Local delegate excited for her first convention

Last modified: Monday, August 25, 2008 11:51 AM CDT

Local delegate excited for her first convention

By DENISE HAUGHIAN
For the Herald

DENVER — When I brought the suitcases downstairs, my dogs followed me around with sad brown eyes and drooping tails. They always know when I’m going on a trip.

I’ll miss them but I’m really too excited to spend much time worrying about them—it’s my first convention and I have to keep telling myself that it’s really happening.

I’m glad, too, that The Chippewa Herald has asked me to blog the convention for them because I’ve long felt that good political coverage keeps people “in the know” about the political arena and decreases apathy and cynicism about our political system, which I truly believe is a great one with its built-in possibilities for improvement.

Getting elected as a delegate involved quite a bit of work. I had to convince people from our local county party to vote for me at the first caucus and put together a loyal delegation of eight people who would support my candidacy. Then I wrote letters and made phone calls to people in other counties, talking about my support for Hillary Clinton and my work for the Democratic Party.

At the second caucus, I won by a slim margin, competing with about 15 other female Clinton delegates from the 7th Congressional District.

We landed in Denver Sunday morning and took a shuttle to the Denver Marriott. During the entire trip — on the plane from Minneapolis, in the Denver airport, and in the shuttle — the atmosphere was charged, with people bonding with total strangers over this unique convention experience.

I wore my black hat enchantingly trimmed with red, white and blue buttons and bows, made by the talented Connie Russell of Chippewa Falls. The Hillary Clinton button pinned to the hat attracted quite a bit of attention.

People seem a little unsure of what Clinton supporters will do. I saw many Obama shirts and stickers but very few Clinton ones, although she has a large number of delegates here.

The Wisconsin delegation is housed with the Illinois delegation, so when we got to the hotel, we were greeted by a large cardboard cutout of Barack Obama and a champagne reception commemorating the 100th anniversary of the first convention in Denver.

The hotel had replicated the menu from the 1908 convention and served hors d’oeuvres worthy of lumber barons and ranch tycoons. We agreed that it was definitely the best cocktail party in town at the moment.

The city teams with protesters and police in full riot gear. A team of police is positioned on almost every corner between our hotel and the convention center. Although they must be sweltering in this 90-degree heat, they seemed in good humor and laughed when we told them to watch out for Dick Cheney.

Outside the welcome bash at the Convention Center, we witnessed a clash between anti-abortion protesters and demonstrators for peace. The police watched closely, but were not about to step in unless things got really violent.

At the welcome party, I relaxed, joked and strategized with other members of the Wisconsin delegation and talked with other Clinton delegates about the best way to show support for Sen. Clinton. I met other delegates from Florida, California, New York and Minnesota. The party highlighted the Friends of New Orleans, a private non-profit organization working to rebuild areas in the Gulf region.

Howard Dean, the featured speaker, made a powerful speech on the theme of failed government and stressed the fact that America was once the nation that the world relied on in times of disaster. Dean pointed out that Barack Obama, with his uncommon bipartisan appeal, has the capacity to transform our politics and bridge the divisions that have blocked important reforms that are needed to restore our infrastructure to its former brilliance.

The festivities continued and special guest Randy Newman helped us get over our mortification at not being invited to the Sheryl Crow concert at Red Rocks — DNC members only. We walked back to the hotel full of crawfish jambalaya, the jazzy, bluesy sounds of New Orleans brass still echoing in our ears.

Denise Haughian of Chippewa Falls is writing about her experiences at the Democratic National Convention this week for The Chippewa Herald.

Haughian is treasurer for the Democratic Party of Chippewa County and a district-level Hillary Clinton delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. She is an instructor at UW-Stout.