Witnessing History

Tears were rolling down people’s faces in the crowd. There was a woman from Selma, Al. who told me she never believed this was actually possible, that a black man would one day accept a major party nomination. She was wiping away tears throughout his speech and during the biographical video that came before it.

I stood on the field alongside the California delegation, my own people, to witness history in the making. “With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for President of the United States.” Sure, I kept listening, but that was the line that marked a significant break from a pattern in history. It has been said by many men before but never by a black man, never by a skinny boy with a funny name.

The speech had everything necessary – policy, inspiration, challenges to McCain. It was the best speech that I have ever seen. It was aggressive yet moving. Political yet emotional. If you haven’t watched it, I highly recommend it. At the same time, I re-watched part of it on TV later in the evening and have to say, while you can probably hear more at home, you miss the excitement and fervor of the crowd.

One thing that I have to mention was the spectacle of it all. It was a profoundly moving speech but it was also an absolutely thrilling day at Invesco. The venue was enormous and approximately 85,000 attended, according to pass scans. That meant incredible mile long lines for security. Getting there took patience but getting out was a mob scene. Luckily during the day, people trickled into Invesco at different times but when it was over, everyone wanted to leave and that meant tearing down fences, walking on train tracks, doing anything that they could to get to their parking spots a half mile away (the closest parking).

Inside Invesco it was a party. People were dancing, singing, cheering, and with live performances by Stevie Wonder and Sheryl Crow it was truly a celebration.

First Things First

Before I get into all the details of my experience at Invesco and the earth-shattering-once-in-a-lifetime-had-to-be-a-movie grandeur, I first must mention the incredible invocation given last night by my good friend Rabbi David Saperstein. When he first came out, I had a blocked view so I started running toward the front. Everyone was still and they weren’t going to let me pass so I had to tell the guard “You don’t understand, he’s family. He’s my uncle.” I lied to get a better view for praying – should I repent for that on Rosh Hashanah?

David did an incredible job. One woman afterwards turned to me and said, “I hear that’s your uncle. Tell him he sent shivers down my spine that was so good.” The whole place was in awe.

Night Three: Fire Marshalled

Last night I actually had to work at the Pepsi Center – my job being handing out floor passes to the press. Working usually means I get a few minutes to sneak on to the floor and hear some of the keynote speeches of the night. Last night, there was chaos of course and not only did I not make it on to the floor, few journalists did.

When Hillary Clinton came out to speak on Tuesday night, the fire marshal shut down access but I didn’t experience it, I was already on the floor. Last night, trying to sneak in for a few minutes of Bill Clinton or Joe Biden was damn near impossible. Journalists crowded monitors on the concourses and people reluctantly admitted, “Well, I can just watch it on YouTube. It’s important to just be here.”

Journalist pile at monitor to watch Bill Clinton from outside the arena

While I was stuck outside the hall, I could definitely hear the 3:30 minutes of cheering before Clinton could begin to speak. The crowd went wild for him, which reassured me and him that any ill will toward Bill that came as a result of the Obama-Clinton heated battle is all just history now. The Democratic Party still loves him, he is still one of their leaders.

The speech was phenomenal. There was no glimpse of any animosity that has rumored to be haunting Bill Clinton, who in many ways wagered his legacy on the success of his wife’s campaign. He made it clear he supports Obama (whether that will translate into campaigning, we have yet to see) and Bill put policy substance into an inspiring speech (something that maybe Obama should take note of). Bill Clinton has a clear understanding of the issues facing America and a lot of policy solutions that he has no authority to implement. It must be hard to be term-limited out of the presidency when you’re too young to retire  and too determined to give up. That is why Hillary losing the race is probably more troubling and upsetting to Bill than it is to anyone else. 

Bill Clinton is always a tough act to follow, so I’ll admit that I’m a bit nervous about whether Obama can pull it off this evening.

After Bill Clinton exited the stage I got a text from a close friend saying that Obama was rumored to be backstage. That meant I couldn’t miss Biden, I had to watch. I ran up to the radio booths where I knew I could get in and see as much as possible. Up there looking down I heard an inspiring heartfelt speech from his son, Beau Biden. I cried. I really did.

Biden came out and gave a good, not too long speech (which is a miracle for him). I’ll admit, while I listened to it, the really memorable part was when he introduced his mother who was in the audience, and then when Barack Obama made his debut to the convention.

When Obama came out the room went wild and everyone was shocked. It was my first time seeing Biden and Obama embracing and I’ll admit, they good together. They compliment each other and really do make a great pair.

Unfortunately, I have to run without time to really finish this post. But don’t worry, I’ll be back.

