Published: August 28, 2008 01:25 pm            

Democratic Convention Insider: Obama's acceptance speech 'answered all the questions'

DENVER — Day 5: Friday



Wow!

There are political rallies, and then there are political rallies.

Take that TV image of Invesco Field you saw Thursday evening and turn up the volume, imagine yourself being jostled by a sea of 85,000 screaming Democrats and know you’re part of history in the making.

That will give you some sense of being there.

The scene at Barack Obama’s acceptance speech leaves you speechless. It was just awesome, unbelievable.

It didn’t take much to get people screaming and waving their banners and flags.

I’ve been to two other conventions but this was it.

Obama, I think, touched on all the subjects he needed to and answered all the questions. And I was grateful for his mentions of Hillary and Bill Clinton.

I was wondering how I would take to it, but with ballcap, a little sunscreen and a slight breeze, being out in the sun was tolerable.

I can see why, despite the criticisms, that Obama chose to give his address at the stadium. It was to make a statement.

Gold medal gymnast Shawn Johnson gave the Pledge of Allegiance and Stevie Wonder performed.

Hey, how’s McCain going to top that? They’re probably scrambling.

By the way, I came upon Franco Harris again – the second time in two days. What are the chances among the 85,000 people.

He’s going to think I’m a stalker or something.

Anyway, he was sitting just 3 feet from me at Invesco. I had gotten him to sign an autograph for someone else and I got to thinking, “What about me?”

So I handed over my notepad, said “For me” and I blew Franco a kiss. He is a superdelegate.

He said OK, this is the last one.

This blogging notebook really came in handy.

In the shuttle bus going to the airport Friday morning, it seemed as though every one of us were, originally, Hillary delegates.

But the chatter was all about Obama.

“I’m converted,” one said.

“We gotta go back. We gotta do our job,” said another.

I’ll be getting in Friday to my home in the boonies between Ebensburg and Carrolltown but soon I’ll be bombarded with work.

I still haven’t met Barack but both he and Joe Biden will be in Cambria County, you better believe it. Hopefully, I’ll have a chance to meet him when he comes here.

In the meantime, I’ll be working the Democrat booth at the county fair on Sunday night. If you haven’t had enough of my corny stories, stop by and say hi.



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Day 4: Thursday



I’ll never wash my left cheek again.

The Pennsylvania delegation was told to expect a surprise at breakfast Thursday morning, and who should show up but the next vice president of the United States, Joe Biden.

He gave a great speech and afterward was getting his picture taken with other members of the delegation.

There was a mad rush to him, but I made it, introducing myself as the chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Cambria County.

“Madam chair, I love you,” he said, and kissed my cheek.

And, hey, he’s a good-looking guy.

During the speech, the Scranton native noted that he’s been kidded about his age. Barack Obama was 11 when Biden entered the Senate.

“If I hear that one more

time ...,” he said, adding that

44 senators are older than himself.

In other brushes with the famous, I happened to be in the food line behind Franco Harris.

I’m a Steelers fan.

I do believe that Franco got a bigger plate of food than I did. And I think he went back for seconds.

Of course, Bill Clinton spoke to the convention on Wednesday night. I think he increased Obama’s campaign support by 10 percent, he and Hillary. He brought down the house.

Earlier, Hillary asked the convention to suspend the rules and nominate Obama by acclamation. How magnanimous: It just elevates her so much more.

But Thursday night is the big night. I’m a little punchy, and that’s a good thing. We’re all getting fired up as Obama prepares to accept the nomination.

I just hope we don’t get too toasty at Invesco Field. We’re down there on the floor in the full sun.



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Day 3: Wednesday



No secrets here.We cast our votes Wednesday for the roll call that will make Barack Obama the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party.

The voting is not a secret ballot, and Gov. Ed Rendell told us beforehand that he hoped to be able to deliver a unanimous Pennsylvania ballot for Obama.

And he was for Hillary Clinton big time, you know. Anyway, this happy soldier did her part to make that come true.

It’s all in the interest of party unity and harmony.

Hillary did her part Tuesday night.

The convention hall was absolutely a sea of white with people waving her signs as she spoke. I’m taking mine home with me!

There were a lot of tears and, I admit, I cried because of her message and because we worked really hard for her.

Hillary is one gracious lady. How many people would accept defeat as graciously as she has?

She brought down the house with her one-liners.

The friendliness and atmosphere within the delegation and at the hotel was noticeably improved Wednesday morning after her speech. If anyone’s unified the party, it’s her.

And at the Invesco Field party – surprise, surprise – all three Clintons were there. Hillary and Bill spoke. Hundreds of people attended and you couldn’t get near the former first family.

Tuesday was a long, hard day, really. We were late getting to John Murtha’s lunch because, at the end of the light-rail line, the Secret Service turned us around. We got there at 12:45 instead of noon, but he waited for us.

