Denver Wrap Up

First of all thanks to all of you who followed me through this trip. I just want to jot down a few things that I forgot to talk about (or just didn't have time) over the week.

I forgot to mention that on Tuesday we joined the Ohio Delegation for a box lunch and a showing of the film Swing State, a phenomenal documentary produced by Jason Zone Fisher, son of Lee Fisher, Lieutenant Governor of Ohio. This film traces the 2006 election of Governor Strickland and Lee Fisher through the lens of a son watching his father go through a political race. It is scheduled to show at the New Orleans Film Festival and hopefully in many other locations soon. It was wonderful and I enjoyed being with my political activists friends from Ohio. Marshall and I were both very impressed with the 90 minute film, which held the entire room fixed to their seats for the entire time. When does that ever happen in a room filled with politicians?

Marshall and I with Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio

Another thing, for those of you reading this from Ohio, I want to tell you how many and how often the tributes came for Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, our late congresswoman. The Ohio delegation did a beautiful tribute on Thursday morning, which Susan Levine attended and told me about, and every women's event that I attended paid tribute to Stephanie, but this picture is from the convention itself, where a very inspiring presentation was given by women of Congress as this picture was shown on the large screens. Boy, was she loved by everyone and how she will be missed!

Probably the part that I liked least about the convention is that without being a delegate, you are never sure of your credentials for each night and even if you have good credentials, you have to be at the venue very, very early to procure decent seats. This eliminates attending very many afternoon events. Also with the security as tight as it was (maybe a little overkill, but better safe than sorry) buses, taxis or private cars could only get so far and then they could not get near the arena or the field. There was a ton of walking, asking for directions from volunteers who really did not have the answers, many angry individuals waiting in long lines, and a few times thinking maybe sitting at home in front of my own TV would have been more comfortable. But once you were in a seat - no matter where it was, among all of the thousands of excited supporters looking to a future of hope and change - I knew I was where I wanted to be!

That's it for this trip. Thanks for taking it with me. Our work is just starting, so let me know if I can provide many more specifics about why I am supporting Barack Obama and Joe Byden when I get home.

We are heading up to Keystone, Colorado with Susie and Bruce who own a home there . We will be there until Sunday. Off to Vegas the following Sunday - do not expect a blog from there!

Thursday, August 28 End of Convention

Each day just keeps getting better - but I don't think I can take much "better"! I think we are both very tired and ready to go off to Keystone, Colorado, for a two day R&R.

The highlight of the morning for me was the Women's Caucus where Michelle Obama spoke and I got to meet and speak with at length Lilly Ledbetter. Lilly Ledbetter is the woman whose case about pay discrimination went up to the Supreme Court. I have been working on the Fair Pay Restoration Act for the past six months trying to get Sentor Voinovich to help get this through the Senate. I haven't gotten very far with Voinovich, but was inspired to work even harder by meeting this woman.

Lilly Ledbetter and me

And then there was the final night of the convention - all 84,000 of us in Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium in Denver. It was not easy getting there and it sure was not easy getting back to the hotel but it was worth every minute of walking and waiting for busses.

We were very proud to see Marshall's sister, Susan Turnbull take the podium with the other Vice Chairs of the DNC and address the delegates and guests.

It was like being at a rock concert with everyone loving the star attraction. This Rock Star had a message that included every aspect of the changes needed for our country. It was electrifying and brought the house down! With fireworks and confetti surrounding the families as they took the stage and everyone cheering non-stop for about 15 minutes, oit was an indescribable experience. I loved the evening, I believe in Barack Obama, and am "fired up" to come home and work for his election!

Wednesday Night

Have you ever attended a three day pep rally? Well, that is what I feel like I have been a part of and it has been uplifting and made me believe more than ever that Team Obama has got to move forward in the next 70 days to make it possible for the changes that need to be made in this country a reality. I, and hopefully many of you, will do what it will take to make that happen! Okay, enough campaigning! I am "psyched" though!

Probably the most exciting part of the evening was when Hilary came on the floor with the New York delegation to stop the roll call vote and call for the unanimous nomination of Barack Obama. I thought the roof was going to come down! There were no "Hilary" groups versus "Obama" groups as some had speculated - there was unity! We are mocing forward with a wonderful candidate and a unified party.


Wow! The speeches were even more electrifying tonight! Bill Clinton can still get a crowd going and the spirit of this crowd was really high tonight! They loved him and my biggest fear was that everyone was going to rise up and yell "eight more years" and mean Bill Clinton.

I also never heard John Kerry deliver a better speech! Everyone kept thinking, "Was he that eloquent four years ago?"

Joe Byden gave a good speech and but was a little overshadowed by the introductory speech given by his son Beau. Beau is the Attorney General of Deleware and is a member of a Reserve Troop that is being called up and he is leaving for Iraq soon. As a young child, he and his brother were injured in a car accident that killed their mother and baby sister. He told of his father's devotion to he and his brother, a story many of you have already read about. Everyone was emotional after hearing from him.