Riots On The Streets of Denver… I Mean Riot Gear

Yesterday I spent the day handing out credentials to TV and Radio organizations in a banquet room in the basement of the downtown Sheraton. So while I didn’t get to experience much of the hubbub outside, there was plenty going on inside the hotel, including the arrival of delegates from more states than I think are in the union. I was even able to get my hands on a rare Jobama Button (not an official campaign button, but very fun). It’s quite impressive how quickly it was made considering Obama named Biden a little over 24 hours earlier.

Denver is alive with a Democratic fervor. People are energized and ready for the convention to get underway this evening. The police presence is an interesting visual addition to the bustling streets. We’re not talking just beat cops, we’re talking officers and the national guard in full riot gear. The Recreate 68 demonstration that was expecting tens of thousands of people yesterday, ended up with closer to a thousand attendees, which many are saying is because there was so much talk about the potential for violence and the heavy police presence.

Walking by the civic center park yesterday evening, I saw a bunch of marijuana-legalization enthusiasts smoking pot out in the open, in front of the capital building and discussing how since the cops are so preoccupied, they have nothing to worry about. While I don’t think that everyone will have as much luck with getting away with crimes, heightened security may mean confusion and leniency on non-convention related violations.

It is an interesting mix here in Denver. There are the Democratic elites, including delegates, that are wedded to the party and the process, and there are the die hard liberals that feel the party should be much further to the left than it actually is. Recreate ’68 may have better luck later in the week in attracting support but I doubt we will see anything even closely resembling the ’68 Democratic convention. For the most part, Obama – being against the war from the beginning – is attracting all degrees of the left of center crowd.

Descent may only be coming from those pesky Hillary Clinton hold outs. We’ll see how that unravels.

Bad Blogger But GOING TO DENVER

I know I haven’t posted in a long time. There has been ample to blog about too, which is even more depressing. I know I have disappointed my “readers” but the truth of the matter is I’m not really a blogger at all. I don’t want to write about things unless I’m there experiencing them first hand. I have little aspiration to be a great blogger, but rather a great journalist. My blog would be the perfect forum for political discussion if I were in fact a political journalist with years of insight. Unfortunately, I am not that political expert… not yet. While I would love to make my blog all about me and what I see as the future of the American political system, the truth is that what I have to say as a 22 year old recent college graduate has little merit. I need to earn some degree of understanding, some experience before I am capable of making sound judgments, until I can make this a forum of insight.

What I do have insight on as of now, is what I have experienced first hand – what I can report to my readers. That is what made my adventures in Iowa and New Hampshire worth reading.

Luckily for you, I will be at the Democratic National Convention next week in Denver and will once again have an inside look as to what the situation is on the ground. I’ll be back with insights, interviews, on the scene reporting. Can’t wait to share!

So start reading again and you’ll see me at the convention!

The Audacity Of Hillary Clinton… and Her Supporters

Washington D.C. – At an all day meeting Saturday the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee decided to seat all Florida and Michigan delegates granting them half-votes at the Democratic National Convention in August. This same committee had stripped Florida and Michigan of all their delegates in December as a penalty for moving their primaries to January and not abiding by the DNC’s primary schedule.

The 30 member committee, made up of DNC elites – many of whom have endorsed either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, met at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington D.C. Also attending the meeting (and the rally outside the hotel) were droves of Hillary Clinton supporters from all over the country. I spoke to supporters from California, Ohio, New York, Florida and South Carolina – all who had journeyed to the nation’s capitol just to show their support for their candidate and to make the case that every vote should count.

Senator Hillary Clinton won a decisive victory in both Florida and Michigan but those victories came with asterisks since no candidates campaigned in Florida and Senator Barack Obama had taken his name off the Michigan ballot. In order to save her campaign, Hillary Clinton needed the committee to decide on what supporters were calling “the just” allocation of delegates – full voting ability for all delegates and allocations based on the results of the primaries that were held. This meant that in Michigan, with Barack Obama not on the ballot, 73 delegates would be allocated to Clinton with 55 remaining “uncommitted.” The Clinton campaign was grossly disappointed when they were allotted 69 delegates and Barack Obama 59. Clinton campaign advisor and committee member Harold Ickes accused the committee of “hijacking four delegates.”

Once Michigan was decided, Clinton supporters in the room shouted “Denver! Denver! Denver!” and Harold Ickes announced that “Mrs. Clinton has told me to reserve her right to take this to the Credentials Committee” at the convention. Later, in an interview with me outside the hotel, when asked how their argument to the credentialing committee will be Harold Ickes said, “Basically the argument is that [the Rules and Bylaws Committee] have violated the rules, they don’t have the power… our committee does not have the power or the authority to do what we did. We don’t have it. It’s illegal. What we did is blatantly illegal and prohibited by our charter.”

