I am home and have slept. There is no event I can think of where one gets less sleep than at a convention. The delegation breakfasts start at 8, but you seldom get to sleep before 3 or 4. There is stuff to do during the day, and the logistics in Philly kind of sucked. All of the schedule is driven by prime time: so conventions in the eastern time are sleepless affairs. In California or Denver the time zones mean earlier ends, and more sleep.
A writer and Sanders delegate from NYC came up with a term to describe a convention: random convention person. It was meant as a complement. At a convention random convention person is a member of the media (case in point, I talked to a reporter from Rome for a while), some sort of political operative like a consultant, or someone rich or famous or both. Of course the last group are the delegates themselves, and they often are very different from everyone else there.
I talked to a lot of delegates – Sanders and Clinton. The Clinton people are anxious tell you how similar Clinton and Sanders are. The Sanders people think this is bullshit.
At its core the argument is really about the nature of power itself. The Sanders people, almost to person, believe that power resides in the people that fund campaigns, and not in the politicians. Because of this they don’t believe they system as currently constituted is capable of delivering change. Case in point was the line in the speech about free public university. The Sanders people kind of shook their heads. They really don’t think she means it, and a review in the Washington Post said the same thing.
Because if you really believed in to you would talk about it. You would paint a picture of what that would mean for people. If Clinton did nothing more than delivered on it it would be a very big deal for working people. If Bill was for it I have little doubt he could have painted a picture of what it meant. But to Hillary it was just an applause line – a way to placate the Sanders people. The Sanders people resented it.
The last night I sat for a time in a group called something like women executives for Clinton. They were donors, and had good seats, and were not shy about expressing their fear of Bernie.
So I need more sleep. There is a great politico article about the behind the scenes negotiations between Clinton and Sanders.
In the hall. A couple of observations
- The gop is defining the debate. We are fighting on their issues. Law and order and security are dominating.
- If I hear strength one moe time tonight I will scream
- Bernie people much less visible
- Obama in my mind remains the difference between the parties. Each are about to come apart at the seems
We have someone who both wings like. The gop does not
Oh. And Biden rocks
Full house. Fair amount of anticipation. The issue that animates is diversity. It excites.
Some sanders people are wearing yellow. They are yelling no war. People are yelling USA in part to drown out the protests
Still not much on the economy.
First event I ever was responsible for. Carole King benefit Gary hart in Burlington. She has been active for among time
