Day two of the DNC was crazy! Traveling through the city of Charlotte is extremely difficult, even by secure DNC buses. There are police from all over the country, all wearing their home uniforms, and with every possible mode of transportation, including dirt bikes!
Protestors are set up in varying zones around the city. Closest to the convention center were the 'lifers. There's a lot of hate here, and dozens of 5 foot tall photos of aborted fetuses to be seen.
Just around the corner, Planned Parenthood was having a rally--it would have been much more interesting if they let the 'lifers protest right nearby!
There was one big protest, but I couldn't get close enough to it. There were rows of police in the streets, with bicycles and riot gear.
And the weather! Oy vey! Like walking around in a hot cloud. We've had severe thunderstorms every afternoon...and to think we laughed at Tampa's hurricane during the RNC. Payback's a bitch, as they say.
We just learned that tomorrow has been moved inside to the Time Warner Arena--it was supposed to be at the Carolina Panthers' stadium, and there were over 65,000 regular people who were promised tickets (including my mom and dad). But due to the severe weather, they are moving it inside. Honestly, I'm good with that--I was not looking forward to sitting in the rain for the night!
Walking into the convention was amazing. I've been fortunate to do a lot of cool things in my life, and have been a delegate to NY conventions for a decade, but nothing really prepares you for this. Every state, each territory, and nearly every major news network in the country are here. History is being made, my friends.
And the speakers, there are not words. So many of the elected officials who spoke last night, literally came from nothing. They grew up poor--not Ann Romney's version of struggling--eating spaghetti in your basement apartment--all the while knowing that you have a serious safety net in your wealthy parents, and a trip to the country club for a bowl of lobster bisque is just a limo ride away---but really poor. Ken Salazar, former Attorney General of Colorado grew up in a Mexican-American ranching family and had no electricity or running water in his childhood home. Mayor of San Antonio, Julian Castro thanked his mom, a housecleaner, for pushing a mop so he could stand before the convention holding a mic. One of my favorite speeches was Ohio's Governor, Ted Strickland. "If Mitt Romney was Santa Claus, he would fire the reindeer and outsource the elves," he joked with the crowd.
There was a tribute to Senator Kennedy, which had clips from his 1994 debate with Mitt Romney...priceless. Mr. Romney was asserting that he believed in a woman's right to choose and that Roe v. Wade was the law of the land and should be upheld. How far his position has changed to court the right! Teddy Kennedy capitalized on it, as Mitt's positions were ever changing, even 20 years ago, providing a list of all the things that Romney had decided to switch position and support during his campaign, concluding with, "Now, it looks like he's for ....reform, if we give him two more weeks, he may even vote for me!" It brought the house down last night!
And of course, it's not a party without Kumar! A few weeks ago we watched A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas. Harold and Kumar are the modern-day Cheech and Chong. Kumar is definitely the Chong to Harold's Cheech. But he cleans up pretty well, and delivers a surprisingly insightful speech.
Michele Obama was the keynoter of the night, with some insight to the person who is our President. She was remarkable.
Tonight is President Clinton--and I can't wait!
New York may have had crappy seats, but our Senator got to say hello!
