Reports from the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston
Monday
We were heckled, protected and inspired, Convention 2004 started off with the Illinois Delegation breakfast at the hotel. Bagels, cream cheese, Richard M. Daley, Rod Blagojevich, John Stroger and Dennis Gannon of the Chicago Federation of Labor. Daley was voted chair of our delegation, and good thing because his name was already printed on all sorts of things as such. Barack Obama was late, but did make an appearance at the end.
After the breakfast and initial delegation meeting, we got our credentials and were off for the day. I attended the end of the African American Caucus and the Veterans Caucus. Barbara Boxer was speaking when I entered the Grand Ballroom with her message of diversity. The Veterans Caucus started with singing of the police choir which a Boston volunteer seated next to me thought was ironic because there were about to strike and picket us up until Sunday night.
James Carvell hosted the Veterans Caucus. He was a Marine...who knew. Wes Clark and General Kennedy spoke, Kennedy recognizing the veterans of various wars forgot the Gulf War setting of a bit of a stir that was quickly corrected by Carvel. Clark spoke about John Kerry's military service and how it differed from Bush's. Max Cleland also spoke about John's service and what it said about him as a person.
The evening began with an Obama event at Harvard. We were treated to a great buffet and hob nobbed with various IL dignitaries. I even got a picture of myself with the Governor, special thanks to fellow delegate Mike McHugh for helping out with that. Obama mixed with the crowd and made a short speech at the Dessert Buffet.
Afterward, we made our way to the Fleet Center by bus. There was a very long walk from where the bus left us off to the entrance and the way was a maze of fenced and picketers. Those of you who were worried that free speech had been quashed for this event need worry no more. There were in you face hecklers and a choir of LaRouche singers that were pretty entertaining. We were not separated from the hecklers by any fencing until we got very close to the entrance.
There was a mixture of state troopers, local police and soldiers "protecting" us. Despite warnings from the LaRouchies that we would be subject to horrifying searches, the search was no more or less than would be experienced at the airport. The police and military personnel were actually polite and helpful.
Entering the arena was awe inspiring. The stage beautiful and there is a huge screen, so everyone can see. The Illinois Delegation is seated at the back right, but our seats are great because the stadium seating allows you to see over the person in front of you while the floor is just that, so short people (like me) are at a huge disadvantage.
We missed Gore's speech, but saw Carter. Jimmy Carter will be 81 soon, so this very well could be his last convention. He spoke of human rights and the loss of respect for American around the world. He questioned: How can we be true to ourselves if we are mistreating others?
Rev David Alston spoke about John Kerry's service and described the swift boat as a Traveling Bull's-eye. How could the Republicans attack his service?
Hillary! spoke next. She was there to introduce the last great Democratic President, but stopped a bit to discuss the next great Democratic President, John Kerry. "John Kerry knows you have to lead the world, not alienate it."
Bill Clinton was the final speaker. He got a huge ovation when he came up on stage and hugged his wife. "All Americans value Freedom, Faith and Family." Clinton wants the Democrats to run a positive campaign, and described who should vote Republican. If you agree with them that the richest American's should get tax cuts; if you agree with them that America should be divided and not united; if you agree that we should reduce police on the streets and add new assault weapons to those same streets, then you should vote with them because they really believe in those things.
Clinton closed with a few thoughts: "American works better when people have the chance to live their dreams." "Strength and wisdom are not opposing values." "When divided Americans always chose to "form a more perfect union," and that is our main goal.
The first night was great. Sorry for the lousy pictures. The good ones will come when I get back home to my scanner to upload the pictures from my good analog camera with the 300 lens. More tomorrow, I hope
Ellen
Tuesday
We are getting wonderful speeches from our local folk every morning. Rich Daley and Rod Blagojevich are particularly funny. Rod has a funny story each morning. My old high school bio teacher Jim Dougherty is from IFT and made a speech on Wed, but I'll get to that tomorrow as it is getting very late here.
First Women's Caucus. Barbara Boxer, Hillary Clinton and Madeleine Albright spoke. Themes included choice, equal pay for equal work and bringing us back to the world of nations to increase our security.
Then, the Illinois Democratic Women's Luncheon. Mrs. Blagojevich spoke with her little girl in her arms because she kept crying, truly illustrating what working women have to do every day. Rod Blagojevich spoke about the equal pay bill he just signed. Lisa Madigan also spoke as did several other elected officials as they entered the room. The theme was getting women out to vote and when women vote, Democrats win.
In the afternoon, I went to the Revolutionary Women conference. I attended a one hour workshop called A Foot in the Door: Getting Started in Politics at the Local Level. The panel included MA State Sen Susan Tucker, School Committee member and candidate for State Rep from MA, Katherine Clark, District Attorney Martha Coakley and State Rep Marie St. Fleur...I think she will make the national stage one day as she was quite impressive. They told the stories of how they came to run for local office and what it took. Their common message was that in order to run, you have to have a meeting of your heart and mind to know it is what you want to do and you can live with the consequences whatever they are. They also discussed the impact on the family and how to keep your family out of a race. Rep St.Fleur is from Haiti originally and her family was subjected to a lot of racism, so she made the decision to keep them out of the press in the future and no longer circulates family pictures. Ms Coakley discussed running as a single woman...she had no one to worry about but needed friends and extended family for support.
Afterward there was a panel in the main hall featuring Barbara Lee President of Revolutionary Women from MA, Hillary!, Nancy Pelosi, Madeleine Albright, Jennifer Granholm of MI, Carol Moseley-Braun and Sheriff of Suffolk County MA, Andrea Cabral. The main theme of the event was Engage, Empower, Mobilize and Elect. Dean introduced the panel and was quite witty and self deprecating. He will probably recite state names for the rest of his life.
Sheriff Cabral went first and gave a great speech which included the story of John and Abigail Adams and the famous line in the famous letters when Abigail asked John not to forget the ladies...John answered that it was just silly-ness and treated it like a joke. Sheriff Cabral ended with a line like lets make the final joke on John Adams, but she said it better than I am saying it now.
Carol was great (far better than her later performance at the convention). She discussed the statistics of women's representation in the US, but did it so well and so funny that it was not at all boring. At the rate we are going now women will be represented in the US at the same rate as the best country (Sweden) by the year 2353. The US is about where Sierra Leione is.
Nancy Pelosi discussed women in congress and how she became leader and led a chant that Bush must go. Rep. Pelosi introduced Madeleine Albright and called her "my Secretary of State".
Sec. Albright gave a terrific speech about women around the world. She went into the effects of the Bush Administration on women around the world...anti choice decisions are creating a world wide health crisis for women.
Hillary! was Hillary! She was big loud and great...her voice filling this huge hall far better than anyone else's. She talked about health care and jobs for women. She also talked about how many more women are getting involved and voting.
Took a cab to the Convention, and was left off in a different place where there were no hecklers, so maybe they are being kept in a particular spot.
At the Convention itself we saw: George Stephanopolous (sp?). He came into the IL delegation and all the women, including me, went nuts taking his picture till finally he asked us to stop. Also seen were Bono, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Janet Napolitano, Speaking were Gephardt, Daschle, Carol M-B, Dean, Kennedy. Observers felt Teddy was not the regular old Teddy, a little quieter, but still with a strong message. He took on the Bush administration for what they have done. He said we needed to retire Cheney to an undisclosed location. He mentioned a prayer on a plack in the white house from John Adams days there that talked about those who inhabit the place need to be honest and wise., and said that this administration was no honest and wise but brought fear. He said the only thing we have to fear is 4 more years of George Bush.
Dean got a huge standing ovation that went on and on. Bet he is still wondering why he did not win and that probably made him wonder even more. It made me wonder. He said he was now going to work on taking the country back and getting us health insurance for all and a jobs program that creates jobs instead of destroying them. He told a story about getting $50 all in quarters from a woman from her disability check because she wanted to make America well again. He also talked about being proud to be a democrat and wants even democrats in Texas to be able to be proud.
