Update 11:56 p.m. MST - Well, the big speech of the night is over. New York Senator Hillary Clinton did her part in this convention to try to push her supporters over to Obama.
Prior to the speech, Gov. Phil Bredesen told me what he expected and what he thought she needed to do. He said, "Hillary has to come across as very convincing and that she really wants Obama to win. She has to do this not only in her words, but with her facial expressions, her body language, her entire person."
He then said, "A lot of Hillary supporters aren't just there yet for Obama and for a lot of people this is just the beginning of the campaign. Many Americans will really start paying attention now. Obama has to follow through and swing away for the next few month and bring people together. This is really the beginning of Obama 2.0."
Leave it Bredesen to start with a baseball analogy and end with a computer reference.
Her entrance onto the convention stage was the first time this week that even the vendors selling concessions stopped what they were doing to listen. The Denver Fire Marshal even shut down the doors to the arena floor, even if you had the credentials, because so many people were trying to get in to listen.
Did she deliver? Well, for many of you who were Hillary supporters, that's up to you, but the reaction was overwhelmingly positive from both her and Obama's longtime supporters.
One of the biggest roars from the crowd came early into the speech when she said to her most ardent supporters, "And you haven't worked so hard over the last 18 months, or endured the last eight years, to suffer through more failed leadership. No way. No how. No McCain. Barack Obama is my candidate. And he must be our president."
She then spoke to the crowd of what she had learned during her presidential bid and that this election was too important for Democrats to let slip away. She praised her formal rival, stating "Barack Obama began his career fighting for workers displaced by the global economy. He built his campaign on a fundamental belief that change in this country must start from the ground up, not the top down. He knows government must be about 'We the people' not 'We the favored few.'"
Her other big line of the night came near the end of her address, when she launched an attack on President George W. Bush and John McCain. She said that they had the same views and values, especially on the issue of equal pay for women.
She brought the house down when she said, "With an agenda like that, it makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities. Because these days, they're awfully hard to tell apart."
After the speech was over, we caught up with a few Tennesseans as well as a visiting Member of Parliament from Great Britain for their reaction.
Congressman John Tanner, who was a Clinton endorsee said, "I think her speech captured the mood the political mood of the country in that she articulated the problems we face and the fact that the solutions put forward by Bush and McCain are inadequate to address the problems we face as a people. And that is not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans. She unified the party and showed that we need to unify as a nation. This unrepentant partisanship is crippling America."
Nashville attorney and early Hillary supporter Kim Adkins, wife of Metro Councilman Greg Adkins, said "After tonight, I am confident that all the women for Hillary will unite behind Obama."
Marianne Byrd of Nashville was impressed as well, stating "Fabulous job, she did a fabulous job. She delivered the message that needed to be delivered."
Clinton even won praise from 13-year-old Joel Parker, who is here on what his family assured me is an excused absence from Battle Ground Academy. Parker said, "Very powerful. She really stressed that everyone needs to get united. She convinced the people that she and Obama are on the same team and if they vote for him they would get the same stuff she was fighting for."
And finally, I ran into Jeremy Browne, Member of the British Parliament (not Parliament Funkadelic for those of you lost in the '70s). Browne is visiting from across the pond to see American democracy in action and gave one of the most interesting assessments of the night.
Browne said, "I thought [Hillary] milked the applause at the beginning and that could have been treacherous, it could have gone very bad. Once she got into the speech however, she carried it home and it was very effective."
Well folks, that's all I have for the night. We will pick up on Day 3 in the morning.
Update 6:35 p.m. MST - So here we are, still awaiting the major speeches of the night.
A little earlier, people like CNN analyst Paul Begala were posing for pictures, former NBA player Kevin Johnson was being interviewed on Radio Row, and Biff of David Letterman Late Show fame and Tonight Show “special correspondent” Mo Rocca were eyeing each other from a distance while they both tried to ask the most asinine questions of random Democratic delegates.
And then things got weird.
Former NBA superstar Charles Barkley, who has vowed that he will be a candidate for Governor of Alabama someday, was leaving the Pepsi Center after doing some radio interviews. Barkley’s presence in the hallway instantly created buzz.
