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RICK'S DNC CONVENTION NOTEBOOK
DAY ONE - MONDAY, AUGUST 25, 2008
After a Sunday of hustling and bustling and dozens of parties, the Democrats got down to business on Monday with the formal opening of the 2008 DNC Convention in the "mile high" city. Everyone who was anyone speaks from the podium. Monday it was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Sherrod Brown of the battleground state of Ohio, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. of Ill., and a moving speech by Sen. Ted Kennedy, who is recovering from recent brain surgery.
The headliner was Michelle Obama, with a closing feature of the Obama daughters on stage and Barack waving and talking via satellite from the home of a Kansas City, Mo. supporter. At one point the nominee-in-waiting mistakenly said he was in St. Louis, but a quick-witted wife and daughter helped him recover by asking: "Daddy what city are you in?" He then re-stated he was in Kansas City.
That was the official stuff.
It's the backroom chat that's the "buzz" of the convention! And the buzz is: what will Hillary Clinton supporters do after this love fest ends Thursday night? It depends on who you ask.
Lanny Davis, the longtime friend of Hillary (they attended Yale Law together) told me during an interview on radio row, he believes the rift will heal. He did admit however it takes time to get past the reality that she is not the nominee, nor the running mate.
"It's took me a while to come out the stages of grief," he said. "We fought so hard and came so close; it was difficult to absorb the loss. It's taken me a while and some others longer."
Then there was a white woman delegate from rural Texas who was fully dressed in Hillary-ware from head to toe, who upon being asked will she vote for Obama said outright "no!" Was there anything, anything Clinton could do to changer her mind? "No, I'm voting for McCain," she said.
Roy Barnes, the former governor of Georgia says it's the media that is hyping everything.
"I think these divisions have been greatly blown out of proportion," said Barnes. "I know Sen. Clinton, I like her husband, and I like her and I know she will encourage her delegates to vote for Sen. Obama and I think we are going to have a victorious fall."
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, of Houston told me she believes that Hillary is the frontrunner for 2016, should Obama and Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) win two terms. She jokingly said she believes an Obama--Jackson-Lee ticket would have been a good ticket this time around. But, back to the question on Hillary running when she's about 68 years of age?
"I think Obama (with eight years in office), would be a great lead-in," said Jackson-Lee "If she is able and willing, I think it would be an exciting opportunity for America."
So what you can say about this convention is that it is about the future, but not just Barack's but Hillary's too--and already her supporters are plotting her comeback. And she hasn't even taken the microphone in the Pepsi Center convention hall yet.
Rick Blalock, a two-time Emmy-winning journalist and author, is a native of Highland Park, Michigan and lives in Georgia.
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2008-08-27 01:07:41
2008-08-27 12:55:39
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