I am in Hampton today for the Democratic State Convention. Credentialed as an Obama delegate from Falls Church City.
At 9:30 am:
Arrived with few problems getting into the convention center. There is a graduation ceremony in the same complex, but traffic lines are well marked and the local cops and helpers are doing a great job getting folks in the right area.
The Mark Warner signage is absolutely dominate. Really impressive if try not to think of the tress :-)
Parking lots are filling up fast - looks like more than 500 people in the center. The exhibitor hallway has some good vendors for t-shirts, signs, buttons, etc. Aneesh (VA CIO Secretary of Technology) invited us to an after party this evening. Larry Roberts stopped by and said hello - he looks relaxed and claims he has no heavy official duties today. Dick Cranwell looks sharp in a gray suit and chipper. Larry Byrne. Chap Peterson. Frank Leone. Bob Brink. Brian Moran. Creigh Deeds. Lots of familiar activists from NOVA I recognize. The Falls Church group includes The Mayor (Obama delegate); Cathy Kaye (Obama Delegate); Tom Kaye (Obama Alternate); and Jeannie Duross (Obama Alternate); Betty Coll (Clinton Delegate). I have not seen Jeff Person (Obama Delegate) or the other Clinton delegates yet.
The Falls Church and some Fairfax delegates were not on the official 8th CD list for sing in - so Margo Horner stepped in and helped everyone get credentialed.
Overheard an amusing story about bloggers - apparently last night a group of bloggers were chatting loud enough to be overheard - bragging about their "Google juice." Nice work!
11:50 am
Convention started almost on time this morning - pretty good for us! Pixie Bell could not get any actual attendance numbers, but graciously declared a quorum. Glad we do not have to come back and do this again next week ;-).
Jim Moran said he enjoyed the Falls Church JJ Dinner.
Wow! Young boy sang National Anthem. Had to bring him back for a second bow. Very well done.
There are way more than 500 people in attendance ... closer to 2000 I would say.
Sound system in hall is bad. Hard to heard from the floor because of all the echos and amplification from off the stage.
Scott Surovell (Fairfax Chair) and I caught up about what is happening with Gerry Connolly and some of my NOVA blog colleagues. Interesting ...
Speakers. Speakers. Speakers. Mary Margaret Whipple was hard to hear. Ward Armstrong and Dick Saslaw were both good ... Saslaw had the best line about Republican lies on weapons of mass destruction and "now he is not even certain whether or not there is even oil over there in Iraq." 2nd CD candidate Nye was the best of the morning candidate speakers. Good reaction. The buzz from the floor was "that guy is good..." First time I have heard him in person. Jim Webb was warmly welcomed. His remarks about Tim Russert's untimely death yesterday were pitch perfect. I did notice that several Clinton delegates did not applaud for Webb ... until Webb commented that he admired Hillary Clinton's "perseverance in the campaign." Walter Tiejada (Arlington Board Chair) comments about the role of the Latino community in Democratic politics was also well received. The Mark Warner signs are everywhere ... whoever did that should get promoted to fundraising. Dick Cranwell (DPVA Chair) promised a video, so have to run to check that out.
By the way, Jeff (Obama Delegate) and the other Clinton delegates from Falls Church made it down.
1:50 pm
Missed the video. It would be a good idea if the convention announced when speeches were starting again or had simulcast out outside. Lots of people grabbed lunch and missed a bunch of key things. I re-joined at the end of Judy Feder speech.
Gerry Connolly spoke. Mostly cool reception ... the 11th CD delegates were supporting him from over in the corner of the room. He blew them a nice kiss from the stage (not kidding).
Moving on. Nice video from Moving Forward PAC. Will post if I can get a copy.
Governor spoke next. WOW. GREAT job. Relaxed. Appeared extemporaneous. Funny. Very courteous tone. Thanked and welcomed Clinton supporters - well received. He came down our aisle and sought our Jeff from our delegation. Will post the photo later ... it's a great one.
Lunch is $15 bucks. Cash only. Looks good. I have not had a chance to grab anything yet. The room is ice cold. Very bad sound system.
Voting for national electorates took place. Minor floor fight from people trying to break up the "slate vote." No speeches from candidates (thankfully). Dick Cranwell ruled against them and then offered to allow them to challenge the chair's ruling. He gently reminded them they would need a 2/3 vote to overturn and would require paper ballots. They declined when the crowd hinted they were not up for an hour delay in the convention. Trying to outsmart Cranwell on procedure seems like a short career path to me.
The convention atmosphere is unusually active and friendly. Much better than the district convention. There are some hangups in process ... but, hey, what do you expect?
4:45 pm
HEADLINE OF CONVENTION: MARK WARNER WITHDRAWS HIS NAME FROM OBAMA VP CONSIDERATION. Mark Warner gave a terrific speech this afternoon, drawing a clear contrast between himself and Gilmore. But halfway through the speech, Warner announced he would not accept an Obama VP position, saying he prefers to serve Virginia and work in the US Senate to fix national policy issues. Warner was the clear headliner of the convention, and gave a very polished speech which leaned heavily of the significant weaknesses in the Gilmore campaign. It was the first time I have really seen Warner expend some of his enormous political capital going after a political opponent. It felt like I was watching a lion play with a cricket.
The Warner campaign workers did a great job here. The signage was powerful. They remembered to walk through the convention center and remind stragglers that Gov. Warner was going to speak in a few minutes. So the floor was packed when he spoke. Great job.
I missed Brian Moran and Creigh Deeds speaking. Several people said Brian "hit a home run" with his speech and Creigh did okay.
The voting for DNC and delegates positions is a bit tedious. Crowd remains in a good mood but a little more tired.
I spoke with a few people about the NLS - George Burke controversy. Interesting. As a political blogger and former member of the DPVA Central Committee I have some thoughts which I will share in a separate more organized post.
10:45 pm
I am back in NOVA. Traffic not too bad getting back ... a few rainstorms. I had several conversations with folks about the convention. Mostly, I was struck that activists experienced with DPVA large meetings and past conventions thought the energy of this convention was high and were generally pleased with the meeting. Newcomers to the party process were sort of taken aback by how disorganized the meeting was ... no real schedule. Gaps in speakers. Little prior preperation for voting and seemingly little attention paid to providing standard information or procedures for the numerous votes taken. People also mentioned the end of the convention was a bit of a let down ... people just sort of meandered away. There seemed to be a missed opportunity to end on a high keynote (Warner closing the convention would have been nice).
Anyway. I thought it was a good get together. There are some open wounds still healing from the recent primaries and the difficult Obama-Clinton struggle.
Thanks to Eileen at VB Dems for the Brian Moran video. It was indeed a good speech.