CLINTON SUPPORTERS AND THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY

Regardless of the Clinton campaign’s next step, there is a lot to be worried about in the Democratic party. Inside the meeting there was a lot of talk about the need for party unity; outside Clinton supporters made it clear there would be no party unity without their candidate.

Clinton supporter Cynthia Ulbado, who prides herself on being four of Clinton’s top demographics (female, middle-aged, Catholic, and Latino), came in from Columbus, OH to attend the meeting. Ulbaldo has worked vigorously for her candidate – traveling to five states, making hundreds of phone calls, and leading fundraising efforts for Team Hillary in Columbus. She made it clear that Obama is not her candidate but said that in eight years she’d consider voting for him. “Hillary is now an open book,” Ulbaldo said “Probably everybody even knows where she’s got a mole… Everybody knows everything about her, there is really nothing left. Nobody knows anything about Obama, that’s whats so scary.” Ulbaldo believes that African American voters are not going to abstain come November if Clinton is on the top of the ticket however she warns that “if you’re going to alienate one group don’t alienate the women” which make up 51% of the Democratic electorate. If Clinton was not on the ballot in November Ulbaldo said she “would do either one of two things: I would either write in Hillary’s name or I will put in John McCain sign out in my yard and I have never in my life voted for a republican.” Ulbaldo said she would vote for a joint ticket with Clinton as VP “if [Hillary Clinton] agreed to it, and I’d want to know why she agreed to it. Afterall she’s a politician, she needs to look at her best interest.”

Rose Storaska from Stafford, VA believes wholeheartedly in Hillary Clinton and sees the Clintons as “the benchmark for the Democratic party.” Storaska said she is “old enough to understand that in order to go forward you need to go backwards. History is the best teacher in the world… You have to take the lessons of history to know how to handle the problems of today.” If Hillary Clinton isn’t the Democratic nominee Rose Storaska said “I am going to do more than vote for John McCain, I’m going to work for John McCain. I’m going to work for him because intellectually… I need to make a choice between an inexperienced man who is not what he says he is” and a “man of integrity.” Storaska added, “McCain is no Bush. And if I have to give up a little bit of health care and a little bit of everything else for the sake of an honorable man who can actually do something because he has experience, I’ll do that.”

(THIS POST IS NOT COMPLETE – IT WILL BE SHOWN IN IT’S ENTIRETY TOMORROW EVENING)

If Eliot Spitzer Was In France He Would Probably Still Be In Office

I haven’t written anything in quite awhile and look at what has happened. Wyoming and Mississippi held their contests and once again Barack Obama has momentum. Was there anything else in the news?

Since the last time I wrote Eliot Spitzer, the soon to be former New York Governor and Client 9, was caught with his pants down, so to speak. We’re all familiar with what happened – the high priced prostitute brought to D.C., the wiretaps, the money “structuring.” The story has been inescapable.

To be completely honest, I didn’t know what to write. I could barely wrap my head around what I was watching and reading. I was in shock that my first jewish president could have so many skeletons in the closet – well, at least one very naughty one. Within 48 hours of the story breaking he was standing up at podium announcing his resignation. With that kind of turn around time, it was hard for me to figure out what my own opinion of the man was.

The talking heads kept comparing this scandal to Senator Larry Craig, who was caught soliciting sex in an airport Men’s room, or Senator David Vitter, who showed up on a D.C. madam’s client list. They talked about President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky and the eventual impeachment that followed. All three men were able to stay in office after their illicit misdeeds. I want to offer up another comparison – Nicolas Sarkozy the new beloved President of France who within a few months of taking office divorced his wife and married a super model. Could you imagine if that was OUR president! The media would combust with intrigue!

Of course everyone is saying that the major difference with Spitzer is that he had based his entire career on being the moral authority – prosecuting wall street titans, going after organized crime and, oddly enough, prostitution rings. No one is a saint but Eliot Spitzer’s fall from grace is of biblical proportion when you consider how angelic he presented himself.

Jews and Obama

I have received a number of emails from Jewish friends and family asking me what I thought about Barack Obama in relation to the Jewish community. I think it is clear that the viral email that circulated in mid-Janurary about Obama being anti-semitic was a smear tactic. Many American Jewish leaders, including my good friend Rabbi David Saperstein, published an open letter to the Jewish community in which they denounced the email saying that these tactics are “despicable” as they “attempt to drive a wedge between our community and a presidential candidate.” I agree whole heartedly.

In recent weeks the open anti-semite Louis Farrakhan, the leader of The Nation of Islam, endorsed Barack Obama. Once again concerns flared up in the Jewish community and understandably so.

In tonight’s debate Tim Russert directly asked Obama about Farrakhan. At first Obama denounced the endorsement and then, after Hillary Clinton insinuated that denouncing is not the same nor as strong as rejecting, Obama rejected the endorsement.