Gephardt and Dachle (zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz)
O BA MA
O BA MA
O BA MA (Asim started the chant)
I'll bet you all heard the speech, so I won't go into it in detail, but I will go into the effects. Bono was in the house but the rock star was Barack. We cannot walk in the convention center or on the street without someone wanting an Obama button. Carol!!! Your Kerry/Edwards/Obama button design is a huge hit and I have been trading it to Guam, Virgin Islands, Secret Service, New York and giving a lot of them away because folks are begging for them. Jesse White really wanted one as did Kevin Conlon.
Even a lady in a store mentioned Barack to me. Cabbies mention Barack to me. It is unbelievable.
I am sitting in between Paul Park and Oscar David. We write down the great lines of each speech. In Barack's speech, I stopped writing because we were demonstrating so hard and because I would have had to write down his entire speech. Hope we put on a good show for the viewers at home. We sure tried to be loud.
Rep Wasserman's wife (CA) sat down next to me at the JACPAC luncheon today (thanks Lauren for forwarding that invite to me) and wanted to hear all about Barack Obama.
After the Convention on Tues, there was a huge party for Barack at a night club, but those of you who know yours truly know that I went back to the hotel. Heard it was huge, crowded and loud. I watched the local Boston news talk about Barack's life story till about 2:30 and went to sleep. Here in Boston, they are fixated here on his mixed race background (not the people as much as the media). The Boston Globe apparently found him uninteresting and made no special story in their convention coverage handing the night to Teddy. Now, those of you who know me know I love Teddy, but please. It was Obama's night and that can never be taken away from him.
Our very own Molly Howieson from Kane County was interviewed by Reuters and got into USA today Wed AM edition.
Bye from Boston...
tomorrow will be Wednesday's report...Cheers, JACPac, the north end and Paul Revere, Sharpton, Edwards and a rockin' Mr. Park will be featured.
all for now...its 2:15 and I'm pooped.
Ellen
Wednesday
Day One after Obama speech...we are being stopped on the streets and in the T stations for Obama buttons. Can't keep them on our shirts and coats.
I did not do a whole lot of Convention stuff on Wednesday, morning, but took a T ride and walk up to the North End and looked at the Old North Church and Paul Revere's house. I had lunch in a cute little family Italian Restaurant and walked back to the Ritz Carlton for high tea with JACPAC getting heckled by LaRouch folks again.
Tea was great (although I wasn't too hungry) all fancy with scones and chocolate strawberries and stuff like that. I knew no one at this event and found that many of the attendees were the wives of congressmen. It was a great networking opportunity. I think I mentioned in my Tuesday report that I was questioned about Obama by a lot by these women and I even got to plug my cousin's campaign. I had a great opportunity to have a long talk with Dick Durbin's wife, Loretta. She was telling me that she and the Senator were going on the bus trip with the Obamas to several but not all of the towns. I got to tell her about some of our great local candidates.
After JAC, went back to the hotel to pick up the bus for a party at Hampton House which was the exterior for the Cheers bar for the show of same name. It was a nice party and Hampton House is quite a bit nicer than Cheers was portrayed to be. Did not stay too long as we had to get to the Fleet Center for the all important voting and I really really was not hungry by that time and will be happy not to see shrimp for a while....although I still like Lobster rolls.
Took the shuttle to the Fleet Center (no hecklers), and got in in time to cast my vote for John Kerry and sign the petition for John Edwards. Basically the vote is not all that high tech. We sign a paper and make an X in a box in a column with Kerry's name. I thought that the computer at our Delegation whip post would be where we voted, and now I have no idea what that computer was actually for unless the whips then entered in the info which I did not see.
I was sitting between Paul Park and Oscar David of the 10th District. We had a great time with each other. Paul is very knowledgeable and experienced in politics and public policy, particularly in the Asian community. Oscar is a partner at a law firm and seems like a terrific lawyer because he negotiated a great button trade for me. As distinguished as he is, Paul Park can also be a lot of fun and dances and waves signs along with me. Oscar and I pick out and write down the good lines from the speeches. We also developed a little 10th District chant. Very simple: "10th!" with our fists up in the air. Wendy our delegate no. 1 and highest vote getter must think we are nuts. Lisa from the 1st gave up her credentials to our 10th district alternate, Mike McHugh for the night and Mike promptly became a Whip organizing the orchestration of the alternates musical chairs for the night. Each night the alternates go in and out and trade chairs to replace people who walk out...I asked alternate Gary Klein if that was tiring, but he seemed ok with it.
Speakers included the ever so witty Al Sharpton and Dennis Kucinich. Al Sharpton had several great lines but a couple that I wrote down are: "If Bush was picking members of the Supreme Court when Brown v. Board of Education was decided, Clarence Thomas would have never gone to law school." and "You should not regulate what folks do in the bedroom but help them put food in the kitchen." or something like that. He reminded the Republicans that African American votes are not for sale.
Kuchinch said we will carry Kerry and Kerry will carry America. I really enjoyed the part of his speech where he called for Courage---courage to replace this administration with one that will uphold the Constitution. To Kucinich poverty, joblessness, homelessness and racism are weapons of mass destruction.
Then of course, Elizabeth Edwards and John Edwards spoke. Since that was on prime time, I won't go into the details. Here the speech was very well received. He flashed his signature smile and the crowd adopted John Edwards as their own.
I think I am going to describe to you what it is like on the floor. For Mon-Wed, we had assigned seats. On Thursday, they took off the name stickers on the seats, but people pretty much sat in the same place with a few exceptions. When you get to the Fleet center, you go up 2 long escalators. and walk around to gate 8 which was Illinois. We are in the stadium seating and not directly on the floor, which is much better for seeing. Those on the floor thought they were fortunate until they go there and saw that everyone stands up in front of them and they cannot see. We are very close together and you get friendly with your row real quick.
During the early hours of each night, it is pleasant and there is a lot of room because no one shows up until at least after 7. Beverages are contra band, but most folks had little trouble sneeking them in (I feel I can say that now that the whole thing is over and nothing else got sneeked in.) You can go around to the other delegations, say hi and trade buttons. Everyone is very friendly and talkative.
At around 7, the chair Richardson calls the convention to order, but no one is listening to the early speeches. People are constantly milling up and down the stairs. Between 7:30 and 8, the place starts filling up.
During prime time, we become human props and propmasters. There are several non-human props like signs and flags. Each sign has to be kept down until it is time for it to appear, but people are constantly waiving them early and the whips yell at us (in a more funny and friendly way than actually mad---but Asim became a Whip on Thursday and he did get tough with us ;-). ) We whisper around when each sign or flag is supposed to appear. As the night goes on these signs and props accumulate and it gets a little wild with where to put everything and you have to be careful not to whack your neighbor with whatever you are waiving.
On Wednesday and again on Thursday, they closed the house around 8 not letting anyone in, so if you left to get food or use the restroom you were out for the duration. That was sort of a pain because people did want to use the restroom...you couldn't get up or down the stairs anyway.
After Edwards' speech, we did the roll call. I was particularly looking forward to that as that is what I loved watching so much as a child. It was a bit disappointing because when I was a kid there could be a challenge, but now the outcome is known and everyone is blase about it. Whole states walk out after their roll call is taken. One of the Whips told us at breakfast Thursday morning that IL won for the best roll call. One of the lines was, that IL is a state where someone with a name like Blagojevich can get elected. We yelled a lot and I think we were the loudest delegation at the very least. As per tradition, Alabama and Alaska yielded to Massachusetts and N. Carolina. Ohio was given the honor of putting Kerry over the top. Later on the bus, one of the Ohio delegates told me that they did that because Ohio put Clinton over the top in '92 and they thought it would be good luck. IL cast all votes for Kerry, so our one Edwards vote got changed or the delegate didn't show up and an alternate voted--I know some did not and some alternates did vote.
We left after Ohio put Kerry over the top and then went to dinner in the hotel--had little pizzas and they were great, but anything would have been great by that time.
Tomorrow. Thursday (sorry just too tired tonight to finish): seating woes, Fox News, a great women's caucus, they tell me a great environmental caucus with Robert Kennedy Jr. and more balloons than anyone has ever seen ever. I will also try to go back and remember some of the funnier moments at the IL delegation breakfast. A lot of our local politicians are laugh riots. I will also go into the press frenzy.
