Getting geared up for the convention?

I am 😉 Seems like the list of things to get done before heading to Denver is getting longer instead of shorter 😦 Of course, part of the problem is that it is difficult to get things done,  between all of the emails and phone calls and conference calls. I’ve not been a delegate before so I had no idea that once my name was on the list,  I’d be getting so much attention 🙂 I even fielded a phone call from The New York Times Wednesday night. And my snail mail is picking up – lots of invitations for events.

Hampton Roads is going to be well represented at the convention. According to what I’ve seen, there are 27 people from this part of the state attending the convention, including a committee member and a page. While there are quite a few electeds among that number, it is refreshing to see so many rank and file Democrats included.

And in case you missed it – at least one member of the local press will be at the convention, as per an ad in the newspaper Wednesday. (Strange – I haven’t seen this online anywhere.) Virginian Pilot columnist Kerry Dougherty will be covering the convention. I had previously been told that the press from Virginia would be in the same hotel as the delegation (I guess we can’t get away from these guys!) so I assume Kerry will be there as well.

I don’t recall the Pilot having a columnist (or reporter) at the convention four years ago, although I do remember one of the local delegates, Sandra Brandt, having articles posted in the paper. This ought to be interesting. Kerry gets skewered quite often on her blog for her positions on things. So the ad is appropriate in that her view will be quite unconventional.

As for me, well, I hope to be able to blog from the convention floor. There will be no wireless access on the floor (which I consider quite dumb, but hey, what do I know?) so how much I’ll be able to do depends on how strong my cell phone signal is. (I may spring for a wireless card, but since I have so little need for it beyond the convention, it seems like a waste. ) I’ll be connecting to my laptop using Bluetooth as well as posting directly from my cell. And if it gets to be too much trouble, then I’ll just post writeups when I’m in The Big Tent or at the hotel. My buddy Mark will also be in The Big Tent and he’s got plans for lots of pictures and video and stuff 😉

I set my sights on Denver well over a year ago because I knew this convention would be historic and I wanted to be a witness. There were so many times leading up to our state convention in June that I thought I’d never make it. The odds were certainly against me – my preferred candidate, Hillary Clinton, performed so poorly in Virginia that I was shut out of any possibility of running for a district-level delegate seat. (She was awarded a single delegate in my district and it was a male seat.) And then came The Speech on June 7, just one week before the state convention. (I cheered myself up right after the speech was over – with a new car 😉 )

Although she suspended her campaign, Hillary didn’t release her delegates so I still had one last chance at being elected: as an at-large delegate at the state convention. Competition for one of the three at-large slots was fierce. I have forgotten how many people applied but I can say it was a bunch. Honestly, I looked at how hard so many people had worked on her campaign (and at the list of “special” people who applied for the seats) that I figured I’d never make it onto the slate. I was at an event for Glenn Nye when I got the email that I had been included on the slate. To say I was thrilled would be an understatement. The days leading up to the state convention was much like the final days before any election: a lot of hard campaigning. And I did the same at the convention – handing out buttons and stickers the entire time prior to the vote. The hard work paid off.

So, yes, I’m getting geared up for Denver. It’s been a long wait.

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