"Candidate McCain Would Vote Against the Immigration Bill that Senator McCain Wrote!"

Credential Hell…

Why hasn’t the DNCC gone electronic yet? Each morning thousands of journalists, media personnel, allied organizations, delegates, vendors, volunteers and “special guests” (people who gave a lot of money) line up at different locations all around downtown Denver. The emails I received, the website, and phone conversations I had all gave out conflicting information about when, where and how to pick up your credentials. On Sunday it’s one place, on Monday another… the pick up times are inconsistent and the rooms where the credentials are being held are laughably small. So you have a bunch of hot, irritated people (most of which are on deadlines) crammed into a hotel hallway waiting for them to “please I’ll do anything if you just call organization J-M!” When you finally get to the “J-M” desk there is one middle aged women taking her time riffling through stacks of paper… “oh, I think this is it… no… wait one minute...what’s the name of your organization again?” Then, you finally have your credential and you’re thinking, “Great! Glad that’s over.” So, you walk through downtown towards what you hope is the Pepsi Center not to be confused with the Convention Center... when you get as close at you possibly can (which is not close) to the Pepsi Center, after trying to figure out how to navigate all the closed roads and roadblocks, you get to stand in another line that must be almost a mile long. (If you don’t like waiting in unbearably long lines, the conventions are not for you!) After you get through security you walk into the perimeter where CNN has its special CNN VIP Grill and other big media outlets have staffers driving their Journalists around in golf carts. When you finally enter the arena (during the day) there are signs for things like radio row Radio Row. Mostly media and delegates are at the Pepsi Center during the day… its not until about 4:00pm when it becomes super chaotic. When you enter for the speeches at night… you show your credential to about 15 people and they say things like, “I think that you’re supposed to go over there.” So, as you can imagine there are a lot of confused people walking around!

I can’t wait to see what getting into INVESCO Field on Thursday night is like!!What I find to be especially ridiculous about the “credential issue” is when I returned to the hotel on Monday and Tuesday night and turned on CNN I could see plenty of empty seats in the crowd! WHY? So many people who had “Perimeter” or “Arena” passes were not allowed into those empty seats because they didn’t have “Hall” passes (very high school, right?) Tonight, it was so packed that the fire marshalls had to shut down entrance to the hall. The only empty seats could be found in the private suites boxes... just because they can, right? But seriously, it makes no sense and people who have come all the way from who knows where are denied the chance to support their party. They were probably just holding those seats for more important people… Well the people who were “important enough” had the opportunity tonight to see:

Wednesday, August 27: Securing America’s Future
"Barack Obama offers a new, tough foreign policy that is neither Republican nor Democratic, but is a strong, smart American foreign policy to make our country more secure and advance our interests in the world. Wednesday night’s Convention program will feature the voices of Americans who share Barack’s vision of making America stronger and safer."
The headline prime-time speaker on Wednesday will be Vice Presidential Nominee Senator Joe Biden.
Featured speakers will include: Former President Bill Clinton; former Senator Tom Daschle; Governor Bill Richardson and Senators Evan Bayh, John Kerry and Jay Rockefeller. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Convention home state Senator Ken Salazar, House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn, and Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL) along with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. Representative Patrick Murphy (D-PA) and Iraq War veteran Tammy Duckworth will lead a tribute honoring those who give so much to secure our nation’s future – veterans, active duty military and their families.

Highlights:

Former President Bill Clinton, almost wasn't given an opportunity to begin his speech there was so much cheering and chanting. It was truly incredible... people couldn't control themselves! His speech was dynamic and well recieved. People really really love Bill. His message was in support of Barack Obama and that Obama's America will use "diplomacy first and military force as a last resort." BUT... he believe that "when [Obama] can't convert adversaries into partners, [Obama] will stand up to them." Then there was some more, "people will always be more impressed by the power of our example than the example of our power," followed by the usual "yes we can" chanting. Bill said of a McCain presidency, "Thanks, but no thanks" and "the third time is not a charm." He spoke about his own campaign and how the republicans then said the he was too young and inexperienced to be president. He said that Obama was on the right side of history and that "America must always be a place called hope." (gag) There was also a lot of talk about the Bush administration destroying our economy while reminding people how much "better" our economy was when Bill was in office... must I go on?


Sen. John Kerry, spoke about using our values to shut down institutions like Gitmo and to stop tourtue (big theme tonight). The United States of America should not tourtue now and not ever was his message. He also threw in an "energy revolution begins now." My favorite thing that he said was when he spoke about the difference between "Candidate McCain" and "Senator McCain." He pointed out that candidate McCain would vote against the immigration bill that Senator McCain wrote and then said "are you kidding me folks?" He said that before McCain debates Barack Obama, "he should finish the debate with himself."

I should also mention that there was a large focus on honoring our troops and there was a beautifully done video... that was pretty emotional (aka I was balling)...

Me and Stan Greenberg (Miami Grad & Famous Dem Pollster)

JOE BIDEN “Joe is the salt of the earth.” In his tribute video had a clear message: Joe Biden preservers and is always there for his family. He has the necessary foreign policy experience to make Obama’s ticket successful. Joe gave what started off as the standard party speech and morphed into something that felt a bit more genuine. For Biden, America’s future is “about whether or not you can look your child in the eye and say we’re going to be alright.” He believes that Obama will hold Russia accountable for its actions and help Georgia rebuild. He also reminded us that Obama wanted to send more troops to Afghanistan and did not believe we had “won” there. He supports Obama’s Iran policy which was explained simply as “we must talk and make clear to Iran that they must change.” He said Obama wants to shift responsibility to the Iraqi’s and create a time table to bring our troops home. (Something we have heard over and over… and actually it looks like Bush and Malaki may actually agree on some sort of time table in the near future…) Biden said, “remember when the world used to trust us?” (Must have been before my time)… “When Barack Obama is President they will trust us again.” I think herein lies the problem with politicians… they make all these promises… if only it were that simple! Biden also said that Obama will give college students $4,000 in exchange for community service... (really??) Even if this somehow is possible, let's face it... we went to Miami University and $4,000 seems like a joke at this point. (P.S. I have recently discovered that college loans don't magically disappear after you graduate like I "hoped" they would.) Something that I believe is tangible, that has nothing to do with foreign policy, is that Biden promises Obama will continue to work until there is equal pay for women. I deeply respect Biden because he wrote The Violence Against Women Act in 1994. Democrat or Republican... it was an important step in victim advocacy.

Some Joe Articles

Obama says Joe Biden is ready to be president

Meet Joe Biden

Biden Tears Up In Front of Home State

Obama's choice of Biden raises stakes for McCain

There was even a surprise guest at the end of the night BARACK OBAMA... ahhhh! Surprise! So the night ended with generations of family on stage and it was actually quite nice to see and very very smart.


Hmm... Frank Luntz... enough said.

-Sarah Marcu 07'