While he was leaving, some guy working for Captain Morgan’s rum, dressed in a full-on Captain Morgan get up and acting like that guy you knew in college that was having way to much fun at fraternity parties (really creeping you out in the process), was entering the hall with an entourage.
His entourage consisted of two scantily clad females holding up Captain Morgan for President signs, two more ladies dressed to look like Secret Service agents, and a public relations flack.
The impossible met the inevitable and a very perplexed Barkley, with admirers in tow, ran head on into the Captain Morgan “pirate crew.” A very confused looking Barkley was accosted by the overstimulated Captain who REALLY wanted a picture with the NBA great while off to the side, the PR flack grinned because she knew that she had just hit the jackpot.
Barkley reluctantly posed with the Captain and you will get to see the pictures as part of a Nashville City Paper slide show tomorrow.
I promise I will get back to more serious fare, but who could pass on gold like this. We’ll get in one more late-night update after Hillary Clinton’s much anticipated speech in just a few hours.
Update 1:40 p.m. MST - And now for something completely different…
When I last checked in, I had just told you about running into Congressman John Lewis and Martin Luther King, III. The good news is we got to speak to them. The bad news is that, after I left them, I discovered I had a camera malfunction so you don’t get to see the pictures I took of them. If you really need to see them though, I suggest Google.
Anyway, while walking to the security areas to get into the convention hall, I told a colleague that the camera was ticking me off (I’m photographically challenged on many levels) and I said “Let’s just throw this thing up in the air and I am sure that some Secret Service sniper could use it for skeet.”
Little did I know that just around the corner were two other guys worthy of photos who might also be willing to shoot the camera.
Standing just outside the secure area were Missourians Tony Viessman, 74, and his buddy Les Spencer, 60, of Rolla. They were holding up a sign of their own making supporting Obama that said “REDNECKS FOR OBAMA.”
After speaking with them for a few moments, I can assure you that they are both for Obama and rednecks.
Spencer said, “Tell the rednecks not to be afraid, Obama will not be taking your guns. This stuff that the NRA is putting out is nothing but junk.”
He went on to say, “I hunt, I fish, I trap you name it. I eat squirrels, rabbits, catfish, and sometimes a little raccoon. Hell, I even raise cattle and hogs. I am redneck and for Obama.”
The redneck duo said that they were not delegates and they paid their own way to get here. Viessman said that he was thinking about selling some T-shirts to have a little bit extra cash to get home.
What could save them the money, though, is an e-mail I got earlier today touting the Irish bookmaker Paddy Power, which has released a wide range of betting opportunities on Obama’s speech Thursday.
The bookie is offering betting on such outcomes as what "cliché" Obama will use first during his much hyped speech. "I'm fired up" is the bookmaker's 6/1 favorite with John F. Kennedy's "Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names" is a less likely 100/1 shot.
You can also bet on the color of Obama's tie and how many sips of water he takes during the speech.
A further selection of the cliché odds is as follows.
Finally, before setting up for this dispatch, I ran onto “radio row” to see who might be in there. Front and center was Gov. Phil Bredesen being interviewed by Air America’s Thom Hartman. We said hello and before he could answer any real questions, he was shuffled off to be interviewed by such outlets as FOX Radio and ABC National.
We will get a better chance to catch up with him later, but the two other people I recognized in the room being interviewed by other stations were the Rev. Al Sharpton and Knoxville -based actor David Keith.
I’ll check back in later.
Update 11:51 a.m. MST - Just a quick update for the middle of the day. After leaving breakfast to pick up today’s media credentials, I ventured further downtown to try my luck and see whom I might find out and about before this evening's events.
While there was no way I was going to get as lucky as I did yesterday with first appearance of Senator Joe Biden, I did run into two prominent civil rights leaders.
First was Congressman John Lewis of Georgia. Lewis has been front and center in the civil rights movement since practically the day he was born. He was chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) at the height of the 1960’s equality efforts
An early supporter of Hillary’s who switched to Obama, I asked him what he expected out of tonight’s Hillary speech. He said “That she will knock it out of the park and appeal to millions of voters throughout the country as to why they should join in this effort. She will be great and I look forward to hearing her words.”
