I spent the weekend at the Democratic convention. It was energizing and loads of fun. I haven't seen that many positive democrats in the same place in years.
More after the jump.
MKC
I spent the weekend at the Democratic convention. It was energizing and loads of fun. I haven't seen that many positive democrats in the same place in years. I think the focus was right on too. The leadership talked about focusing on the voters. Focused on a positive message. We saw a real red meat democratic message from Dennis Kucinich. I liked Edwards "two Americas" speech. He was a little formal. One of the Malinas brothers spoke. He was one of four brothers who served in Viet Nam at the same time. The speech was electrifying and in support of Kerry. Too bad he isn't running for office. Very down to earth. A real live person. Oh well.
Other topics touched were reclaiming religion and american values from the Christian Right. For too long, they have taken our God and warped his message. Then claimed all others religions as false and without merit. They also foment division amongst other christians. They actually misuse parts of the bible to justify greed and avarice. I want my god back.
There was a constant theme of patriotism through out the convention. They had a wonderful short documentary on soldiers who have died in Iraq. I was touching, and brought many a tear to peoples eyes. They also had a tribute to democrats who have served our country, many at the cost of their life. We also have many democrats who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan right now. Texas Representative Noriega-D is about to ship out right now(he couldn't come to the convention due to this. This goes to show that people in all parties are serving our country. This is not a Republican thing. This is something we do as Americans. As Edmund Burke said "patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels". I guess these people are downright rogues.
There is a lot of support for Richard Morrison. He was the only candidate who had a great presence with volunteers campaigning for him. The people wearing his shirts. During the convention, you saw a sea of blue shirts in the SD 11 and 17 sections. People who weren't even in district 22 were buying shirts and other memorbilia. People from all over the state knew who he was. Morrison had a hospitality suite, and it was packed. People coming and going.
Morrison was definitely one of the big buzzes at this convention. Big hint. People really hate Delay.
The Ardmore 12 were also lionized and honored. Each one of them got up and gave a brief statement. People were whooping and hollering. The comment I like the best was from Gallepagos(I think). We did nothing illegal, yet Rick Perry sent out the state police. The Department of Homeland security was created to fight terrorism, yet Tom Delay sent them after us.
One big message was we need to get out the vote. Democracy for Texas gave a seminar on grassroots campaigning. It was packed. Basically standing room only. I did manage to find a space to sit on the floor. The best piece of advice I heard was not to send e-mails with attachments. It is a lot like sex, you never know what you will pick up. They had a lot of great ideas though which they will be putting up on democracyfortexas.org this week. There was very much a Dean presence there. Glenn Maxey was there. Lots of people wearing Dean shirts. John and Zada Courage auctioned off a Dean bat for Democracyfor Texas. They got $300 for it!
The coolest thing that I heard was from the reporter from the San Antonio Alternative News. He had also covered the Texas GOP convention two weeks earlier. He said the difference between the GOP and democrats were night and day. The GOP's were depressed and extremely angry at the leadership. The democrats were positive, energized, and enthusiastic. Quite a difference from the last couple of conventions. This is not to say that there weren't tiffs and glitches. However, there was a sense of excitement and hope that hasn't been there for years. People felt empowered and willing to do what it takes. All in all, a great weekend.