Hello everyone!

I know that you must really be wondering why we stopped posting to this blog as of Wednesday night.  Well, the internet in our hotel room stopped letting us upload to the blog … and now we’re here in the Denver airport with internet, but it won’t let us upload photos.

I think John McCain is sabotaging us!  He seems to know a lot about sabotaging right now – since he’s sabotaging his own ticket by picking Sarah Palin as VP.

Anyway, we promise that we’ll have lots and lots to say as soon as we get back to full internet strength.  You know that neither of us is going to be quiet about last night.

As an ardent supporter of Senator Obama during the primary season, I seldom had very good things to say about Senator Hillary Clinton. Prior to her run for President, I greatly admired Senator Clinton. She was smart, poised and had taken a road not often travelled by women. She is a great Senator and if Barack Obama hadn’t been running for president during the same cycle, I would have wholeheartedly supported Senator Clinton.

 

But during the primary season, Senator Clinton often said unsavory things about the candidate that I supported so fervently. On so many occasions, I was furious with something Senator Clinton had said or done, and I vowed to never support her ever again.

 

But, I have had a change of heart.

 

I have never in my life been more proud to be a Democrat than when Senator Clinton took the stage Tuesday night. Not only did her words move me, but her commitment to the Democratic Party and all that we stand for inspired me. Here is a woman that has literally given her all, working on behalf millions of people whom she felt were invisible. She ultimately lost the race, and had every right to not support Senator Obama. She could have stayed upset and disappointed, and retreated back to her Senate seat.

 

But she did not.

 

Senator Clinton emerged from this primary season not only stronger, but more dynamic and more committed. On Tuesday night, she delivered a speech of a lifetime. And on Wednesday night, she made a motion that would be written about for years to come.

 

No longer am I upset or disappointed with Senator Clinton. I am immensely proud, grateful and inspired by her service and her strength.

 

Thank you for your service, Senator Clinton.

Tonight, thousands of Democrats representing millions of people made Barack Obama the first African American Presidential Nominee in our history. 

Gabby and I were there from the start, and we’ll have lots more to say about this day a little later.  But for now, let’s savor this moment and then let’s truly make history in November!

We had a great Cajun lunch at Gumbo’s in downtown Denver Monday afternoon – and then it was off to the Pepsi Center for the first time.  The security around the entire Convention is extremely tight.  We’ve seen more SWAT teams and riot gear in two days than we have in our entire lives, and it’s a bit unsettling.  Thankfully, these guys are doing a lot of watching and not much else, which is good for everyone.

The Convention is such a once-in-a-lifetime event that I almost feel guilty reveling in it too much.  But, trust me, there is nothing like being on the floor of the Democratic Convention – especially this Convention! It’s the kind of political dream that you never really think could come true.

Here we are outside:

Gabby and I arrived at the Pepsi Center around 4:30 p.m. CDT – just in time to run into Wade and get our first dose of all the excitement.  We watched Rob Riggle and Wyatt Cenac from The Daily Show tape a segment about fried foods.  Then, we arrived on the floor.

It’s absolutely gorgeous!

Just like in Toledo, Gabby spread her magnetic energy all over the floor.  She danced up a storm (you got competition when we get back, Molly!) during the musical moments, and she got herself on the big screen for the whole Convention to see. While she was up on the screen, Linda Mansour put her “Arab American Democrat” sign up too. I was watching the screen and I thought, “Who is doing that to Gabby?!”  I totally forgot that Linda was literally two feet away from me.  These moments are all great – but sometimes they’re a bit surreal.

For those who watched the coverage last night, you know that Monday was everything that it was supposed to be.  The tribute to Ted Kennedy was so moving – and while the talking heads made noise all day about whether he could even make it to the Convention – he was as lively and dynamic as ever!  We’ll see you on the Senate floor in January, Ted!

Ted was so good, I made a quick video of his introduction on the floor.  As you can see, it was just mayhem!

And Michelle – what can I say?  She was amazing!!  For me, it was the little touches in her speech that really stood out.  The part about Barack inching the car home after the birth of Malia really shows what a great father and a great person he is.  Michelle and I come from two totally different worlds, but our story is the same.  That’s powerful stuff!  And as you can imagine, the rest of the Covention felt exactly the same way.

Look at all the Michelle signs!

After the Convention finished, Gabby and I spent some time talking with people before we made it back to the busses.  She’s being interviewed by the nationally syndicated Tavis Smiley radio show as a young delegate – and we’ll have more on that later.

But, before the night wrapped up, I met one of my newest heros:  San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. Mayor Newsom has done more for equal marriage in California than anybody by the California Supreme Court.  He’s got movie-star looks, which should come in handy in his potential run for Governor of California in 2010.

And like any good political supporter, I told him I’d send him some money!

Our first official delegate day was awesome. We started off yesterday morning with our delegation breakfast. This is the one event delegates are required to attend everyday. They enforce this rule by providing credentials to all events during the breakfast. Yesterday’s breakfast featured Sen. Sherrod Brown, Treasurer Rich Cordray and several national labor leaders. There really isn’t a lot of action during the breakfast, but it is a good opportunity to meet other members of our delegation. 

