Day 4 at the DNC

This has truly been a momentous day. I was able to take a picture with Former Assembly Speaker and mayor of San Francisco Willie Brown at breakfast. After breakfast, I changed for the first time this week into jeans and boarded a bus to participate in the DNC’s very first National Service Day.

Each delegation was given various tasks to work on for community service all around the city of Denver. Cheryl and I assisted in building a playground for Force Elementary School. Some mixed cement and built the structures and others planted flowers. Cheryl, myself, and several others shoveled and dragged mulch (wood chips) to cover the ground where the playground would be. We got to meet the principal of the school, Rachel Starks, and even take a picture with her. She was very thankful for our help, as were the students, who went out to tie ribbons to the fence in order to claim the playground as their own. Cheryl especially delighted in talking with the third graders as she is a third grade teacher herself. After two hours of labor, we boarded the buses hot, tired, sweaty, but with hearts full of gratitude and pride with the opportunity to serve.

We got back to the hotel, where staff informed us that protesters were on their way and that the hotel would be under lockdown for an undetermined period of time. We got to the room, quickly showered and changed for our next event, and got out before the lockdown started. From there, we walked to a luncheon gathering for Senator Barbara Boxer. I was able to shake hands with the senator and take a picture with her, but the high spot was seeing Annette (her grandson affectionately called "Anna") Lantos, widow of Congressman Tom Lantos. My very first experience with politics was serving a summer internship under Congressman Lantos and I will never forget what a wonderful man he was. It was truly a delight to see her again. Cheryl got to meet Jack O’Connell, the superintendant of schools in California. I only wish I had been able to take a picture of her with him to show off to her fellow teachers. She was also able to thank the individual who had given her the credential to see Michelle Obama speak on Monday night. He was very gracious about it and even introduced us to Tom Bohigan, the state director for Senator Boxer, who was running her campaign and was interested in acquiring my services in Sacramento.

From there, Cheryl and I parted ways. For the first time this week, we weren’t able to procure a ticket for her to attend the convention. Instead, she was going to go to a concert held in honor of San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsome. I’ll let her tell it in her own words…

(Cheryl) I was looking forward to going to a concert and, once parting from Cirian, I looked at the map to see where I needed to go. That’s when I realized I had left my phone in the hotel and had to go back and get it. From there, I took the tram back to the street I had been on and began the walk. About a quarter-mile into it, I realized I wasn’t going to make it on my nice shoes so I flagged down a cab. As we were driving along, I noticed a HUGE gathering of people the street over, and then the cabbie said that the street had been blocked. He turned around and tried to get around the crowd, but the swarm of humanity had completely blocked all streets leading to where I wanted to go. After ten minutes of twists and turns, we both realized that I wasn’t going anywhere today. I paid the cabby, thanked him for the adventure, and walked around 16th street, looking around the shops and simply wasting time. When my feet wore out, I headed back for the hotel, only to discover that the same protest which had prevented me from going to the concert had now swarmed into 16th street. The protest parade swelled for three blocks and stopped all traffic for a good 10 minutes as the thousands of individuals walked past. I later learned that it had been an anti-war protest hosted by about 3,500 people. It was by far one of the largest protest parades I had ever seen and, while I was impressed at these people’s right to free speech, I couldn’t help but wish that they’d picked a better place for it. At last they passed, and I walked the long blocks on aching feet back to the hotel, where I curled up for a nap and watched the DNC from CNN.

(Cirian) I walked with Pam, another delegate, to the Pepsi Center, contemplating about getting a cab (it was very hot), but deciding not to. Pam had usually taken the shuttle, so she appreciated my directions. Once we got there we parted ways and I assumed my seat in the Hall section. There, the state-by-state roll call was taking place. The secretary of the convention (don’t know her name, sorry) would introduce a state and announce how many delegate votes that state had. She would then ask that state to publicly announce their tally. Typically, the state chair person would approach the mike from the floor and give a looooong shpiel about how great their state was before actually announcing their vote tally. They would say something like, “The great state of Montana, big sky country, home to Governor such and such, blah, blah, blah…” It got to the point that some of their introductions became so long winded that it was just obnoxious and yet humorous at the same time. Interestingly enough, the states of New Hampshire and New Jersey, which Clinton had won during the primary, pledged all their votes to Obama as a sign of unity.