Signing off from Boston---would love to stay longer.
Ellen Beth Gill (tired 10th District Delegate)
Thursday
Up early again for a full day. Started out with Breakfast with the IL delegation and speeches by our state leaders. Speaking of the breakfasts, I don't remember if I described them previously. We get breakfast from a local union each morning usually rolls and fruit, sometimes eggs on english muffins and fruit and everyone says good morning and we talk about the previous nights' activities.
Rich Daley chairs the meeting after breakfast and Governor Blagojevich, Connie Howard, Mike Madigan (on Wed and Thursday), the union rep from the union that furnished the breakfast and some state and US reps sit on the panel. On Thursday, Lisa Madigan spoke and started out by saying that she got up that morning, looked in the mirror and realized she was not in college anymore. What we were all thinking about ourselves. Lisa made a very strong speech and was well received. The real comedians of the group are Gov. Blagojevich, Rich Daley and Danny Davis. I found the Governor to be warm and friendly with a terrific sense of humor. He has a quick smile and is always interested in finding out how you are doing. Danny Davis told a funny story to illustrate a point. He went to a family reunion and met an old girlfriend there. They took a walk and she slipped and fell into a river. He tried to pull her out, and took her hand, but her fingernails fell off and he lost her. Then, he grabbed onto her hair and her wig fell off and he lost her. She was screaming for help and he said honey, I am trying but you have to stay together to help me save you. He told it funnier (sorry).
Jan spoke Thursday morning and I saw her again at the women's caucus in the morning. She told her pres bush Obama button story. For those of you who don't know it, here goes. She was meeting with bush on an issue involving Haiti. After an unsatisfactory meeting, she put on her coat and went to shake the president's hand good bye. He looks at her with horror and she notices he is looking at her Obama button. He apparently thought it was an Osama button. Jan explained to the president that it was Obama, the candidate for Senator from IL and bush tells her he never heard of him. Jan responds, you will. By now, he surely has, and Jan adds that she hopes he was not eating pretzels when he watched Obama's speech on Tuesday night.
We took a group picture after that. I was behind a large man and most likely will not be seen in the picture.
Went to the woman's caucus after the breakfast meeting. I must have missed the very beginning, but saw Susan Turnbull who talked about the 22 million women who did not vote in 2000 and urged us to reach out to them. Talked about the schools being built in Iraq but schools closing here (I would add the problem of all the Catholic schools closing because of the budget crisis in the church--a real problem in Chicago.)
Leah Dodrey from the DNC told a story about when she was in S. Africa. When the men were put in prison, a saying was created that goes something like this: now you have touched the women and you have unleashed a boulder and you will be crushed.
Alexis Herman, former head of Women Bureau under carter and Sec. of Labor under Clinton said: the Queens in History compare favorably with the Kings. She talked about the stretch women have to make under the needs of child and elder care. She suggested everyone wear blue on Nov 2...may be a good idea, but I like Barack's better, "there are no red states or blue states, only the United States of America."
Jan spoke at the women's caucus too and talked about Congress practicing medicine without a license and reminded us that when Clarence Thomas was confirmed despite Anita Hill's observations about working for him, it triggered what came to be known as the year of the woman.
Nancy Pelosi's message to women was: "Know your power." Our job is to speak to those women, mostly single women, who don't vote. We are the messengers.
Carol M-B was on fire! Far better than her performance at the convention. She linked the women's, gay rights, civil rights and disability rights movements and described them as the core of the American dream and granting these rights as the ultimate vote of confidence in humanity. We have a stronger society when we tap the talents of a larger portion of the population. Then she shifted into her statistics about representation of women in the US as I heard he say at the Revolutionary women's conference. The new Iraqi constitution will require 25% representation of women in Congress, but in the US we only have about 14%, so it may be that someday soon women will be better represented in Iraq than here. We are no. 58 in the list of countries rated on representation of women in congress or the country's representative body. Carol talked about going to work every day with the likes of Jesse Helms and Trent Lott. She was sure glad to see John Kerry those days. She really likes John Kerry because he is not afraid to surround himself with strong women. A few folks I know need to hear that. Carol closed by saying that we don't have to talk about what is wrong with the current administration because it is so evident.
Peggy and Diana Kerry were at the women's caucus and Peggy spoke. She called for the elimination of the global gag order and reinstatement of funding for UN population control programs that will happen under a Kerry administration.
Elizabeth Edwards introduced Teresa Kerry. She also talked about the women who don't vote. She also talked about some medical research about women and men and how the react in stress situations. It was always thought that all people had the fight or flight reaction, but if was found that women have more of a tend and mend reaction. The fix a crisis and then like to talk about it. I find that to be true in the workplace. Teresa feels that women have been shortchanged of their ability to tend and mend due to time constraints of work and family needs, but we need that to stay whole. Teresa believes that women want love, respect and an opportunity to be who we are. I agree.
Teresa also talked about Barack Obama and said she was a little concerned about speaking after him. She was helped out by Iliana Wexler, the little girl who started kids for Kerry who spoke after Obama but before Teresa. She helped change the tone and get folks attention back. She also mentioned that Obama will be President one day.
After the women's caucus, I went to Fanueil Hall to catch the end of Blagojevich's speech (tee hee), no to grab lunch. There is a market behind the hall called Quincy Market which is really a huge food court, but clean and with better restaurants that in Chicago. I went to Steve's Greek Cuisine and had a huge dinner of Dolamades, rice and salad and half of a huge M&M cookie. Need to eat a lot because the food is not too good at the Fleet Center. Ate outside and watched a homeless women eat a sandwich out of the garbage, felt bad and went over to the homeless vets office and made a donation. There are homeless folks around Boston, far more than in Chicago because Chicago has a policy of forcing them into shelters and pushing them out of the downtown area. Arguments for and against that policy can be made.
Walked around for a while soaking in the sights of Boston and went back to the hotel to change into something respectable to wear for the next President of the United States.
Heard from Bob Wagner of DuPage that I missed a great conference on the environment with Robert Kennedy Jr. I'll let Bob describe it to you, but I wish I had gone from his stories about it.
Bussed over to the Fleet. Grabbed my seat (crucial for this night of great crowds and non-delegates trying to get in and steal our seats) and used the restroom. Now, I normally would not mention that, but do here because that became a major issue at the Fleet on Thursday. We were not allowed to leave the arena and return after about 7-7:30... they finally let us out for a quick break just before 10 to many's relief.
Kathleen from McHenry and I were interviewed by the Tribune. They were asking about Obama and she turned it over to me while I was hoping to take a little nap---thanks Kath. I hope I don't get in actually. I didn't have the Obama talking points and the interview took me by surprise. I tried to avoid the press as much as possible during the convention only giving one official interview to Pioneer Press because they are so good about printing my op eds.
Mr. Park did not attend Thurs night, but Oscar came late and we had to argue to get him his seat back. Fox news people sat to my left and that really irritated me. I did not want to spend the final day next to a couple of republicans. So, I got newly appointed Whip, Asim, to boot them out of the Illinois delegation. Thanks Asim! Seats were not reserved on Thursday as our name tags had been pulled off, so it was first come first serve, but the whips did a great job getting seats for delegates and several non-delegate dignitaries sat on the floor, so we felt very democratic. Needless to say, the place was packed.
Early speeches were not paid much attention unfortunately. Joe Biden and Joe Lieberman spoke and probably went on too long. Lieberman lost the crowd about half way through his speech. The duo got my ZZZZZZZZZZZZ award for the night.
Carol King sang You've got a Friend. Did TV show that?
The Band of Brothers came on with Jim Wasser from our delegation. Max Cleland spoke and I know that was on TV because my mom commented to me what a terrific speaker he was.
The movie. I know you all saw that. I thought it was great.
Alex and Vanessa and a hamster. Since you saw it no need to describe.
Kerry. You saw it, you decide. I thought it was great, but I was not surprised. I had seen him in Iowa and this was no different. His message is the same. His message is detailed and people can feel good about his nomination. The first time I met Sen. Kerry , he told me he can take care of us and he can beat bush. I believed him then and I believe him now. About half way through Oscar proclaimed. "We're going to win." The sign choreography got a little tense during Kerry's speech. America can do Better and Help is on the Way got dicey, but I finally got into a rythm of going back and forth by putting them back to back and upside down from each other.
