Denver Convention Notes

By Pat Canady, AZ CD8 Elected Delegate

Good morning. Finally I am able to share my fantastic, over the top, experiences with you! To view my awesome photos, look on:  http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=ukpfxxb.6lk7bz7f&x=1&h=1&y=-mipx0z&localeid=en_US or email me, canady63@cox.net and I’ll send them to you.

As Arizona Delegates, our day began with a breakfast meeting with incredible speakers. Governor Napolatano started off the speaking sessions on Monday with us. After that gathering, the Delegates separated and participated in a variety of Caucus meetings and activities at the Convention Center and outlying areas. There was plenty to do for both delegates and their guests – never a dull moment. We traveled downtown via the Light Rail System which was incredible in itself….AZ is far behind many cities in providing their own systems. We really should push for this type of transportation both in Tucson and between Tucson and Phoenix, immediately!

I attended the Katrina informational dinner on Sunday. There were interesting presentations on the progress and lack there of, in some cases, within New Orleans. As I type, those poor people are preparing for another onset.  This meeting was totally multi-cultural. It was fascinating to come together with so many people of different cultures and religious beliefs. Everyone was on the same page and wanted desperately to unite both within our country and behind Barack Obama. Hope is in the air – and I felt it everywhere I went this past week.

The Senior Power ’08 Caucus was attended by many retirement groups (AARP etc) and Social Security group and Health Care reform groups. The highlight speaker was President Franklin Roosevelt’s grandson. I attended as a member of the Steering Committee for Grandparents for Obama. We came away mutual urgency in having these problems addressed by the next administration. (which would be Obama’s administration).

The Economy Panel Caucus was headed by financial analyst Paul Krugman and Senator Amy Klobuchar, D-MN.  We also received Obama’s Challenge (America’s Economic Crisis and the Power of a Trasformative Presidency) by Robert Kuttner, who also spoke. This was an extremely informative seminar and we were glad to be participating.

The Unconventional Women’s event (with interviews of women in the know – first speaker Nancey Pelosi) was disrupted by the Code Pink group of seemingly radical ladies. They rudely blocked the state and heckling Nancy Pelosi and had to be taken out by riot police. They had other ladies planted within the auditorium to interrupt all of the ladies being interviews. I had to leave for the floor of the Convention at the Pepsi Center prior to completing this seminar.  While, I do not mind protesters (especially protesting for Peace), this group had permits to protest outside and should have done that. Hundreds of people paid for this event and should not have been disrupted in this rude manner.

Emily’s List Reception was extremely enjoyable as we heard Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, and last but not least Michelle Obama speak and relate to women’s issues. My daughter and all of our guests had paid in advance to attend and were very glad as it was a sold out event as you can imagine.

All I can say about the chance to be on the floor at the Pepsi Center is that is was an experience of a lifetime for me. Arizona had great seating as we could see the stage and sat right in front of Michelle and Barack’s family seating area as well as the Joe Biden Family’s seating area (and they were there every evening) We actually could talk and take wonderful photo ops of them and their guests (such as President Carter). I get chills thinking about it as I type. Monday evening as Caroline Kennedy spoke, introducing the video about her father and uncle, I was already tearing up….the video made it worse. Then, when Senator Kennedy appeared, the entire crowd went crazy. What an emotional moment for us all. Of course, President Carter had made a stage appearance prior to all of this (he didn’t speak). Michelle Obama’s brother Craig Robinson gave a wonderful talk about his family and "little sister". Michelle’s mother narrated the video about their family. And then there was Michelle Obama. She brought down the house. . . and presented herself proudly to the rest of the country. We loved her and her speech. W love the fact that Barack appeared on screen and the kids were talking with him – those girls are darling and people enjoyed that as much as all of the rest.

Tuesday continued with a large variety of wonderful speakers, emotional videos and talks by our brave veterans, music by Jon Ledger, and of course Hillary Clintons great speech. We were very happy to have her showing great support of Barack Obama and help in the unity and healing of our great party. It, again was a wonderful and informative evening. We had to celebrate back at the hotel – the Adrenalin was running high.

Wednesday – more amazing speakers, including President Bill Clinton rocking the house, then music by Melissa Ethridge (more dancing), and the amazing introduction by Joe Biden’s son for his father. Everyone again was very emotional as they are a wonderful family and set a high standard for family values. Joe brought down the house once again and we loved when his family and grandkids appeared on stage. Of course, most of us did not know Barack Obama would come out on stage – what a surprise and that just added to the celebration and excitement already in the air!!

Thursday – Oh my God, what can I say about this Gala event that you do not already know. To start with as our bus approached the stadium, the three bridges that crossed the eight lane freeway, were full of people for miles walking to the stadium. It reminded me of a pilgrimage and we could already see the stadium filling up….amazing. That was a fabulous ending to the week. The fact that I got tickets for my husband, daughter and our Obama team from Tuscon made my week.  You know about the entertainment, Stevie Wonder, Sherill Crow, and Will.I.Am from the Black Eyed Peas (YES WE CAN)….fabulous. And the fact that our own General John Adams was on the stage with other Military dignitaries for Obama was wonderful.  The speech, oh that Historic acceptance and speech made us amazed beyond words as it did millions of people watching around the world. Our Hillary friends enjoyed it as much as we did. People stopped us all of the way home (road trip) in rest stops, gas stations, food places to ask about the convention(we had shirts pins etc) and talk about Obama and his speech. People were ready to go out and canvass in Colorado and New Mexico wherever we stopped. Some were Republicans and some were Independents….good news there.

This morning as I walked the dog very early, in Civano, people came out of their homes (some in PJ’s) to stop me and ask about the convention, to say they had watched, already gone to Pima Dem HQ to sign up and work for Obama and the Dem. candidates in our area. People are excited, people are eager to elect Barack Obama and rebuild our country and bring us back together. I am still flying high and so very appreciative of all of you who helped elect me as your delegate to the historic convention. Thank you a million times over…..I truly appreciated this once in a lifetime experience.  Peace to you all.