Last Thoughts from Denver
THURSDAY - The final day of the convention began as the others had; with me singing Sonny and Cher songs in the elevator. Midway between the second verse of "I Got You Babe", and a delegate from Mississippi telling me he was going to "pop me one" if I didn't stop singing, I learned that newly minted Vice-Presidential nominee Joe Biden would be coming to the Pennsylvania breakfast. Every morning each delegation has a breakfast where delegates eat a liquid yellowish substance that had apparently been eggs at one time and gather their credentials for the day. At each such breakfast, there are usually two speakers. The first is the corporate sponsor of the breakfast. So, for example, if a breakfast is sponsored by Philip Morris, their Vice-President in charge of Medical Obfuscation will get up and say a few words about the health benefits of unfiltered menthol cigarettes. Then a politician gets up and gives some variation of the following speech:
We're gonna win!
Once, during the 1984 convention, some Governor got up and gave a famous, but less well received "We're gonna get crushed like a dog under a bulldozer" speech. He was not asked back. Joe Biden's speech, while hardly groundbreaking, certainly was exciting and his Scranton heritage made us Pennsylvanians feel like we were in the center of the action. By the end, people were on their feet, chanting "Joe, Joe, Joe!!" I sort of tuned out for a while, so I can only guess that by "Joe" the crowd was referring to Biden, although I suppose it’s possible there was a sudden, spontaneous outpouring of affection for boxing legend Joe Frazier, for whatever reason.
After Joe left and we gathered our credentials, it was time to begin heading to the INVESCO field where Barack Obama was giving his much-anticipated acceptance speech. We left five hours before the speech was scheduled to start in order to "beat the line". And we did beat all but about three and a half miles of the line. I leaned several things while waiting. First, if you are going to be standing in the hot sun for hours, milk and raw clams is a really bad snack choice. Also, if you must stand next to someone that long, avoid the guy wearing the "Ask me about AMWAY!" pin on his shirt.
Finally we made it onto the field and into the Pennsylvania delegation's area. Unlike the previous three nights, I was not sitting immediately next to Katie Couric. Although we had feuded all week, I could swear I saw her looking wistfully at me from her CBS News booth 40 feet away. Maybe, if we meet again, perhaps at the 2012 convention, we can actually be friends. And maybe she will agree to take a picture with me, and even not scream “SECURITY!!” whenever I started climbing into the CBS booth to chat.
As the hours passed waiting for Barack to come out we were treated to a speech by Al Gore and musical performances by Sheryl Crow, Michael McDonald and Stevie Wonder. People were tossing Barack Obama volleyballs around and dancing in the aisles. No one seemed to want to play the game of Parcheesi that I brought with me, but I did manage to engage Morgan Fairchild in a contest to see who could count higher. The best line of the night prior to Barack was delivered by one of the six "average Americans" who spoke just before Barack came on. His name was Barney Smith (I'm not making this up) and he had lost his job. He said "We need a president who cares as much about Barney Smith as Smith Barney". The crowd exploded.
Barney was clearly chosen to speak because of his name. I just wonder how the campaign found him. They could have just called all the Barney Smith's in the phone book hoping to find one that was unemployed, and who also didn't own any stock in Smith Barney. Failing that, they could have moved on and interviewed Whitter Dean, Stanley Morgan, or Brothers Lehman. Maybe they could have branched out to other businesses that lay off people and interviewed King Burger.
Finally, after a short biographical video Barack came out onto the stage. He didn't trip, so I paid Governor Rendell the five bucks I lost as a result of that. Then, after about five minutes of cheering and flag-waving, the 84,000 attendees became completely silent. It was the sort of silence you only hear in a cave, or during Roseanne Barr's stand-up act. He then proceeded to give the best political speech I'd ever seen. Either you saw it or you didn't. If you did, you know. If not, no words that I write could do it justice. I would only add two observations.
First, for African Americans in the audience, this was a very profound moment. As John Lewis said when he spoke, a black man accepting the nomination of a major party for President of the United States was something they talked about to inspire each other, but never really thought they'd live to see. The fact that it was actually happening, on the exact date of Dr. King's "I have a dream" speech, seemed to be culmination of a century of struggle. Obviously I couldn't personally touch the deepest levels of emotion that this produced. I could only stand back, and watch the reaction of those who bathed in the full, unfathomable meaning of the moment. But I feel that even that vicarious melding of this moment in my life to their lifetimes of overcoming changed me. And as my mom says, "anything that changes you Daylin, has to be good."
Finally, as the speech went on I felt I should pause to notice what I was learning and what I was relearning. I view great political speeches as a chance to renew my own sense of purpose. I came away from Barack's speech pledging to reconnect with first principals as a public servant. Always challenge yourself and your audience. Talk about real things and confront real problems rather than campaigning on stale, political hack negative attacks. Seize the moment and be fearless. These sound obvious, but are easily forgotten. I am grateful to Barack for recharging my moral battery.