Back to the bus with Kathy and Molly. We were pooped. Molly got a call from her sister. We learned that the press was giving JK a homerun on the speech. "We are going to win," rung in my head.
No Surrender by Springstein and U2's Beautiful Day capped off the night and hundreds of #&^%$ (or so the TV audience heard) balloons. Balloon fights followed and more confetti that I care to think about. I heard over a ton. Confetti all over the place on the way back to the bus, in the bus, in the hotel, in the hotel room and in my clothing and camera bag. I think I brought some home to Deerfield with me. Oscar took the end of my roll of film because he's taller and I hope he got some good shots with it. We are going to clamor for a DVD of the Convention. I would love to have a copy as I missed a lot by being late (Gore, Richards) and by dealing with the whip directed musical chairs and choreographed visibility. I know they need to do that, but I wondered if the founding fathers had that in mind when the signed the Constitution and later developed the 2 party system.
Friday AM and delegates are going home. My plane is not till 4, so I have some time and walk down toward the ocean. Stopped at my favorite Boston cemetery where James Otis, John Hancock, Sam Adams and Paul Revere are buried. Only Sam Adams is under his grave marker, but the rest are somewhere under there. Someone got the great idea of moving the headstones to accommodate that new invention, the lawnmower. As I visited the patriots, I thought "We are going to win." We have to win to keep the Revolution alive. "We are going to win."
This has been my report of the 2004 Democratic National Committee Convention. I decided to make it more personal than a just a list of speeches and tried not to go on too much with stuff you saw, but it was hard to know what you saw because so much was not shown by the media. I was trying to give you a picture of what happened down on the floor as best I could with little sleep and food. Hope you enjoyed it and got a picture of what it was like to be down on the floor. I was so fortunate that I was able to go and wanted to share it with as many of you as I could. Thanks to those who helped send me. I will upload some pictures this weekend. I mostly used my analog camera because of the better lens situation and have to get the film developed.
Ellen's Ratings (just for fun)
Boston as a city--A
Boston as a convention center--B
Fleet Center--D
Food in Boston--A+
T--A+
Quincy Market--A+
Faneuil Hall where our Gov spoke at 4:00 am in the men's room (maybe 2008 will be your year, Gov)--A+ as a shopping area
Highway system in Boston--C
Traffic in Boston--C
Big Dig--pain still after 12 or so years
New Convention Center--B (we could not use it because the bridge over the river to the place is not complete and down to 1 lane. It would have been a mess. However, Revolutionary Women's conference was there and it was pretty nice and had that new car smell)
Illinois Delegation--A+++++++++++++++
Other Delegations--A
Lion King (went Sat night)--A
Boat Tour on the Atlantic and Whale watching (went Sunday---boy oh boy was it cold)--C (not because it was cold, but because the boat was filthy and under equipped with seats)
Convention Security--C (seemed to me anyone could get in with little effort)
Best Hecklers--the singing LaRouchies
Most Polite Protesters--the Falon Dong
Boston's Theatre District--A
Boston's China Town--A
Logan Airport--C-
O'Hare Airport--A
Loudest Speaker--Hillary
Most ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ speaker--Joe Lieberman
Has IT--Bill, Hillary, Gore (but I missed it so I'm going on other's opinions and previous experiences seeing him), Obama, John Kerry
On way to acquiring IT--Iliana Wexler, John Edwards, Alex Kerry
Had IT lost IT--sorry to say but it's Teddy--good speech but without the old Teddy magic
Never had IT--Biden
Has IT sometimes--Carol Moseley-Braun
My personal favorite other than Kerry and Obama--Madeleine Albright
Local Favorite--Terry Link for his cheerfulness, helpfulness to Jim and Bonnie
Best story--Jan's Obama button story
Best Moment for me--getting my picture taken with the Gov. Thanks Mike McHugh
Best Moment for the Delegation---need I say it O BA MA O BA MA
Best Moment of the Convention--when Oscar said "We are going to win."
Best Line-- "There is no conservative America or liberal America. There is the United States of America."
Places in which Carol's buttons have found a home: Guam, Virginia, Ohio, New York, Virgin Islands, Hawaii, California, Idaho, Maine, Secret Service and all across Illinois.
Ellen
Final Thoughts
Been back a week now and got my pictures developed. Looking back on the Convention with some time and sleep, I can see it in a little different light. It was a tremendous experience and I thank everyone who helped me get there from Kate Evans in the Kerry Campaign who suggested me for the slate, to Lauren Beth Gash who taught me how to get ballot signatures the right way, to Helen, my 89-year-old neighbor who knocked on all the doors in our building to get me ballot signatures, to my friend Julie who stood out in the freezing cold helping me collect signatures, to my dad, Jules Gill, who served as my campaign manager and helped me get that bump in Cook County.
The Convention itself was atypical as the first convention after September 11. There were police and soldiers everywhere. The police were actually helpful and polite. They gave us directions when asked and pretty much left us alone otherwise. The soldiers with automatic weapons, were another story. Although they did not bother us, their presence on the streets of Boston were a sad testament to where we have gone as a county. I hope we don't get used to having the soldiers around and always see them through the eyes of Massachusetts' John Adams as no better than British soldiers quartering in colonists homes in the 1770s.
Many people in my district were concerned that the protests would not be seen or heard. On the first night we walked through the protesters, but after that, we saw few protesters. I think that was because we went in a different way and not because they had left or been forced to leave, but we did see some police overreaction to protests on television. Nonetheless, it was a far cry from 1968 Chicago. Protests were quieter, in fact, some downright polite like the Falon Dong. In a way, that is sad too. The problems in the world are no less horrible than in 1968. Have we changed? Do we care less? Or do we work through things more from within than as outside protesters?
The Convention was little broadcast. The networks broadcasted only one hour each night. So much for their duty to the public in exchange for rights to our air waives. The media is certainly no longer doing its job as the forth estate which leaves us open to all sorts of treachery. That is a huge worry that few are thinking about.
The Convention itself is only a string of speeches and networking opportunities. No more haggling over the platform; our roll call vote was of little real meaning as it was all said and done after the Illinois primary when John Kerry earned enough committed delegates to win the nomination. That is not entirely a bad thing--certainly more democratic than the back room deals made at conventions past, but a whole lot less fun. Maybe we need to be creative and come up with something for the future that will get out the message to more voters and in a way that will be more meaningful and helpful to them.
The speeches were for the most part great. John Kerry was clear, detailed and inspiring and he did far better than his opponents and detractors hoped he would. Bill Clinton's speech will go down in history, as will Barack Obama's. Also, outstanding, but little discussed, was Dennis Kucinich who urged American's to have courage, probably the most important message of this election.
Howard Dean received a huge ovation and probably cannot figure out how he lost. He retained his sense of humor though. I hope he sticks with DFA and ends up remembered more for his hard work to end the Bush empire and bring back democracy to America than that scream which no longer seems so bad.
Probably the most meaningful part of the convention for me were the Revolutionary Women's Conference and the Women's Caucuses. I will be directing a lot of my future energy to getting out the women's vote in Illinois.
There was much controversy over the presence of all those Generals and the Band of Brothers. One delegate said he thought it was fitting because the Vietnam Vets returned to nothing but protests and distain and deserved their time in the sun once and for all. I certainly think Del Sandusky and Jim Wasser, two fine Illinoisans I have had the privilege of meeting, deserved their due once and for all. It was also important to show the country that Democrats cannot be made out as they have in the past and that John Kerry represents a strong Democratic party that aims to make the country strong economically, militarily and strong in freedom and ideals for the greater good of humanity.
I wish I had seen more of John Kerry at the Convention. It was nothing like campaigning in Iowa with him where we could see and even talk to him all the time. John Kerry will be absent from us personally from now on, but he'll be out there campaigning for our futures and he will need our help. We have to keep going, re-inspired by the great people we met along the way and the great speeches we heard at the Convention.
