Published: August 29, 2008 10:35 pm      

A ‘phenomenal’ night for Dems

Kay Douglas is a member of the Walker County Democratic Party and is attending the National Convention in Denver.



I can’t believe I lived through the convention!

Of course, I am not quite home yet, but I have made it through all of the scheduled events. My real challenge will be to repack my suitcase with all of the new goodies that have attached themselves to me. I wasn’t that good at packing the first time.

Anyway, last night was phenomenal as you probably know. More than 75,000 people at a political event! And what an event it was! I got on the bus at my hotel at about 2:30 yesterday afternoon for the 30 minute ride to Invesco Field. Once at the stadium, we were overwhelmed by the incredibly long lines to get in. As delegates, we went in through a special entrance but there were still some 5,000 of us to be searched prior to entry. That actually only took about 15 minutes and then we were off to find where our delegation was seated. All the delegates were on the stadium floor and Texas was near the front.

The stadium was fairly warm with the sun shining brightly overhead. Even that early, the excitement was palpable and grew as the stadium filled and the sun receded. There were plenty of speakers and musicians. It was especially impressive when a large group of generals took the stage and expressed their support and confidence in Barack Obama’s ability to serve as Commander-in-Chief.

I was especially pleased that Gov. Bill Richardson got to do the speech that got bumped the night before. I was very proud of his early support of Barack and the inspirational endorsement speech he made. I also admired his courage during the debates when he was asked if he would issue drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. When others were running from the question, he boldly said "I would and I did." and then went on to explain why that protected the citizens of this country.

I loved the four or five people who spoke about the personal challenges in their lives with health care and job loss, etc. and how that prompted them to become interested in this presidential race and why they now support Barack. I also loved seeing and hearing Dwight Eisenhower’s granddaughter. They demonstrated the depth and breadth of the need and hunger for change in this country.

Of course, the musicians were great, from John Legend and Will i am to Stevie Wonder, to Sheryl Crow to Michael McDonald. The only other person we expected was Bruce Springsteen but they at least played his songs. When you sit for six hours, music goes a long way. I suspected the crowd was bored and a little restless when the entire stadium began to do the wave which went on for several minutes.

Al Gore was very well received and brought a much needed spotlight on issues of global warming and our responsibility to lead the world in coming up with solutions.

Star sightings included Spike Lee and Steven Spielberg (though he kept insisting he wasn’t).

Finally, the long-awaited acceptance speech. There were so many things that the pundits said he had to accomplish with the speech that expectations were through the roof. Amazingly, I think he met and exceeded those expectations. The video shown right before the speech further introduced him and his family to the American public. Then his speech was both substantive and hard hitting. It laid out the specifics of the change he hopes to bring to America and did it in short sound bites that the public is used to hearing. He spoke to the economy, education, health care and national security. He also spoke of both individual responsibility and the responsibility of government to do those things which we cannot do for ourselves. He drew sharp contrasts between his positions and those of John McCain.

He concluded with the need to build new partnerships to address the threats of the 21st century and urged us to cast off the politics of the past and fulfill the American Promise. On the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s "I Have A Dream" speech, it was pretty clear that we are on the brink of witnessing the fulfillment of that dream.

The speech made me extremely proud to be a Democrat and an American. It is incredible to be able to enthusiastically support and vote for a candidate rather than to vote against the other guy. It makes me want to spread the word, roll up my sleeves and work harder in the next 65 days than I ever have before. I don’t want to wake up on Nov. 5 and wish I had done more. I hope you will join me.