I didn’t get much time to speak with Lewis, who was on his way to deliver a speech somewhere in Denver, but as I was walking away from him I looked over and saw Martin Luther King, III speaking to a few people. He is the son of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King.
Asking him the same question about Hillary, King replied, “Senator Clinton will demonstrate that the party is unified, that the support for this ticket is strong, and that we are on our way. This will all be about ‘unity’ and that is what she will deliver.”
I’ll be heading into the Pepsi Center soon and will update from there.
9:23 a.m. MST - It was 88 years ago today that women gained the right to vote in the United States. As most of you know, Tennessee was the state that put the suffragist movement over the top. Therefore, it’s no accident that today is the day that Senator Hillary Clinton will address Democrats here in Denver.
I’m at the Tennessee delegation’s morning breakfast and the topic of the suffrage movement was how Tennessee Democratic Party chairman Gray Sasser kicked off the day with his colleagues. He called on his fellow Democrats to remember the work that women have done for the party and the nation. With that, he introduced one Tennessee’s most prominent Democratic women, State Rep. Lois DeBerry.
For those who haven’t ever heard DeBerry speak at a Democratic rally, when she is on her game, it is like slamming down a Red Bull energy drink with a Jolt cola chaser. Given the late night most delegates had, it was what this room needed this morning.
Deberry challenged the group to fight hard over the course of the next few months and “bring the election home.” She added that she was reading an article the other day in Elle magazine that took issue with low voter turnout among women.
“With apologies to all of the ministers and preachers in the room, the article was titled 'Where the hell are the women?'" DeBerry said. "And I want to know that, too! Go find your neighbors and tell them to vote and vote Democratic!”
Next up to speak was Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell. The reason Rendell spoke to the Tennessee crowd is twofold: Pennsylvania’s delegates are sharing this hotel with Tennessee and Rendell served as chairman of the DNC in 2000 when Al Gore was on the ticket.
Rendell spoke of the ample amount of time he spent in Nashville that year and joked that as Pennsylvanian he learned how to appreciate “all our strange customs.” He then asked the delegation to remember and support his good friend and prominent Democrat Johnny Hayes of Gallatin.
Hayes has been a major player at the national level of Democratic politics for decades, but health problems have kept him away from this convention. Rendell said that all Tennessee Democrats should aspire to the same level of dedication that Hayes has shown.
From there, he turned to the topic of Hillary, whom he supported in the primary. He said that he told his state to “grieve for a few days” when she lost, but then to “get over it” and work hard for Obama.
Rendell also took the opportunity to say that “McCain voted twice against equal opportunity pay for women” and that Obama will be the one that will advance the causes so important to many of the most die-hard Hillary fans.
It’s a good bet that “get over it” will be the theme for a lot of surrogate speakers today. It’s been whispered on the streets and in the hallways every time someone walks by wearing what looks to be too many of her buttons. I don’t think that is an issue for Tennessee delegates, but Northern Democrats have been the ones focusing on it from what I have seen since arriving.
I’ll be heading downtown shortly to pick up my media credentials, but Sasser asked to “send a shout to his wife Kathryn who is having her birthday today.” While normally we might not do that, he can help me get on the floor on the convention at some point. So for that, we say “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”
The last bit of news that came out this morning is that the Obama campaign has appointed Nashville attorney Jerry Martin of Barrett Johnston & Parsley as its new director for Tennessee. Regarding his appointment, Martin told NashvillePost.com, “I'm very excited about the opportunity. Over the next few weeks, we are going to register thousands of voters across Tennessee. And there is going to be a lot of people surprised in November.”
Johnny H. Hayes (1941-2008) |
Hillary Rodham Clinton |
Barack H. Obama |
Politics |
Elections: National offices |
Philip Norman 'Phil' Bredesen |
Martin Luther King III |
Denver |
James Gray Sasser |
Jerry E. Martin |
Lois DeBerry |
Whitehouse at the conventions |
Convention Coverage |
Affairs of State
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