We were heckled, protected and inspired, Convention 2004 started off with the Illinois Delegation breakfast at the hotel. Bagels, cream cheese, Richard M. Daley, Rod Blagojevich, John Stroger and Dennis Gannon of the Chicago Federation of Labor. Daley was voted chair of our delegation, and good thing because his name was already printed on all sorts of things as such. Barack Obama was late, but did make an appearance at the end.
After the breakfast and initial delegation meeting, we got our credentials and were off for the day. I attended the end of the African American Caucus and the Veterans Caucus. Barbara Boxer was speaking when I entered the Grand Ballroom with her message of diversity. The Veterans Caucus started with singing of the police choir which a Boston volunteer seated next to me thought was ironic because there were about to strike and picket us up until Sunday night.
James Carvell hosted the Veterans Caucus. He was a Marine...who knew. Wes Clark and General Kennedy spoke, Kennedy recognizing the veterans of various wars forgot the Gulf War setting of a bit of a stir that was quickly corrected by Carvel. Clark spoke about John Kerry's military service and how it differed from Bush's. Max Cleland also spoke about John's service and what it said about him as a person.
The evening began with an Obama event at Harvard. We were treated to a great buffet and hob nobbed with various IL dignitaries. I even got a picture of myself with the Governor, special thanks to fellow delegate Mike McHugh for helping out with that. Obama mixed with the crowd and made a short speech at the Dessert Buffet.
Afterward, we made our way to the Fleet Center by bus. There was a very long walk from where the bus left us off to the entrance and the way was a maze of fenced and picketers. Those of you who were worried that free speech had been quashed for this event need worry no more. There were in you face hecklers and a choir of LaRouche singers that were pretty entertaining. We were not separated from the hecklers by any fencing until we got very close to the entrance.
There was a mixture of state troopers, local police and soldiers "protecting" us. Despite warnings from the LaRouchies that we would be subject to horrifying searches, the search was no more or less than would be experienced at the airport. The police and military personnel were actually polite and helpful.
Entering the arena was awe inspiring. The stage beautiful and there is a huge screen, so everyone can see. The Illinois Delegation is seated at the back right, but our seats are great because the stadium seating allows you to see over the person in front of you while the floor is just that, so short people (like me) are at a huge disadvantage.
We missed Gore's speech, but saw Carter. Jimmy Carter will be 81 soon, so this very well could be his last convention. He spoke of human rights and the loss of respect for American around the world. He questioned: How can we be true to ourselves if we are mistreating others?
Rev David Alston spoke about John Kerry's service and described the swift boat as a Traveling Bull's-eye. How could the Republicans attack his service?
Hillary! spoke next. She was there to introduce the last great Democratic President, but stopped a bit to discuss the next great Democratic President, John Kerry. "John Kerry knows you have to lead the world, not alienate it."
Bill Clinton was the final speaker. He got a huge ovation when he came up on stage and hugged his wife. "All Americans value Freedom, Faith and Family." Clinton wants the Democrats to run a positive campaign, and described who should vote Republican. If you agree with them that the richest American's should get tax cuts; if you agree with them that America should be divided and not united; if you agree that we should reduce police on the streets and add new assault weapons to those same streets, then you should vote with them because they really believe in those things.
Clinton closed with a few thoughts: "American works better when people have the chance to live their dreams." "Strength and wisdom are not opposing values." "When divided Americans always chose to "form a more perfect union," and that is our main goal.
The first night was great. Sorry for the lousy pictures. The good ones will come when I get back home to my scanner to upload the pictures from my good analog camera with the 300 lens. More tomorrow, I hope
Ellen
Tuesday
We are getting wonderful speeches from our local folk every morning. Rich Daley and Rod Blagojevich are particularly funny. Rod has a funny story each morning. My old high school bio teacher Jim Dougherty is from IFT and made a speech on Wed, but I'll get to that tomorrow as it is getting very late here.
First Women's Caucus. Barbara Boxer, Hillary Clinton and Madeleine Albright spoke. Themes included choice, equal pay for equal work and bringing us back to the world of nations to increase our security.
Then, the Illinois Democratic Women's Luncheon. Mrs. Blagojevich spoke with her little girl in her arms because she kept crying, truly illustrating what working women have to do every day. Rod Blagojevich spoke about the equal pay bill he just signed. Lisa Madigan also spoke as did several other elected officials as they entered the room. The theme was getting women out to vote and when women vote, Democrats win.
In the afternoon, I went to the Revolutionary Women conference. I attended a one hour workshop called A Foot in the Door: Getting Started in Politics at the Local Level. The panel included MA State Sen Susan Tucker, School Committee member and candidate for State Rep from MA, Katherine Clark, District Attorney Martha Coakley and State Rep Marie St. Fleur...I think she will make the national stage one day as she was quite impressive. They told the stories of how they came to run for local office and what it took. Their common message was that in order to run, you have to have a meeting of your heart and mind to know it is what you want to do and you can live with the consequences whatever they are. They also discussed the impact on the family and how to keep your family out of a race. Rep St.Fleur is from Haiti originally and her family was subjected to a lot of racism, so she made the decision to keep them out of the press in the future and no longer circulates family pictures. Ms Coakley discussed running as a single woman...she had no one to worry about but needed friends and extended family for support.
Afterward there was a panel in the main hall featuring Barbara Lee President of Revolutionary Women from MA, Hillary!, Nancy Pelosi, Madeleine Albright, Jennifer Granholm of MI, Carol Moseley-Braun and Sheriff of Suffolk County MA, Andrea Cabral. The main theme of the event was Engage, Empower, Mobilize and Elect. Dean introduced the panel and was quite witty and self deprecating. He will probably recite state names for the rest of his life.
Sheriff Cabral went first and gave a great speech which included the story of John and Abigail Adams and the famous line in the famous letters when Abigail asked John not to forget the ladies...John answered that it was just silly-ness and treated it like a joke. Sheriff Cabral ended with a line like lets make the final joke on John Adams, but she said it better than I am saying it now.
Carol was great (far better than her later performance at the convention). She discussed the statistics of women's representation in the US, but did it so well and so funny that it was not at all boring. At the rate we are going now women will be represented in the US at the same rate as the best country (Sweden) by the year 2353. The US is about where Sierra Leione is.
Nancy Pelosi discussed women in congress and how she became leader and led a chant that Bush must go. Rep. Pelosi introduced Madeleine Albright and called her "my Secretary of State".
Sec. Albright gave a terrific speech about women around the world. She went into the effects of the Bush Administration on women around the world...anti choice decisions are creating a world wide health crisis for women.
Hillary! was Hillary! She was big loud and great...her voice filling this huge hall far better than anyone else's. She talked about health care and jobs for women. She also talked about how many more women are getting involved and voting.
Took a cab to the Convention, and was left off in a different place where there were no hecklers, so maybe they are being kept in a particular spot.
At the Convention itself we saw: George Stephanopolous (sp?). He came into the IL delegation and all the women, including me, went nuts taking his picture till finally he asked us to stop. Also seen were Bono, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Janet Napolitano, Speaking were Gephardt, Daschle, Carol M-B, Dean, Kennedy. Observers felt Teddy was not the regular old Teddy, a little quieter, but still with a strong message. He took on the Bush administration for what they have done. He said we needed to retire Cheney to an undisclosed location. He mentioned a prayer on a plack in the white house from John Adams days there that talked about those who inhabit the place need to be honest and wise., and said that this administration was no honest and wise but brought fear. He said the only thing we have to fear is 4 more years of George Bush.
Dean got a huge standing ovation that went on and on. Bet he is still wondering why he did not win and that probably made him wonder even more. It made me wonder. He said he was now going to work on taking the country back and getting us health insurance for all and a jobs program that creates jobs instead of destroying them. He told a story about getting $50 all in quarters from a woman from her disability check because she wanted to make America well again. He also talked about being proud to be a democrat and wants even democrats in Texas to be able to be proud.