After breakfast, Dominique and I went to the Black Caucus meeting. This was just a time for Black delegates to hear from different leaders and discuss topics relevant to our community. On our way out, Dominique and I ran into Michael Eric Dyson and Susan Taylor.

 

Who these other people are in the picture, I have no clue. They just kinda inserted themselves in there, and who am I to tell someone they can’t be in my picture??? Another thing to note, Susan Taylor’s forehead in person, is no where near as big as it seems in pictures.

After the Black Caucus we picked up David and went to a reception hosted by House Minority Leader (and my Soror) Joyce Beatty. We made it there late, and missed the food. We soon realized it was just an event to raise money and seeing that we have very little, we left. 

One of the advantages of being a delegate is that people like to give you free things from time to time. For instance, Google is offering free massages and smoothies to all delegates. I didn’t want Google to waste their money, so I had to participate. 

 

The life of a delegate is so hard!

As a special treat to you Dish readers who weren’t able to be with us here in Denver, we’re posting a full video of Sheryl Crow’s “Soak Up The Sun” from last night’s concert.  Special guest singers include Gabby and me, and be sure to check out Linda Mansour’s very fabulous dance moves about half-way in.  Enjoy!

As David mentioned in his last post, we went to an opening reception for Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia delegates last night. The event was held at Red Rocks, an amazing stone park in the outskirts of the city. So, as we were walking around and meeting other delegates, you would never believe who we ran into….

 

That’s right! My favorite almost Vice President Tim Kaine. I told him that I was his biggest Ohio fan and invited him to check our blog. He was amazingly friendly and gracious, but the shirt he had on was not so friendly to the eye. 

But that’s not all folks!

We then ran into former Virgina Gov. and current Senate candidate Mark Warner:

 

Then Robert Kennedy Jr.

 

Then Governors Ed Rendell (D-PA) and Joe Manchin (D-WV)

David and I were so excited to meet all of them we could barely contain ourselves. Though some were friendlier(i.e., Kaine) than others (i.e., Kennedy), it was still fun.

After the reception, we went to the concert with Sheryl Crow, Dave Matthews and some other country group whose name I can’t recall (update – the band was called Sugarland – davidpmann). Organizers called the event “The First Green Concert” and in between musical acts, we heard from enviromental activists who encouraged us to green our lives. It seemed as if the concert lasted about 10 hours though. Being the person I am, I chose fashion over practicality and nearly froze to death. Nonetheless, we had fun and met a lot of great folks.

We are now off to our first Ohio breakfast delegation meeting. We have these every morning to go over the events for today and are visited by special guests each day. We’ll have updates for you all soon!

Hey everybody, check out my quotes in tomorrow’s edition of the Columbus Dispatch…

Also, we had an amazing end to our Sunday night.  Gabby will have lots more to say about that – with pics! – after we both get some much needed rest.

Even though we’d been up a total of 8 hours already when we landed in Denver, the flights were super quick. I passed the time next to Wade watching HBO’s Recount on my laptop, and Gabby passed the time by passing out (or at least trying to).

Of course, as soon as we entered the airport, the political celebrities were everywhere.  First, Gabby noticed that Craig Robinson – Michelle Robinson Obama’s brother! – rode right next to us on the baggage tram.  We were both too shy to ask for a photo or even say hi, but we decided very quickly not to make that mistake again.

Luckily, just minutes later, we ran into former Representative Harold Ford, Jr. (D-TN) at the baggage claim.  He was very good looking in person and a very nice guy.  I’m glad he was too, because Gabby walked right up and told him, “I watch you on Fox News all the time, and I don’t agree with anything you say!”  Oh, Gabby!

Then, as we were waiting for our checked luggage, who came walking through the concourse but the Reverend Al Sharpton and his eight person entourage.  Al didn’t seem like he had a lot of time to spend chatting with us, but he did pose for a picture with Gabby, Dominique, and me.  Al’s lost some weight!

After getting pictures with two big-shots almost right away, we were anxious for our next celebrity sighting.  Driving to our hotel in downtown Denver, we watched Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) get out of a taxi, and we saw Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) walking down the 16th Street Mall.

 

 

 

BTW, The Curtis took some time to get our room ready, but it’s a very nice hotel.  We’re on the 16th Floor and we’ve got a pretty nice view of some of downtown Denver.

 

Later tonight, we’re heading out to Red Rocks in the mountains for a free concert (featuring Sheryl Crow and Dave Matthews Band!) to welcome all of the delegates.  As you might imagine, we’re very happy delegates right now.  See you back here soon!

Gabby and I are en route to Denver right now. After leaving Toledo shortly after 4 am, we’re now sitting in O’Hare waiting for our next flight. Wade is reading newspapers, Dominique is playing on his Mac, Gabby is admiring Michelle Obama’s fine outfits, and me, you know what I’m doing.

See you in the Mile High soon!