After we poured out of INVESCO and returned to our hotel, I celebrated the day with some awful nachos, as one does. This convention, like all of them, was an exhilarating experience and regenerating experience. There is nothing like the American political convention anywhere else in the world. In much of the world, you would be executed for attending an event like this. As long as I am ambulatory, I plan to go to the DNC every four years for the rest of my life. If you have a chance, you should go yourself. If you do, try to get a picture with Katie Couric and E-mail it to me.
We're gonna win!
Once, during the 1984 convention, some Governor got up and gave a famous, but less well received "We're gonna get crushed like a dog under a bulldozer" speech. He was not asked back. Joe Biden's speech, while hardly groundbreaking, certainly was exciting and his Scranton heritage made us Pennsylvanians feel like we were in the center of the action. By the end, people were on their feet, chanting "Joe, Joe, Joe!!" I sort of tuned out for a while, so I can only guess that by "Joe" the crowd was referring to Biden, although I suppose it’s possible there was a sudden, spontaneous outpouring of affection for boxing legend Joe Frazier, for whatever reason.
After Joe left and we gathered our credentials, it was time to begin heading to the INVESCO field where Barack Obama was giving his much-anticipated acceptance speech. We left five hours before the speech was scheduled to start in order to "beat the line". And we did beat all but about three and a half miles of the line. I leaned several things while waiting. First, if you are going to be standing in the hot sun for hours, milk and raw clams is a really bad snack choice. Also, if you must stand next to someone that long, avoid the guy wearing the "Ask me about AMWAY!" pin on his shirt.
Finally we made it onto the field and into the Pennsylvania delegation's area. Unlike the previous three nights, I was not sitting immediately next to Katie Couric. Although we had feuded all week, I could swear I saw her looking wistfully at me from her CBS News booth 40 feet away. Maybe, if we meet again, perhaps at the 2012 convention, we can actually be friends. And maybe she will agree to take a picture with me, and even not scream “SECURITY!!” whenever I started climbing into the CBS booth to chat.
As the hours passed waiting for Barack to come out we were treated to a speech by Al Gore and musical performances by Sheryl Crow, Michael McDonald and Stevie Wonder. People were tossing Barack Obama volleyballs around and dancing in the aisles. No one seemed to want to play the game of Parcheesi that I brought with me, but I did manage to engage Morgan Fairchild in a contest to see who could count higher. The best line of the night prior to Barack was delivered by one of the six "average Americans" who spoke just before Barack came on. His name was Barney Smith (I'm not making this up) and he had lost his job. He said "We need a president who cares as much about Barney Smith as Smith Barney". The crowd exploded.
Barney was clearly chosen to speak because of his name. I just wonder how the campaign found him. They could have just called all the Barney Smith's in the phone book hoping to find one that was unemployed, and who also didn't own any stock in Smith Barney. Failing that, they could have moved on and interviewed Whitter Dean, Stanley Morgan, or Brothers Lehman. Maybe they could have branched out to other businesses that lay off people and interviewed King Burger.
Finally, after a short biographical video Barack came out onto the stage. He didn't trip, so I paid Governor Rendell the five bucks I lost as a result of that. Then, after about five minutes of cheering and flag-waving, the 84,000 attendees became completely silent. It was the sort of silence you only hear in a cave, or during Roseanne Barr's stand-up act. He then proceeded to give the best political speech I'd ever seen. Either you saw it or you didn't. If you did, you know. If not, no words that I write could do it justice. I would only add two observations.
First, for African Americans in the audience, this was a very profound moment. As John Lewis said when he spoke, a black man accepting the nomination of a major party for President of the United States was something they talked about to inspire each other, but never really thought they'd live to see. The fact that it was actually happening, on the exact date of Dr. King's "I have a dream" speech, seemed to be culmination of a century of struggle. Obviously I couldn't personally touch the deepest levels of emotion that this produced. I could only stand back, and watch the reaction of those who bathed in the full, unfathomable meaning of the moment. But I feel that even that vicarious melding of this moment in my life to their lifetimes of overcoming changed me. And as my mom says, "anything that changes you Daylin, has to be good."
Finally, as the speech went on I felt I should pause to notice what I was learning and what I was relearning. I view great political speeches as a chance to renew my own sense of purpose. I came away from Barack's speech pledging to reconnect with first principals as a public servant. Always challenge yourself and your audience. Talk about real things and confront real problems rather than campaigning on stale, political hack negative attacks. Seize the moment and be fearless. These sound obvious, but are easily forgotten. I am grateful to Barack for recharging my moral battery.
After we poured out of INVESCO and returned to our hotel, I celebrated the day with some awful nachos, as one does. This convention, like all of them, was an exhilarating experience and regenerating experience. There is nothing like the American political convention anywhere else in the world. In much of the world, you would be executed for attending an event like this. As long as I am ambulatory, I plan to go to the DNC every four years for the rest of my life. If you have a chance, you should go yourself. If you do, try to get a picture with Katie Couric and E-mail it to me.
posted by DNC blogger at
5:58 PM
1 Comments:
Daylin....thanks for your insights and for putting the choice we have to make in November in perspective....maybe you'll have better luck with Katie next time!
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