Gephardt and Dachle (zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz)
O BA MA
O BA MA
O BA MA (Asim started the chant)
I'll bet you all heard the speech, so I won't go into it in detail, but I will go into the effects. Bono was in the house but the rock star was Barack. We cannot walk in the convention center or on the street without someone wanting an Obama button. Carol!!! Your Kerry/Edwards/Obama button design is a huge hit and I have been trading it to Guam, Virgin Islands, Secret Service, New York and giving a lot of them away because folks are begging for them. Jesse White really wanted one as did Kevin Conlon.
Even a lady in a store mentioned Barack to me. Cabbies mention Barack to me. It is unbelievable.
I am sitting in between Paul Park and Oscar David. We write down the great lines of each speech. In Barack's speech, I stopped writing because we were demonstrating so hard and because I would have had to write down his entire speech. Hope we put on a good show for the viewers at home. We sure tried to be loud.
Rep Wasserman's wife (CA) sat down next to me at the JACPAC luncheon today (thanks Lauren for forwarding that invite to me) and wanted to hear all about Barack Obama.
After the Convention on Tues, there was a huge party for Barack at a night club, but those of you who know yours truly know that I went back to the hotel. Heard it was huge, crowded and loud. I watched the local Boston news talk about Barack's life story till about 2:30 and went to sleep. Here in Boston, they are fixated here on his mixed race background (not the people as much as the media). The Boston Globe apparently found him uninteresting and made no special story in their convention coverage handing the night to Teddy. Now, those of you who know me know I love Teddy, but please. It was Obama's night and that can never be taken away from him.
Our very own Molly Howieson from Kane County was interviewed by Reuters and got into USA today Wed AM edition.
Bye from Boston...
tomorrow will be Wednesday's report...Cheers, JACPac, the north end and Paul Revere, Sharpton, Edwards and a rockin' Mr. Park will be featured.
all for now...its 2:15 and I'm pooped.
Ellen
Wednesday
Day One after Obama speech...we are being stopped on the streets and in the T stations for Obama buttons. Can't keep them on our shirts and coats.
I did not do a whole lot of Convention stuff on Wednesday, morning, but took a T ride and walk up to the North End and looked at the Old North Church and Paul Revere's house. I had lunch in a cute little family Italian Restaurant and walked back to the Ritz Carlton for high tea with JACPAC getting heckled by LaRouch folks again.
Tea was great (although I wasn't too hungry) all fancy with scones and chocolate strawberries and stuff like that. I knew no one at this event and found that many of the attendees were the wives of congressmen. It was a great networking opportunity. I think I mentioned in my Tuesday report that I was questioned about Obama by a lot by these women and I even got to plug my cousin's campaign. I had a great opportunity to have a long talk with Dick Durbin's wife, Loretta. She was telling me that she and the Senator were going on the bus trip with the Obamas to several but not all of the towns. I got to tell her about some of our great local candidates.
After JAC, went back to the hotel to pick up the bus for a party at Hampton House which was the exterior for the Cheers bar for the show of same name. It was a nice party and Hampton House is quite a bit nicer than Cheers was portrayed to be. Did not stay too long as we had to get to the Fleet Center for the all important voting and I really really was not hungry by that time and will be happy not to see shrimp for a while....although I still like Lobster rolls.
Took the shuttle to the Fleet Center (no hecklers), and got in in time to cast my vote for John Kerry and sign the petition for John Edwards. Basically the vote is not all that high tech. We sign a paper and make an X in a box in a column with Kerry's name. I thought that the computer at our Delegation whip post would be where we voted, and now I have no idea what that computer was actually for unless the whips then entered in the info which I did not see.
I was sitting between Paul Park and Oscar David of the 10th District. We had a great time with each other. Paul is very knowledgeable and experienced in politics and public policy, particularly in the Asian community. Oscar is a partner at a law firm and seems like a terrific lawyer because he negotiated a great button trade for me. As distinguished as he is, Paul Park can also be a lot of fun and dances and waves signs along with me. Oscar and I pick out and write down the good lines from the speeches. We also developed a little 10th District chant. Very simple: "10th!" with our fists up in the air. Wendy our delegate no. 1 and highest vote getter must think we are nuts. Lisa from the 1st gave up her credentials to our 10th district alternate, Mike McHugh for the night and Mike promptly became a Whip organizing the orchestration of the alternates musical chairs for the night. Each night the alternates go in and out and trade chairs to replace people who walk out...I asked alternate Gary Klein if that was tiring, but he seemed ok with it.
Speakers included the ever so witty Al Sharpton and Dennis Kucinich. Al Sharpton had several great lines but a couple that I wrote down are: "If Bush was picking members of the Supreme Court when Brown v. Board of Education was decided, Clarence Thomas would have never gone to law school." and "You should not regulate what folks do in the bedroom but help them put food in the kitchen." or something like that. He reminded the Republicans that African American votes are not for sale.
Kuchinch said we will carry Kerry and Kerry will carry America. I really enjoyed the part of his speech where he called for Courage---courage to replace this administration with one that will uphold the Constitution. To Kucinich poverty, joblessness, homelessness and racism are weapons of mass destruction.
Then of course, Elizabeth Edwards and John Edwards spoke. Since that was on prime time, I won't go into the details. Here the speech was very well received. He flashed his signature smile and the crowd adopted John Edwards as their own.
I think I am going to describe to you what it is like on the floor. For Mon-Wed, we had assigned seats. On Thursday, they took off the name stickers on the seats, but people pretty much sat in the same place with a few exceptions. When you get to the Fleet center, you go up 2 long escalators. and walk around to gate 8 which was Illinois. We are in the stadium seating and not directly on the floor, which is much better for seeing. Those on the floor thought they were fortunate until they go there and saw that everyone stands up in front of them and they cannot see. We are very close together and you get friendly with your row real quick.
During the early hours of each night, it is pleasant and there is a lot of room because no one shows up until at least after 7. Beverages are contra band, but most folks had little trouble sneeking them in (I feel I can say that now that the whole thing is over and nothing else got sneeked in.) You can go around to the other delegations, say hi and trade buttons. Everyone is very friendly and talkative.
At around 7, the chair Richardson calls the convention to order, but no one is listening to the early speeches. People are constantly milling up and down the stairs. Between 7:30 and 8, the place starts filling up.
During prime time, we become human props and propmasters. There are several non-human props like signs and flags. Each sign has to be kept down until it is time for it to appear, but people are constantly waiving them early and the whips yell at us (in a more funny and friendly way than actually mad---but Asim became a Whip on Thursday and he did get tough with us ;-). ) We whisper around when each sign or flag is supposed to appear. As the night goes on these signs and props accumulate and it gets a little wild with where to put everything and you have to be careful not to whack your neighbor with whatever you are waiving.
On Wednesday and again on Thursday, they closed the house around 8 not letting anyone in, so if you left to get food or use the restroom you were out for the duration. That was sort of a pain because people did want to use the restroom...you couldn't get up or down the stairs anyway.
After Edwards' speech, we did the roll call. I was particularly looking forward to that as that is what I loved watching so much as a child. It was a bit disappointing because when I was a kid there could be a challenge, but now the outcome is known and everyone is blase about it. Whole states walk out after their roll call is taken. One of the Whips told us at breakfast Thursday morning that IL won for the best roll call. One of the lines was, that IL is a state where someone with a name like Blagojevich can get elected. We yelled a lot and I think we were the loudest delegation at the very least. As per tradition, Alabama and Alaska yielded to Massachusetts and N. Carolina. Ohio was given the honor of putting Kerry over the top. Later on the bus, one of the Ohio delegates told me that they did that because Ohio put Clinton over the top in '92 and they thought it would be good luck. IL cast all votes for Kerry, so our one Edwards vote got changed or the delegate didn't show up and an alternate voted--I know some did not and some alternates did vote.
We left after Ohio put Kerry over the top and then went to dinner in the hotel--had little pizzas and they were great, but anything would have been great by that time.
Tomorrow. Thursday (sorry just too tired tonight to finish): seating woes, Fox News, a great women's caucus, they tell me a great environmental caucus with Robert Kennedy Jr. and more balloons than anyone has ever seen ever. I will also try to go back and remember some of the funnier moments at the IL delegation breakfast. A lot of our local politicians are laugh riots. I will also go into the press frenzy.
