Getting geared up for the convention?

Local, National, Politics, Virginia 3 Minutes

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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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17 thoughts on “Getting geared up for the convention?”

  1. Take your umbrella with you. Our good “christian” conservatives are praying to THEIR God to have torrential rains at Invesco Field on the night on the acceptance speech. I say their God because I am sure most true Christians do not pray for disasters on political enemies.

    What sick, perverted and pathetic people the conservative republicans are. Thank GOD (the good one) they will be a minority party for a generation or more due to the bush legacy of failure, corruption, arrogance and incompetence.

    Enjoy the trip!

  4. 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.

    Correct – her views will be quite unconventional for the Dems. I don’t think her views are quite unconventional from most people.

  6. NND – your post with the videos in it got caught up in my spam filter (too many links).

    rlewis – if you read the comments on Kerry’s blog and her columns, you’ll see that she gets skewered by both sides quite regularly. I guess she’s doing her job – generating a bit of controversy. I happen to like Kerry, and most of the time, I find her writing entertaining and witty. That’s why I keep a link to her blog in my sidebar.

    Oh – and just in case, I’ll be taking my umbrella 😉

  7. Thrilled for you, Vivian. You certainly deserve it. And I’m also very glad to hear that you’ll be writing about it – I’ll be checking in multiples times during the day.

  8. Thanks for the mention, Vivian.

    I too have been preparing for this for almost a year. I knew my only chance was the Big Tent, which I was aware of early in the process. I joined the mailing list for ProgressNow last November or December.

    I plan on video and audio interviews, and stills of course. There will be presentations, speakers, and the tent will be a regular stop on the press tour. I am looking for interviews, and plenty of them, some of which will appear on BlogTalk Radio. I will also be blogging the hair-raising drive across the country. 🙂

    We decided to drive because we don’t like the TSA or airport security very much, and we don’t mind the trip. The money aspect is actually a little better than flying, in terms of gasoline purchases. There can be no mistakes coming back, because the kids need to be in school on September 2nd for their first day this year.

    I can’t wait, and am getting more excited by the day! Maybe Vivian and I can interview each other, ;_.

  9. “Maybe Vivian and I can interview each other.”

    Oh please do. Can you do it as a farce of other bloggers who interview other bloggers about how important their blog is? And can you do a joint podcast about the interview 30 minutes later?

  11. NND – The thing that most of us forget that do believe in the true and living God is that maybe instead of praying for rain, or beating each other down, we should pray for each other, build each other up and ultimately pray that His divine will be done.

    Vivian, have a good and safe trip. =-)

  13. I’m definitely getting geared up for the convention, and I hope to see you there! My travel plans have already been set in stone, so now I find myself confronted with the infernal task of figuring out what to do once I’m in Denver. Trying to sort out when I should be in the Pepsi Center, when I should be in the Big Tent, and which of the hundreds of parties I should attend is likely to make me go Zell Miller crazy.

  14. So, Viv… going to be part of the votes that try and get Hillary the nom?

    As for the rain, that was pretty lame and stupid of the Focus on the Family goofballs. Of course they are not calling for Conservatives to get brain tumors like they were on Daily Kos.

  15. Johnny – I’m just putting the parties on my calendar as the invitations come in. I’ll figure out later which ones to attend 😉

    silence – good news indeed. And yes, SW. I was elected as a delegate pledged to Hillary. Until she releases her delegates, we are all pledged to vote for her.

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