Day 1 at the DNC

In eleven hours, I have already attended four events/receptions/galas, and met other delegates and people from twelve different states and territories as well as reporters from Switzerland. It appears the whole world is taking an interest in this convention!

We began networking before we left the airport meeting an alternate delegate from Davis and a superdelegate from Sacramento as well as the California Secretary of State, Debra Bowen who happened to be taking the same flight! On the plane, an Obama supporter actually made her way through the cabin taking pictures of delegates and non-delegates alike. This was the first taste of the media frenzy to come.

We landed in Denver and connected with more delegates from Arizona and Michigan. When we entered the terminal people with orange shirts greeted us as well as three different news crews. From the moment we arrived in Denver, everyone from the Denver Host Committee we met was friendly, helpful and excited in seeing us. Taking the shuttle from the airport to the city, every large hotel we passed was booked by some combination of state delegations. Every lobby was decked with red, white, and blue and with official DNC stores and life-size cut outs of Sen. Obama.

Before we even checked into our room, we went to an event. Our shuttle dropped us off at the Brown Palace Hotel—by far the finest hotel in Denver. We attended an opulent luncheon hosted by the American Federation of Teachers, which had sponsored my trip. Between munching on jumbo shrimp and Boston cream pie (absolutely the best darn cream pie I ever had in my life!) we connected with AFT delegates from Wisconsin and Boston. Thus, began the business card trading! One of the most important functions of a delegate in addition to casting the ballot for the presidential and vice presidential nominees is to forge new networks and connections with people from different states and organizations. Business cards serve as networking tools for those without photographic memory!

After lunch, we checked into our hotel, the Sheraton Downtown Denver, where the California and New York delegations are staying. When I officially registered, I received two bulging gift bags from both the state and national delegations. While the miniature binoculars and the 1-gig memory drive were cool, I could have done without the Mayor Villaraigosa bobble head.

From there, we decided to explore Downtown Denver. One cool venue is the 16th Street Mall, a pedestrian street lined with shops and restaurants and crazy people. That’s right, crazy people! As we walked the street, we passed anti-abortion protestors, Recreate ’68 protestors that want to recreate the events of the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention that led to city-wide riots, and also anti-Obama parade; however, I wasn’t concerned due to the high amount of law enforcement present on the streets. There was literally a group of police officers, including mounted patrols, a squad in full riot gear, and a few with a some BFGs (if you know what I mean!) situated on every block. We made our way to the Hyatt Regency Hotel where we caught the tail end of an DNC Asian Pacific Islander training summit.

Some of the things I learned from this training were as follows:

• Democrats need to define and unify their message in order to win crucial battleground states in this general election


• John McCain = McSame = McCan’t = McBush


• Democrats need to argue facts rather than mudslinging


• Unify the Democratic Party even if you have to hug every Hillary Clinton supporter you meet
  

The next event we attended was the official DNC Host Committee’s Gala on recognizing Katrina relief organizations. When I heard “Gala”, I expected tuxedos and champagne, instead I got jambalaya, crawfish bread, and a lot of soul music. I’m so glad I was wrong. There we connected with delegates from all over the country. The hall was so packed that many people, including my wife and I had to sit on the floor to eat for the lack of seating. We met from people from Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon, Guam, South Dakota, Nebraska, Texas, and New Jersey. Some of the highlights of that event were meeting former gubernatorial candidate Steve Westly and the Oregon Superintendent of Public Education, Susan Castillo. I even indulged purchasing a few official Denver DNC 2008 pins, though I refrained from buying the $50 polo.

As we were leaving the gala, we were invited to attend the Young Democrats reception at a night club located a few blocks away from the Denver Convention Center. Although we were crowded in like sardines, barely hearing ourselves over the music, we managed to continue networking. We met college students from South Dakota and Colorado and joked with a UCLA alumni (GO Trojans!). At that point, two young men, one with a microphone and another a camera approached us and asked if they could ask us some questions. It turned out that they were reporters from Switzerland doing a background story on the convention. They said people around the world were interested in this critical presidential race. They were especially interested in my wife when they discovered that she was a Republican but was still going to vote for Obama. After the interview, we decided to return to our hotel, but not before throwing some dance moves on the dance floor.

Tomorrow’s a big day! House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Hillary Clinton will be addressing the California delegation at breakfast. I can’t wait! Tune in tomorrow for my next update. Till then, goodnight from the DNC!