Signing off from Boston---would love to stay longer.
Ellen Beth Gill (tired 10th District Delegate)
Thursday
Up early again for a full day. Started out with Breakfast with the IL delegation and speeches by our state leaders. Speaking of the breakfasts, I don't remember if I described them previously. We get breakfast from a local union each morning usually rolls and fruit, sometimes eggs on english muffins and fruit and everyone says good morning and we talk about the previous nights' activities.
Rich Daley chairs the meeting after breakfast and Governor Blagojevich, Connie Howard, Mike Madigan (on Wed and Thursday), the union rep from the union that furnished the breakfast and some state and US reps sit on the panel. On Thursday, Lisa Madigan spoke and started out by saying that she got up that morning, looked in the mirror and realized she was not in college anymore. What we were all thinking about ourselves. Lisa made a very strong speech and was well received. The real comedians of the group are Gov. Blagojevich, Rich Daley and Danny Davis. I found the Governor to be warm and friendly with a terrific sense of humor. He has a quick smile and is always interested in finding out how you are doing. Danny Davis told a funny story to illustrate a point. He went to a family reunion and met an old girlfriend there. They took a walk and she slipped and fell into a river. He tried to pull her out, and took her hand, but her fingernails fell off and he lost her. Then, he grabbed onto her hair and her wig fell off and he lost her. She was screaming for help and he said honey, I am trying but you have to stay together to help me save you. He told it funnier (sorry).
Jan spoke Thursday morning and I saw her again at the women's caucus in the morning. She told her pres bush Obama button story. For those of you who don't know it, here goes. She was meeting with bush on an issue involving Haiti. After an unsatisfactory meeting, she put on her coat and went to shake the president's hand good bye. He looks at her with horror and she notices he is looking at her Obama button. He apparently thought it was an Osama button. Jan explained to the president that it was Obama, the candidate for Senator from IL and bush tells her he never heard of him. Jan responds, you will. By now, he surely has, and Jan adds that she hopes he was not eating pretzels when he watched Obama's speech on Tuesday night.
We took a group picture after that. I was behind a large man and most likely will not be seen in the picture.
Went to the woman's caucus after the breakfast meeting. I must have missed the very beginning, but saw Susan Turnbull who talked about the 22 million women who did not vote in 2000 and urged us to reach out to them. Talked about the schools being built in Iraq but schools closing here (I would add the problem of all the Catholic schools closing because of the budget crisis in the church--a real problem in Chicago.)
Leah Dodrey from the DNC told a story about when she was in S. Africa. When the men were put in prison, a saying was created that goes something like this: now you have touched the women and you have unleashed a boulder and you will be crushed.
Alexis Herman, former head of Women Bureau under carter and Sec. of Labor under Clinton said: the Queens in History compare favorably with the Kings. She talked about the stretch women have to make under the needs of child and elder care. She suggested everyone wear blue on Nov 2...may be a good idea, but I like Barack's better, "there are no red states or blue states, only the United States of America."
Jan spoke at the women's caucus too and talked about Congress practicing medicine without a license and reminded us that when Clarence Thomas was confirmed despite Anita Hill's observations about working for him, it triggered what came to be known as the year of the woman.
Nancy Pelosi's message to women was: "Know your power." Our job is to speak to those women, mostly single women, who don't vote. We are the messengers.
Carol M-B was on fire! Far better than her performance at the convention. She linked the women's, gay rights, civil rights and disability rights movements and described them as the core of the American dream and granting these rights as the ultimate vote of confidence in humanity. We have a stronger society when we tap the talents of a larger portion of the population. Then she shifted into her statistics about representation of women in the US as I heard he say at the Revolutionary women's conference. The new Iraqi constitution will require 25% representation of women in Congress, but in the US we only have about 14%, so it may be that someday soon women will be better represented in Iraq than here. We are no. 58 in the list of countries rated on representation of women in congress or the country's representative body. Carol talked about going to work every day with the likes of Jesse Helms and Trent Lott. She was sure glad to see John Kerry those days. She really likes John Kerry because he is not afraid to surround himself with strong women. A few folks I know need to hear that. Carol closed by saying that we don't have to talk about what is wrong with the current administration because it is so evident.
Peggy and Diana Kerry were at the women's caucus and Peggy spoke. She called for the elimination of the global gag order and reinstatement of funding for UN population control programs that will happen under a Kerry administration.
Elizabeth Edwards introduced Teresa Kerry. She also talked about the women who don't vote. She also talked about some medical research about women and men and how the react in stress situations. It was always thought that all people had the fight or flight reaction, but if was found that women have more of a tend and mend reaction. The fix a crisis and then like to talk about it. I find that to be true in the workplace. Teresa feels that women have been shortchanged of their ability to tend and mend due to time constraints of work and family needs, but we need that to stay whole. Teresa believes that women want love, respect and an opportunity to be who we are. I agree.
Teresa also talked about Barack Obama and said she was a little concerned about speaking after him. She was helped out by Iliana Wexler, the little girl who started kids for Kerry who spoke after Obama but before Teresa. She helped change the tone and get folks attention back. She also mentioned that Obama will be President one day.
After the women's caucus, I went to Fanueil Hall to catch the end of Blagojevich's speech (tee hee), no to grab lunch. There is a market behind the hall called Quincy Market which is really a huge food court, but clean and with better restaurants that in Chicago. I went to Steve's Greek Cuisine and had a huge dinner of Dolamades, rice and salad and half of a huge M&M cookie. Need to eat a lot because the food is not too good at the Fleet Center. Ate outside and watched a homeless women eat a sandwich out of the garbage, felt bad and went over to the homeless vets office and made a donation. There are homeless folks around Boston, far more than in Chicago because Chicago has a policy of forcing them into shelters and pushing them out of the downtown area. Arguments for and against that policy can be made.
Walked around for a while soaking in the sights of Boston and went back to the hotel to change into something respectable to wear for the next President of the United States.
Heard from Bob Wagner of DuPage that I missed a great conference on the environment with Robert Kennedy Jr. I'll let Bob describe it to you, but I wish I had gone from his stories about it.
Bussed over to the Fleet. Grabbed my seat (crucial for this night of great crowds and non-delegates trying to get in and steal our seats) and used the restroom. Now, I normally would not mention that, but do here because that became a major issue at the Fleet on Thursday. We were not allowed to leave the arena and return after about 7-7:30... they finally let us out for a quick break just before 10 to many's relief.
Kathleen from McHenry and I were interviewed by the Tribune. They were asking about Obama and she turned it over to me while I was hoping to take a little nap---thanks Kath. I hope I don't get in actually. I didn't have the Obama talking points and the interview took me by surprise. I tried to avoid the press as much as possible during the convention only giving one official interview to Pioneer Press because they are so good about printing my op eds.
Mr. Park did not attend Thurs night, but Oscar came late and we had to argue to get him his seat back. Fox news people sat to my left and that really irritated me. I did not want to spend the final day next to a couple of republicans. So, I got newly appointed Whip, Asim, to boot them out of the Illinois delegation. Thanks Asim! Seats were not reserved on Thursday as our name tags had been pulled off, so it was first come first serve, but the whips did a great job getting seats for delegates and several non-delegate dignitaries sat on the floor, so we felt very democratic. Needless to say, the place was packed.
Early speeches were not paid much attention unfortunately. Joe Biden and Joe Lieberman spoke and probably went on too long. Lieberman lost the crowd about half way through his speech. The duo got my ZZZZZZZZZZZZ award for the night.
Carol King sang You've got a Friend. Did TV show that?
The Band of Brothers came on with Jim Wasser from our delegation. Max Cleland spoke and I know that was on TV because my mom commented to me what a terrific speaker he was.
The movie. I know you all saw that. I thought it was great.
Alex and Vanessa and a hamster. Since you saw it no need to describe.
Kerry. You saw it, you decide. I thought it was great, but I was not surprised. I had seen him in Iowa and this was no different. His message is the same. His message is detailed and people can feel good about his nomination. The first time I met Sen. Kerry , he told me he can take care of us and he can beat bush. I believed him then and I believe him now. About half way through Oscar proclaimed. "We're going to win." The sign choreography got a little tense during Kerry's speech. America can do Better and Help is on the Way got dicey, but I finally got into a rythm of going back and forth by putting them back to back and upside down from each other.