I received a text message from a friend who informed me that there was a controversy regarding the CA delegation’s vote. I discovered that Art Torres, our chairman, agreed to suspend the CA vote to allow the state of New York to formally nominate Barack Obama. If California’s 400+ delegates had voted, it would have put Obama over the top before New York could officially nominate him. When the secretary called on Illinois to give their tally, the Illinois chairperson, as a sign of respect to Hillary Clinton, yielded the floor to the state of New York. The New York chairperson humbly thanked the Illinois delegation and gave the mike to none other than Senator Clinton. At the mike, Hillary called for an immediate suspension of all state votes. Speaker Nancy Pelosi then excused the secretary, asked for a suspension of the rules, and a unanimous voice vote in the hall to nominate Barack Obama as the official Democratic candidate. This was heard, seconded, and with enthusiastic cheers, carried. In that moment, history was made. For the first time, a major political party nominated a person of color to be their standard bearer and possibly the leader of the most powerful nation in the world. I was there to see it and raised my voice to support it. How cool is that!?


The key speakers for that evening were former President Bill Clinton and VP candidate Joe Biden. The question lingering was whether Bill Clinton would support Barack Obama. The media had hyped up the division between the Clintons and the Obamas, but after his speech, there was no doubt that the party was united. He laid a convincing argument on the stark differences between the Democratic and Republican platforms, and as he did he argued substantively why Barack Obama was the better choice. He said that, after two terms of Bushism politics, “The third time would not be the charm”. After the speech, we watched a movie directed by Steven Spielberg and hosted by Tom Hanks, which merited the services of the armed forces over the years. During this time, volunteers handed out colorful “Biden” posters elevated on cardboard poles. We then watched a documentary on Joe Biden’s life. What really impressed me about him was his commitment to his family and his children. Joe’s son Beau introduced his father and then we heard from Biden for the first time. Joe Biden was direct and his message was simple. He learned from his mother that, “When somebody hits you, you get up and hit back harder”. He also quoted that, “all of us were equals”. At the end of the speech, Joe’s wife came to him and said, “We have a surprise guest for you.” Joe looked around and asked, “Who?” At that point, Barack Obama stepped out onto the podium and the crowd went WILD! Barack had been watching from a TV in a hotel across the street, and decided to make an entrance. How convenient that all of us just happened to have “Obama-Biden” signs passed out to us shortly before he arrived.

After the convention was adjourned, I found myself in a quandary. The CA delegation had a gala scheduled at 9:00 (it was currently 9:15) at a venue 3 miles out of town. Where do I go, and how the heck to I get there? Thank goodness for the volunteers holding signs to show us how to get to the shuttle. I thanked each and every one of them along the way. Crossing bridges and swerving sidewalks, I finally managed to board the bus. On the bus, I sat with Paula, the second youngest delegate in CA. Once again, I am reminded about the potential of the young as she recounted her story to me. She was the first person in her family to go to college. We discussed the convention proceedings and how we shared the values of opportunity and equality. It really emphasizes our beliefs about why we belong to the Democratic Party.

When I arrived at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, I only had to look up to see my loving wife smiling warmly at me from the second story banister. From the hotel, she had arrived in a cab and came before many of the other delegates. With an almost-deserted museum at her disposal, this third grade teacher resembled many of her kids as she raced through the exhibits and played with all the interactive gadgets. She later told me that she knew she’d wanted to do that, so she got there early enough to be a giddy kid in a candy store without anyone seeing her – then she could be the elegant companion to a delegate as he walked through the same exhibits. We ate an exquisite banquet, the highlight being a create-your-own pasta buffet, and talked with several other delegates about the convention proceedings. One named Robert showed off several pictures he had taken with VERY big notables, including the Clintons, President Carter, and Al Sharpton. When I asked about dessert, Cheryl knew just where to go and led me to a dance hall in the middle of the space exhibit. Some ladies were dancing on the floor, and I recognized one of them as someone we had met during Service Day. Robert then joined in the dance and before I knew it, I was throwing down moves on the floor with everyone else while a press agent snapped pictures. So much for dignity.

When we were too tired to dance anymore, we made our way to the fourth floor where we were treated to a spectacular view of the city of Denver at night. After all the chaos of the week, these few moments of relative peace were much needed indeed. I allowed Cheryl to take me through the museum, which was actually very impressive, and before I knew it, it was 1am and the museum curators were kindly ushering us out. Wearily, I boarded a bus back for the hotel, and spoke with other delegates. We stumbled into the room and crashed without blogging for the night…it was time to rest for the big day.