2008 Election

Convention Overload, Big Couple Days Ahead.

The term “sensory overload” could not be more appropriate for how I’m feeling right now. The 16th Street Mall was a nightmare today, crowded with protestors (and their large signs with pictures of mutilated fetuses), cops, delegates, staffers … my head is spinning just thinking about them all! I just encountered some Republicans driving a Toyota FJ pulling a large, inflated electric blue elephant down the middle of a very busy street. Not to mention, as I Twittered earlier this afternoon, I was almost run over by Dennis Kucinich outside of Barnes & Noble a couple hours ago while searching for a functional wireless outlet, which has been pretty spotty even at The Big Tent. The best way to get updates right now is to follow me on Twitter. Sign up here and be sure to enable the messages to come to your cell phone.

I spent the morning with pals at the Manifest Hope gallery, which was an amazing collection of work created by artists who were inspired by BO’s candidacy. (I took about 1,000 photos, which I will upload to Flickr tomorrow morning.) Spike Lee was there and he signed a bunch of kids’ shoes, which was pretty hilarious.

It was nice to take it easy after the hullabaloo that surrounded HRC’s speech last night. We watched at a bar near the Pepsi Center, and it might as well have been Super Bowl Sunday. Blaise teased me mercilessly, but I must confess that I teared up during the cheesy women empowerment film when Chelsea introduced her and also when she noted that her mother was born before women could vote and her daughter was able to vote for her mother for President. I admire how gracious she was and that she got the job done for Team Democrats, although I doubt she’s personally as supportive of BO as she proclaimed. I’m eagerly awaiting Bill’s remarks as I type … that will be pretty revealing in terms of how the old guard is going to go down.

We spent last night at a party for up-and-coming elected officials, hosted by my LA City Councilman Eric Garcetti. I enjoyed some spirited conversations with policy-wonk types while Shepard Fairey DJed. All week it’s felt like I’ve been transported to a dark bar in Adams Morgan, flanked by preppy Hill dudes everywhere I turn, and this crowd was a little more low-key, which was a welcome change.

The best part of yesterday, though, was a conversation I had with a local woman I wound up having a beer with while waiting for Blaise and Melissa. She’d tried to volunteer to help at the convention and hadn’t been contacted back (which happens with the excess of volunteers). She’d left work early hoping to check out the action and meet inspired people. I encouraged her to make a My.BO account and try again (even my grandma has one!) because I’ve had such a fun experience on the trail this last year. It reminded me that even if I’m not at the Kanye concert tonight or rubbing elbows with Nancy Pelosi at Pepsi, what I care about most is the activism of everyone I’ve met. No matter what media reports say about Hillary not saying he’s ready to leave or buzz about McCain’s veep announcement, it’s the grassroots/netroots crowd that is collectively leading this election and I’m so glad that I’ve been a small part of it.

Tonight we’ll be at the Manifest Hope concert with some pals from Iowa and Oregon, then it’s up and early to trek out to Invesco tomorrow morning for the big day. I hope Barackstar is bringing his A game to kick off the general election.

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