As for the celebrity watching, I caught a glimpse of Morgan Fairchild. I also saw Andrea Mitchell and Ted Koppel.

After the convention festivities Wednesday evening – go, Joe Biden! – it will be off to a reception for the Pennsylvania delegation hosted by Auditor General Jack Wagner.

More free food, thank goodness!

It costs $3.25 for a bottle of water at the Pepsi Center, and I’m afraid to even look at what the food costs. For security purposes, we’re not allowed to take anything in except an empty bottle for fountain water.

At least the air is free.



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Day 2: Tuesday



What a night!

I had a lump in my throat – and you would have, too, if you had seen Ted Kennedy speaking to the party faithful Monday night at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

My goodness, there was hardly a dry eye when Kennedy, recovering from brain cancer, spoke. It was spellbinding.

It was such a surprise that he attended the first day of the Democratic National Convention. The doctors didn’t want him to attend, but he insisted.

He spoke about passing the torch to younger leadership. John Kennedy also said that.

Ted is a Kennedy, and you always think about the odds he, and his family, have overcome.

Monday night also featured Michelle Obama as a speaker.

She was very good, down to earth. She certainly caught everyone’s attention.

I bumped into, if not hobnobbed with, my share of celebrities on the first day of the convention.

There’s CBS anchorwoman Katie Couric. Pennsylvania has a great location down on the floor, behind Colorado and Michigan. I wonder why.

Anyway, the CBS booth is right there.

I was about 4 feet from Katie, and she gave me a smile. She’s thinner and smaller than you see on TV, very serious looking. I wanted to tell her I liked her better on “The Today Show.”

I also saw Susan Sarandon in the crowd passing through, and political analyst James Carville.

You just can’t help but pick up the enthusiasm; the momentum’s there.

We’ll be fired up by Thursday.

I can’t wait for Hillary’s speech Tuesday night. That should be interesting.

We’re behind Obama. We’ll just have to convince John Q. Public to get behind him after Hillary gives us her message.

It’ll be a late night Tuesday because we’ll be going to a party at Invesco Field after Hillary. Pennsylvania and several other delegations are invited to the bash from 9:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. local time.

Denver is doing a great job. And I can’t believe how organized it all was with 20,000 people in the Pepsi Center all walking out to the buses.

Tuesday, I attended a breakfast hosted by the labor unions. Bob Casey was the guest speaker and TV pundit Chris Matthews was there.

Well, I’m off to lunch with Congressman Murtha and the rest of the Pennsylvania delegation.

Another full day.



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Day 1: Monday



I arrived Saturday as part of the Pennsylvania delegation to the Democratic National Convention and am looking forward to a full schedule of politicking through Thursday. This is my third convention.

We got settled in Saturday evening with a little down time.

Our hotel is quite a way from downtown Denver, but the ride in to town – by cab, rail or shuttle bus – is just spectacular, what with the Rockies in full view. Though a lot of travel will be involved between the hotel and downtown – it’s a big city – you don’t mind it because of the scenery.

The bigwigs get to stay downtown at the Hyatt. For us, it’s a 20-minute drive.

The Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Tennessee delegations are in the same hotel. Don’t ask me how they decide who our hotel-mates would be.

On Sunday, the National Federation of Democratic Women hosted a breakfast for the Pennsylvania delegation.

And Sunday night was just to die for.

We visited the Red Rocks Amphitheater out in the boonies along with the Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia delegates. We were bused out to a barbecue with bison burgers and venison sausage.

I have adventure in my soul and bit right into the bison burger. It doesn’t taste like chicken – just like glorified hamburger.

We saw a concert with Sheryl Crow, Sugarland and Dave Matthews. Sheryl Crow was my favorite.

Colorado’s governor and mayor spoke, along with Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, who had been on Barack Obama’s short list for vice president.

Also speaking was environmentalist Robert Kennedy Jr. I guess you could say it was green Sunday at the Red Rocks Park.

Monday morning, we had breakfast and Gov. Ed Rendell and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey spoke.

So did the governor of Montana, but don’t ask me his name!

The Hillary supporters – including me – are coming around to Obama.

Dan Onorato of Allegheny County gave a great speech Monday morning. Western Pennsylvania did not vote against Obama, he said, we voted for Hillary Clinton and Bill for what they’ve done.

Good point!

I’m looking forward to my first full day at the convention Monday. We’re supposed to be on the convention floor from 3 to 9 p.m. Since we’re two hours behind Eastern time, that would be from 5 to 11 p.m. home time.

I’m looking forward to seeing Michelle Obama wow the crowd.





Helen Whiteford, Cambria County Democratic chairwoman, is a member of the Pennsylvania delegation at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

        

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