The Roll Call, Biden, and Baby Gap

WEDNESDAY, MIDNIGHT - I've come to the conclusion that I prefer conventions in old cities. In places like Boston or Chicago, you roll out of bed, splash on some High-Karate After-Shave, and walk the six blocks from the hotel to the convention center. In newer cities, everything is so spread out that it takes you 90 minutes to go from anything to any other thing. The hotel we are staying in is nowhere near the Pepsi Center. In fact, it's not even in Denver, but rather is technically located in North Vietnam. So leaving the hotel is a real commitment. If you get on the train and realize that you forgot your hair gel (believe me, it was a nightmare!), there's no going back.

The distance involved also means you have to constantly be planning. For example, yesterday I wanted to make sure I got the convention in time for the roll call, so I had to budget my time carefully. I had to plan to leave the EMILY's List meeting at 3:15, a full 45 minutes before I planned to even get there. That was tight, but I feel I gained some real insight into Einstein's Unified Field Theory of space and time.

Being at the roll call was important to me for several reasons. First, as a delegate, I was actually elected by the people to do this job, so it's good form to show up. But beyond that, I've always loved the convention roll call. It is truly a slice of Americana. For those who haven't seen it, each state has some representative stand up and report to the chair how they intend to cast their votes. But merely reciting the numbers is never enough, you have to give a cultural overview of your state. So for example, you may see someone in a hat shaped like a cheese-wedge stand up and say:

"Madame Chair, the great state of Wisconsin, the proud home of the "Fighting-Lifers" national inter-prison league basketball champions, the birthplace of cheese, cheese bi-products, both toxic and non-toxic, and artificial cheese-like food, and the future home of the Oshkosh Nuclear Waste Repository, proudly casts 47 votes for the next President of the United States, Dennis Kucinich!"

Despite this being my 6th convention, it is my first as a delegate, so I really wanted to be a part of this process. I made it to the Pepsi Center just as the chair was hearing Florida's votes being cast ("The Great State of Florida, where David Hasselhoff once lived..."). I shot a quick glare at Katie Couric and did the thing where I point to my eyes then to hers to let her know I was watching her. She flashed the same back to me as I approached Governor Rendell. I had some definite ideas about what I wanted the Governor to say when it was Pennsylvania's turn to vote.

Representing Upper Merion, I thought he should mention the King of Prussia Mall, or if not the whole mall, than at least the Baby Gap, which I think is a particularly good one. I suggested mentioning Ho Sai Gai, my favorite Chinese restaurant, although he didn't have me go into great detail about my favorite dish. After all, it’s not all about me. However, half-way through my four page list, I noticed that Mayor Nutter was talking on the phone in a very animated and agitated way. He was upset because we just got word that Pennsylvania was not going to get to vote after all. The roll call was going to be cut off at New York when Hillary would move to nominate Barack Obama by acclimation. Apparently this was the deal the two campaigns had negotiated, and it had to be timed just right so Hillary could make her motion right at the beginning of the nightly network newscasts.

I actually thought this was a mistake. If the point of having the roll-call at all was the "catharsis" that had been talked about so much over the past couple of weeks, then why not have every state and every delegate participate? But this argument, eloquently made by Mayor Nutter, did not carry the day. The last state to vote was New York. I was upset because we didn't do our part of the roll-call and because despite my best arguments the New York delegation didn't seem at all interested in mentioning the King of Prussia Mall, or Ho Sai Gai, or my favorite Barber (also on the list).

The rest of the night was very exciting. Obviously President Clinton and Joe Biden got a lot of attention. When President Clinton was introduced, the place went nuts and there was a glimpse of the sort of old-fashioned demonstrations you used to see at political conventions. Clinton couldn't get the crowd to stop cheering for a good 10 minutes, but that's nothing compared to the old days when demonstrations would sometimes go on for hours. However, in the modern television age, this sort of thing is not practical. In 1972 demonstrations kept George McGovern from giving his acceptance speech until 2:30 in the morning, when it lost in the ratings to a rerun episode of "Nanny and the Professor". Since then, conventions are much more disciplined. I understand why, but it is sad that things have to be so precisely scripted.

The big surprise of the evening for me was how good John Kerry was. He was forceful, witty, cogent and inspiring. Like Al Gore, he's much better now than he was when he ran. As a Democrat, I can't tell you how grateful I am to our candidates who are catastrophic when they are running, but get really, really good once they've lost. That's just wonderful. No hurry fellas!! Take your time! If you need a couple of extra years to get your act together, no problem! Maybe the current Phillies will just whack one ball after the other out of the park in 2028's old-timer's game. That would be swell!

Tonight's the big night. It seems that the rumors of Bruce Springsteen playing are unfounded. Although I hear we may get to see Seals and Croft, but without any of the original members. It seems that Barack has an impossible task tonight. He has to be rousing and inspiring, but not so much that he comes across as an elitist. He has to be specific enough to show he has substance, but not present some laundry-list of proposals. He's got to come across as wise and experienced, but also fresh and new. And he has to do it all while living up to the news media-hype which has painted him as the best speech giver in history. I don't know how he does it. But that's why, even though we are exactly the same age, he will be walking out in front of 150 million people tonight, while I'll be saying "you gonna eat that?" to a stranger sitting next to me at the Tennessee Bar-B-Que buffet.

Tomorrow: Final Thoughts