most interesting thing in the speech is his call for healthcare as a fundamental right. This is probably in the platform somewhere, but whether they mean it or not is another question. I wonder if Obama endorses the Kennedy cry. It’s certainly worked up the crowd.

Of course, a lot of people respond positively to health care as a right. Most of those people respond negatively when they’re told what it would cost, or what the options would be for rationing it. That’s why government health care proponents focus on what it will do for the voters, rather than it what it will cost.

(Someday a capitalist Democratic party will announce that we need government health care, and to pay for it we have to get as rich as possible, and so we need unbridled rampant capitalism to kick our growth rate into the stratosphere.)

Overall a good speech, if understandably somewhat brief. There is definitely a palpable love for this man in the hall. A substantial minority seems somewhat unmoved, though - more ‘yay, Kennedy’ than truly inspired. Hard to say, but the overall tone has definitely stepped up and the crowd is amped.

I have arrived in Denver for the 2008 Democratic National Convention. I will be posting observations, analysis, interviews, and whatever else comes to mind over the next four days. The energy level surrounding the convention center downtown is quite high, as delegates, media and observers from all over the country gather here in the Mile High City to nominate Senator Barack Obama as the Democratic candidate for President.

Alas for anyone seeking minute-by-minute coverage all day and all night long, I have a day job to keep up with as well. However, I will do my best to provide regular updates and reports. Liveblogging from the convention center itself should begin this afternoon. I will be joined in my coverage by David Jones of the excellent Denver blog ResurrectionSong, and possibly by a Blogger To Be Named Later, in the coming days.

Brief impressions to date: the convention logistics are impressively smooth. The Denver police are annoyed by the protesters but quite friendly to the convention participants and media. I’ll have more coverage on the protesters from both left and right later. The delegates and Democratic staffers are upbeat and enthusiastic; the current tie in the polls between Obama and McCain does not seem to bother them very much. Tonight’s main event is Michelle Obama’s speech, which I will be liveblogging from the press box at the convention center. I have not seen any sign of tension between the Clinton and Obama camps, although there hasn’t been much opportunity for it to be expressed as of yet.

Although I intend to hit the high points of the formal convention, I am much more interested in the people who are here, the issues in play, and the tension in the campaign and in the party. As always, I will attempt to be fair and even-handed in my reporting. I am also interested in what you, the blog readers, want to see covered - please feel free to use the comments section of this and my subsequent posts to make suggestions, ask questions, etc.

More later.

I wonder if the competence with which the conventions are run correlates with the competence of the campaigns that are going to be run. I just found out today that BNN won’t be credentialed for the Republican National Convention; just finding this out was a hassle, since they never actually responded to our request the first time and had to be prompted three times to get us a damn answer. Yeah, guys, wait until the last minute. It’s not like your convention is in another state, or that we’d need to make arrangements in advance.

The Democrats, by comparison, were downright solicitous of blogs in general and us in particular. They invited all the bloggers to the press walkthrough of the convention facility months ago, long before they even had a credentialing process in place. They set up a multiply tiered system of credentials to get the largest possible number of bloggers through the doors. After we got our application in, they promptly let us know they received it, and they got us an answer quickly. I don’t recall exactly when we applied - it was around the same time for both conventions - but the Democrats advised us we were credentialed on May 29 - that’s more than two months ago, Republican National Guild of Procrastinators - giving us plenty of time to arrange housing, travel, and make other plans. They also set up, in conjunction with some big liberal blogs, a blog working zone outside the convention center for those bloggers who didn’t get credentialed but who want to cover the convention anyway.

The only bobble on the Democrat side was that it took a couple of phone calls to get the convention rate for our housing. Other than that, it’s been smooth sailing. Perhaps the credentialed organizations are being well-treated on the Republican side, not that we would know (sob).

In any event, the bottom line is that BNN will be extensively covering the Democratic convention with live on-the-spot blogging, interviews, etc. Our coverage of the Republican convention will be limited to (maybe) our Minneapolis-area writers doing whatever they can on a drive-by.

I hope the rest of the Republican organization does a better job going forward.