There was a great deal of anticipation in the Oregon delegation as we gathered for breakfast. Despite the long days and late nights, folks were just plain fired up. The morning speakers were key to that as we heard from future Senator Jeff Merkely and others. Steve Novick gave a unifying speech based upon his own experience in supporting Jeff Merkely even after he was defeated by him in the primary. Steve had us laughing and cheering wildly.
But it was the Lt. Govenor of Kansas that stole the show at breakfast. After some classic Lieutenant Govenor jokes, he explained his political path that has been echoed all week and would be echoed again at Invesco Field. He was the chairman of the Republican Party in Kansas and held other offices as a Republican for years. He explained the history of Kansas and the pride in the Republican Party's role in keeping Kansas as a free State. But in his view the GOP had lost its ideals and was caught up in petty issues that don't help people in his day to day lives. So at the urging of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, he switched to Dem and was elected as her Lt. Gov. This man brought the house down and has quite a future, if only I could remember his name!
On to Invesco! The security was incredible as they shut down the freeway AND kicked people off the light rail system approx. 2 miles from Invesco. That included Teri and our kids who walked 2 miles to get to the line for security that by that time was extremely long. It took them 2 hours of walking and 1 hour to get through security and to their seats. They were pretty worn out as they took their seats as Al Gore was speaking. But an incredible experience awaited them.
By contrast, the delegate only buses took us straight into the Invesco parking lot. The lines were still very long, but I was able to reach the floor after about an hour. The stage was amazing with a series of columns strewn with American flags. This looked nothing like the "greek temple" that republicans were spinning, but more like an American monument.
The atmosphere? Rocking, loud, exciting, youthful, overwelming, dancing, celebrating, amazing all in one. We were shown visions of MLK's dream on the huge video screen and by two of his children that came out to speak. Beyond that the historic nature of the evening spoke for itself.
The music? There were rumors on the floor of a suprise Bruce Springsteen appearance that never happened, though his music was played. A band from Colorado got things started with a style of music that seemed to be a combination of rock/country/folk. They were amazing. The place exploded when Will.I.Am and John Legend came out and did their "Yes We Can" piece to Barack's words that has been so popular on youtube.com. Cheryl Crow stole the show with several upbeat songs, including one inpired by the Dali Lama which urged us to get "out of our heads and into our hearts."
I must confess that I was stuck in a line for the bathroom near the Fox News folks for most of Stevie Wonder's appearance. We let Brit Hume cut in front of us so he could get back to work. He commented "I don't know about Obama's politics, but I sure like his taste in music." I chided him as he left the bathroom: "Now, be good to Barack!" He said, "I will."
Frankly, after hearing so many speeches all week, I think our delegates were really just looking forward to hearing Barack. Personally, although it was a privilege to see Bill Richardson, Tim Kaine, and even Al Gore, it was really hard to focus knowing what was ahead of us. But I thought the place went nuts when the 15 or so generals supporting Barack came out to say he should be our commander in chief. And the same was true of the response when some ordinary Americans got up to tell their story. I will never forget Barney Smith, everyday working American, who told us we need a President who puts Barney Smith ahead of Smith Barney. We all started chanting BARNEY BARNEY BARNEY louder and more enthusiastically than any cheers for some of the famous speakers that preceded him.
The personal bio video of Barack was very special and pulled out some clips that had never been seen before. The humble upbringing it displayed underscored Barack's later comment whether this was a life of a "celebrity".
And then out of nowhere, without any further introduction, Barack just casually walked out on stage with a smile on his face. The roar was deafening and we couldn't see because of all the signs and flags that started waiving. I was sitting next to Senator Wyden and his wife who couldn't see either, so I pointed out to Mrs. Wyden the one screen that was visible over our left shoulders. The place was just going nuts and it would have went on for another 15 minutes had Barack not finally succeeded in getting us to take our seats.
I was impressed by the content of Barack's speech as well as his presidential demeanor. He highlighted the critical differences with John McCain in a thoughtful and forceful way, but did so while staying on the "high road." Notably, he pointed out the common ground that all Americans have on controversial issues such as abortion, gun control, and other issues that politicians have been using to divide us for years. He also called on us to become involved and shoulder our own personal responsibilty echoing JFK's call a generation ago.
The night ended with views of fireworks, confetti flying, and the Obama and Biden families celebrating the beginning of the fall campaign together on stage. It was an unforgetable night.
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