Back to the bus with Kathy and Molly. We were pooped. Molly got a call from her sister. We learned that the press was giving JK a homerun on the speech. "We are going to win," rung in my head.
No Surrender by Springstein and U2's Beautiful Day capped off the night and hundreds of #&^%$ (or so the TV audience heard) balloons. Balloon fights followed and more confetti that I care to think about. I heard over a ton. Confetti all over the place on the way back to the bus, in the bus, in the hotel, in the hotel room and in my clothing and camera bag. I think I brought some home to Deerfield with me. Oscar took the end of my roll of film because he's taller and I hope he got some good shots with it. We are going to clamor for a DVD of the Convention. I would love to have a copy as I missed a lot by being late (Gore, Richards) and by dealing with the whip directed musical chairs and choreographed visibility. I know they need to do that, but I wondered if the founding fathers had that in mind when the signed the Constitution and later developed the 2 party system.
Friday AM and delegates are going home. My plane is not till 4, so I have some time and walk down toward the ocean. Stopped at my favorite Boston cemetery where James Otis, John Hancock, Sam Adams and Paul Revere are buried. Only Sam Adams is under his grave marker, but the rest are somewhere under there. Someone got the great idea of moving the headstones to accommodate that new invention, the lawnmower. As I visited the patriots, I thought "We are going to win." We have to win to keep the Revolution alive. "We are going to win."
This has been my report of the 2004 Democratic National Committee Convention. I decided to make it more personal than a just a list of speeches and tried not to go on too much with stuff you saw, but it was hard to know what you saw because so much was not shown by the media. I was trying to give you a picture of what happened down on the floor as best I could with little sleep and food. Hope you enjoyed it and got a picture of what it was like to be down on the floor. I was so fortunate that I was able to go and wanted to share it with as many of you as I could. Thanks to those who helped send me. I will upload some pictures this weekend. I mostly used my analog camera because of the better lens situation and have to get the film developed.
Ellen's Ratings (just for fun)
Boston as a city--A
Boston as a convention center--B
Fleet Center--D
Food in Boston--A+
T--A+
Quincy Market--A+
Faneuil Hall where our Gov spoke at 4:00 am in the men's room (maybe 2008 will be your year, Gov)--A+ as a shopping area
Highway system in Boston--C
Traffic in Boston--C
Big Dig--pain still after 12 or so years
New Convention Center--B (we could not use it because the bridge over the river to the place is not complete and down to 1 lane. It would have been a mess. However, Revolutionary Women's conference was there and it was pretty nice and had that new car smell)
Illinois Delegation--A+++++++++++++++
Other Delegations--A
Lion King (went Sat night)--A
Boat Tour on the Atlantic and Whale watching (went Sunday---boy oh boy was it cold)--C (not because it was cold, but because the boat was filthy and under equipped with seats)
Convention Security--C (seemed to me anyone could get in with little effort)
Best Hecklers--the singing LaRouchies
Most Polite Protesters--the Falon Dong
Boston's Theatre District--A
Boston's China Town--A
Logan Airport--C-
O'Hare Airport--A
Loudest Speaker--Hillary
Most ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ speaker--Joe Lieberman
Has IT--Bill, Hillary, Gore (but I missed it so I'm going on other's opinions and previous experiences seeing him), Obama, John Kerry
On way to acquiring IT--Iliana Wexler, John Edwards, Alex Kerry
Had IT lost IT--sorry to say but it's Teddy--good speech but without the old Teddy magic
Never had IT--Biden
Has IT sometimes--Carol Moseley-Braun
My personal favorite other than Kerry and Obama--Madeleine Albright
Local Favorite--Terry Link for his cheerfulness, helpfulness to Jim and Bonnie
Best story--Jan's Obama button story
Best Moment for me--getting my picture taken with the Gov. Thanks Mike McHugh
Best Moment for the Delegation---need I say it O BA MA O BA MA
Best Moment of the Convention--when Oscar said "We are going to win."
Best Line-- "There is no conservative America or liberal America. There is the United States of America."
Places in which Carol's buttons have found a home: Guam, Virginia, Ohio, New York, Virgin Islands, Hawaii, California, Idaho, Maine, Secret Service and all across Illinois.
Ellen
Final Thoughts
Been back a week now and got my pictures developed. Looking back on the Convention with some time and sleep, I can see it in a little different light. It was a tremendous experience and I thank everyone who helped me get there from Kate Evans in the Kerry Campaign who suggested me for the slate, to Lauren Beth Gash who taught me how to get ballot signatures the right way, to Helen, my 89-year-old neighbor who knocked on all the doors in our building to get me ballot signatures, to my friend Julie who stood out in the freezing cold helping me collect signatures, to my dad, Jules Gill, who served as my campaign manager and helped me get that bump in Cook County.
The Convention itself was atypical as the first convention after September 11. There were police and soldiers everywhere. The police were actually helpful and polite. They gave us directions when asked and pretty much left us alone otherwise. The soldiers with automatic weapons, were another story. Although they did not bother us, their presence on the streets of Boston were a sad testament to where we have gone as a county. I hope we don't get used to having the soldiers around and always see them through the eyes of Massachusetts' John Adams as no better than British soldiers quartering in colonists homes in the 1770s.
Many people in my district were concerned that the protests would not be seen or heard. On the first night we walked through the protesters, but after that, we saw few protesters. I think that was because we went in a different way and not because they had left or been forced to leave, but we did see some police overreaction to protests on television. Nonetheless, it was a far cry from 1968 Chicago. Protests were quieter, in fact, some downright polite like the Falon Dong. In a way, that is sad too. The problems in the world are no less horrible than in 1968. Have we changed? Do we care less? Or do we work through things more from within than as outside protesters?
The Convention was little broadcast. The networks broadcasted only one hour each night. So much for their duty to the public in exchange for rights to our air waives. The media is certainly no longer doing its job as the forth estate which leaves us open to all sorts of treachery. That is a huge worry that few are thinking about.
The Convention itself is only a string of speeches and networking opportunities. No more haggling over the platform; our roll call vote was of little real meaning as it was all said and done after the Illinois primary when John Kerry earned enough committed delegates to win the nomination. That is not entirely a bad thing--certainly more democratic than the back room deals made at conventions past, but a whole lot less fun. Maybe we need to be creative and come up with something for the future that will get out the message to more voters and in a way that will be more meaningful and helpful to them.
The speeches were for the most part great. John Kerry was clear, detailed and inspiring and he did far better than his opponents and detractors hoped he would. Bill Clinton's speech will go down in history, as will Barack Obama's. Also, outstanding, but little discussed, was Dennis Kucinich who urged American's to have courage, probably the most important message of this election.
Howard Dean received a huge ovation and probably cannot figure out how he lost. He retained his sense of humor though. I hope he sticks with DFA and ends up remembered more for his hard work to end the Bush empire and bring back democracy to America than that scream which no longer seems so bad.
Probably the most meaningful part of the convention for me were the Revolutionary Women's Conference and the Women's Caucuses. I will be directing a lot of my future energy to getting out the women's vote in Illinois.
There was much controversy over the presence of all those Generals and the Band of Brothers. One delegate said he thought it was fitting because the Vietnam Vets returned to nothing but protests and distain and deserved their time in the sun once and for all. I certainly think Del Sandusky and Jim Wasser, two fine Illinoisans I have had the privilege of meeting, deserved their due once and for all. It was also important to show the country that Democrats cannot be made out as they have in the past and that John Kerry represents a strong Democratic party that aims to make the country strong economically, militarily and strong in freedom and ideals for the greater good of humanity.
I wish I had seen more of John Kerry at the Convention. It was nothing like campaigning in Iowa with him where we could see and even talk to him all the time. John Kerry will be absent from us personally from now on, but he'll be out there campaigning for our futures and he will need our help. We have to keep going, re-inspired by the great people we met along the way and the great speeches we heard at the Convention.
posted by Ellen Beth at
7/31/2004 09:36:00 PM