Tonight Obama eluded to a speech he gave at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia in honor of Martin Luther King. In the speech he spoke about the involvement of the Jewish community in the civil rights movement. Tonight he spoke about the growing disconnect in recent years between the two communities and how he is dedicated to bridging them back together, healing wounds.

In a recent interview with Ha’aretz, foreign policy expert and top Obama advisor Samantha Power pointed out the strong disconnect between what the candidate’s positions on Israel are versus what his critics in the Jewish community are claiming them to be. According to the article “she thinks that a problem with Obama’s critics is that they tend to ignore completely what he himself says. As though his words are merely of secondary importance, and what reflects his true opinion are all sorts of past quotes from close and not-so-close aides.”

Obama is not anti-semitic; he is not anti-Israel. To fear Obama without the facts and because of your religion is absurd. Disagree with policies, not perceptions.

No One For Nader

This morning on NBC’s “Meet The Press” Green Party activist Ralph Nader, the “spoiler” of the 2000 election, announced that once again he is running for President –his fifth bid for the White House. 

In 2000 he received 2.7 percent of the popular vote and in 2004 he received less than one percent. I don’t want to venture a guess as to why the 73 year old would put his hat into the ring but I think it is safe to say that there will not be a strong base of support for the consumer rights advocate in the upcoming general election.

There isn’t a constituency for Nader anymore. Democrats blame him for George W. Bush winning in 2000 and they also seem happy with their two remaining candidates. Republicans, on the other hand, appeared to be the most dissatisfied with their presumptive nominee – with party opinion leaders like Rush Limbaugh and Laura Ingraham doubting John McCain’s conservative credentials. However, there are few things on Nader’s platform that a conservative voter would ever agree with.

In his interview on “Meet The Press” this morning, Nader mentioned that according to Frank Luntz’s poll “80 percent would consider voting for an independent this year.” Although I can’t seem to find the poll he was referring to, I believe that statistic. I believe it, but I don’t think those Americans have Ralph Nader in mind.

There has been tons of speculation about a possible presidential run of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg who officially became an independent in June 2007 after being elected twice as a Republican. Prior to running for office in NYC, Blooomberg had been a lifelong Democrat. The multi-BILLIONAIRE is dedicated to combating global warming, is pro-choice and yet a fiscal conservative. I could easily see 80% of the population – from both sides of the aisle – considering him when voting. But, as I heard one pundit say, “how many Jewish dwarfs have we ever elected President?”

Bloomberg could be a formidable foe for both the Democratic and Republican nominees. As for Nader, he isn’t the candidate independents are dreaming about. 

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Words! Words! Words!

“Words! Words! Words! I’m So Sick Of Words!”Liza Doolittle, My Fair Lady.

Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama met last night at perhaps their next to last debate.  The Texas and Ohio primaries on March 4^th are the make-it-or-break-it contests for Clinton who hasn’t won a primary or caucus since February 5. If she doesn’t pull out a stunning victory in either of those states, it would be safe to say that the long tedious fight for the Democratic Party nomination will finally be drawn to a close.

Last night’s debate was mostly civil but it was far from the love-fest we saw at the last debate prior to Tsunami Tuesday, the Potomac Primaries, and all those other contests that never got a clever name.

One of Obama’s memorable moments came when Hillary was booed by the audience for calling his campaign “change you can Xerox” – alluding to the plagiarism allegations she’s been waging on the campaign trail. Obama cleared up the confusion saying that the words were those of his campaign co-chairman, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, who had given the candidate his blessing to use the lines. Obama called this “silly” campaigning.

Now it looks like Hillary is the one who may have photocopied a few lines. Her shining moment of the debate was at the very end when she said “you know, the hits I’ve taken in life are nothing compared to what goes on every single day in the lives of people across the country.” These words are strikingly similar to a few lines used by her husband in a 1992 speech in which he said “The hits that I took in this election are nothing compared to the hits the people of this state and this country have been taking for a long time.”

Neither Barack Obama nor Hillary Clinton was actually plagiarizing. Plagiarism is a harsh allegation and, to be honest, campaign rhetoric is so tired and prepared that it doesn’t exactly seem like lifting words is that ridiculous – particularly from people the candidates are involved with like a husband or a campaign co-chair.

Plagiarism accusations lead to the end of Joe Biden’s 1988 bid for the White House when whole passages of his speeches were found to be almost identical to British politician Neil Kinnock. Of course most time Biden gave the speech he properly identified the original author but one occasion he did not and of course that one occasion was caught on tape.

“Plagiarism” is a fighting word. It should only be leveled at those who actually claim the words they read are their own. In a campaign season we’re not stupid enough to believe that every word a candidate utters is original – otherwise there wouldn’t be speechwriters.