About Last Night

Last night was the first official night of the DNC, and we had a great time, made a few mistakes, and learned a lot of things.  We had our tickets dropped off to us at a hotel in downtown [note: it turns out we may not have tickets for tonight. ew. ] and walked around Denver for a while.  We hung out at the MSNBC set, Lauren ran over to talk to some people in Hillary shirts, and we recoiled in horror when they told us to "support Hillary, vote McCain."  

At the MSNBC set we got to yell things at various anchors as they stood around during commercial breaks, talk to a giant Uncle Sam, and get lots of cool Obama gear.  I got a "terrorist fist jab" and a "taking America back" button.  I needed them, too, because in a moment of generosity I gave our driver my "Jews for Obama" button because he really really wanted it.

I don't think he was Jewish

.

Anyway, we walked around for a while and then, at about 5 pm, decided to hop on a shuttle bus that was going to the Pepsi Center.  Big mistake.  We started about four blocks from the entrance, but the bus took a circuitous route and it took us 45 minutes to get to the rear, bus, entrance.  On the bus, however, I met a lobbyist.  He was a nice lobbyist though-- he gave us invitations to a party!

His name was Joel Rubin, and he is the political director for J Street: Americans for Middle East Peace and Security.  He was young, warm, and open.  We talked about the situation in Israel and Palestine, and he told me about the work that his young organization has done over the last four months to bring about understanding, reconciliation, and a two state solution.  We both agreed that "the vast majority of Jews," both here and in Israel, want peace but are drowned out by those who say that "being pro-Israel means you want to bomb Iran."  I really liked him, and plan on going to the party on Wednesday.  We have VIP passes.

Once we got into the hall, we wandered around trying to find out what to do.  We met Dennis Kucinich, who wanted us to go to his website to sign a petition to impeach Bush.  When I asked him whether that was a good idea, considering we'd get Cheney, he confided that it was more of a symbolic measure.  Then this Hungarian reporter thought Lauren was Mrs. Kucinich, so we left.  Kucinich was just as weird in person as I thought he was on TV.

After we found our seats, which, because we were late and it was on a first-come first-serve basis, were in the absolute last row of the top section of the arena, we sat down to watch Jesse Jackson Jr.  It was then that Adriana, one of our friends at the Convention, told us that she knew a California delegate, Mark Tecano, who would let us borrow his floor pass and explore the floor.  Sweeeeeeet!

Mark was a Harvard educated English teacher from Congressional District 44.  He was a Clinton delegate, who had been a delegate in '96 and a Dean/Edwards delegate in '04.  He told me, when I asked him for words of advice, that "it's important to get a grip on three things: nature, history, and language.  You've gotta understand yourself in these three ways....you have to understand history to be on the right side of it.  you must gain a respect for language.  Politics is the highest expression of our use of language.  The extent to which we misuse or elevate our language is the extent to which we govern, for worse or better."

We then talked for a while about philosophy, and he lectured me on Epicurius just long enough for me to miss Claire McCaskill's speech.

Oh, that reminds me:  there was Kennedy.  Wow.  The electricity when he entered the room, the tears streaming down the faces of everyone, the awe he inspired in not just us, but the concession workers who left their tamale stands to watch him, is indescribable.  And the speech itself was beautiful.  It was a beautiful moment, topped, in my opinion, by only Michelle.

Michelle's speech was on another level.  some of the people I was with went in definitively anti-Michelle.  They left huge fans.  Everyone around us was tearing up.  It was a great moment.  The three older women who sat next to me (we actually sat on the stairs, because someone stole our seats) told me that it was one of the best speeches they had ever heard.  

And then Obama came on the jumbotron and the place went wild.  His kids were really cute, it felt completely unscripted (which I'm sure it was), and it was great.  People even forgave him for getting the name of the city he was in wrong.

After the convention, we declined an invitation from this creepy kid to go with him to a Rock the Vote party and took the shuttle back to our hotel.  Sitting next to us on the bus were, gasp!, more lobbyists.  The one we talked to was the head lobbyist for the American Legion, and he told us about the difference between the lobbying he did -- with a fixed goal that matched his beliefs -- and the "hired gun" lobbying of some of his colleagues.  He told us a short anecdote. 

He was once lobbying to get a bill passed, came up with all these points, and testified for the bill.  The guy next to him argued against him, lost, but the bill died in committee.  The next year, when they went to take it up again, that lobbyist was on his side and used his exact points.  When he asked him why he had switched, he said "I changed my client."  And when asked why he used the same arguments, he said "they were good arguments."

And I guess that's today's story in lobbying.

peace

PS- I've been typing this while watching MSNBC, and I can't believe a) how similar Brian Schweitzer is on TV to how he was when I met him and b) how ridiculous (but scary) these McCain ads are getting.  I'm worried.

PPS- Sweep sweep sweep sweep sweep sweep PAYBACK!