By now all of you know that most of the Pepsi Center was totally surprised at the entrance of Barack Obama, following Joe Biden's speech. The place went nuts! But, I want to tell you how much technology has entered the arena of political conventions. I guess one of the TV stations got the information that Obama had landed in Denver and was on his way to the Pepsi Center. Susan Levine, who was sitting with me got a text message from her husband telling her this, and we passed the information on to the people sitting around us. We even told Tom Brokow who was in the NBC booth above us. He said he knew - of course he did! But the crowd didn't and I almost wished that technology did not allow us to get information that easily as to ruin good surprises!

Joe Byden hosted a great party for the guests of the DNC tonight and after not eating all day in order to get decent seats in the arena, we dove in the food, which was quite good. There was a band and dancing and an open bar, but we stayed for a short time as we had just about run out of energy.


Tomorrow night we head to the football stadium with 70,000 people who are part of the convention or who have won a polace in the Denver lottery. There are sure to be lots of surprises.

Marshall and I at the Convention - Judi with a "bad hair" day with no time for "primping"!

Denver Day 4

I did not blog last night when we finally got back to the hotel as sleep and hunger took priority. I have had a few hours sleep and am ready to start off another exciting day.

One of the big issues of "playing the game" of getting to experience each of the days of the convention is to get to the Pepsi Center early enough to secure decent seats. We have passes that say Honored Guest which might sound a little impressive - but believe me there are a lot of honored guests here in Denver. I know for a fact that they give out many more passes that say Honored Guests than they have seats for that category. Yesterday, we knew where we wanted to sit - section 234-236 on the Club Level looked perfect from what we had staked out the night before. We left the hotel at 2:00 and did get the seats we wanted. So that meant, sitting, guarding our territory for several hours before the "top acts" came to the podium. It was fun listening to all of the speeches, but some stood out. Mark Warner, as the keynote speaker had a hard act to follow considering that Barack Obama had delivered a dynamite speech four years ago in Boston that had propelled him into the spotlight that became the nomination. I think we were all waiting for a similar occurance and it fell a little short, I thought. But surprises such as Governor Schweitzer from Montana gave a wonderful speech that I hope I can find the text of as i'd like to read his words again. I was really impressed with him.

Hillary Clinton's speech I thought was phenominal. I thought it did exactly what it should have done - united the Democratic Party behind Barack Obama. The media seems to be looking at what they thought was lacking in the speech - but I thought it contained everything. It explained why those who supported her with such fervor had to realize that it was her issues and priorities that they were supporting and that they would not find that with John McCain - the issues are just too different. I thought she was great - and I even got to say it to a Roiter's roving reporter and some Spanish TV station that interviewed me at the elevators. Don't look for these interviews in primetime anywhere!

Picture of the Convention Floor With All the Unity Signs

We were exhausted after the day which also included a forum in the morning with some celebrities here to support the party - among them Eva Longoria and Fran Drescher and many others, and they were all very impressive with their remarks.

I know this blog is so long, but I must tell you about this morning. We are lucky enough to have access to the Consierge Lounge which happens to be next door to our room. Here there is always coffee, soft drinks, an honor bar, breakfast and treats all day. I go in to see who is there - not especially for the food (but the coffee being so handy is great). Well this morning an elderly lady walked in wearing her robe and a bandana on her head and we both got some fruit and yogurt and she sat doiwn at the same table with me. We started talking and she told me that she was a very good friend of Bill and Hilary's and flew in last night to sit next to Bill as he watched Hilary's speech. She was lovely, but I didn't recognize her as anyone iIshould recognize. Her friend came in and we were taling and I asked her what she did. She said that she worked for the other lady's foundation - the Cicely Tyson Foundation. Then the light bulb went off in my head and I realized I was breaking bread with Cicely Tyson. I would have asked her for a picture, but she really was in her "just woke up" mode.

Then, I notice eating breakfast at the table next to me was one of my favorite media stars -Chris Matthews! Wow! I had to talk to him. He is "tivoed' every night in our house. He was so very nice and asked me all about where I was from - could not have been nicer. What a personality! He willingly posed with me for a picture. The day has just begun and I am "star struck" already!!!

Chris Matthews of MSNBC News with me.

Denver Day 3 Morning

It is not even 9:00 in the morning and I think if I do not post now I will have just too much to say at the end of the day. We woke up at 7:00 and proceeded to walk down three blocks to a diner called Sams 3 where the MSNBC show Morning Joe was doing their taping. I wake up every morning to Morning Joe spurred on by my sister, Carole, his #1 fan. I don't always agree with Joe Scarborough but I find him and Mika to be very entertaining and I like the guests he brings on.

So with a little pushing and shoving, Marshall and I found ourselves at a table front and center to the broadcast. We sat down with a woman who is head of the communications staff for Obama. She was really friendly but very busy on her Blackberry "putting out fires". She did talk about her love for the whole Obama family as she has been with the campaign for 18 months.

We talked to everyone - Joe and Mika when commercials were on - Willie Geist, Tucker Carlson, Senator Jim Webb, and Luke Russert who certainly has his father's charm. What made the morning twice as nice is when we got up to pay, the waitress said NBC picked up our tab! That was cool! I guess we were so into the show that they thought we were part of the guest list.

Here are some fun pictures - I do look like it is early morning and I really look short next to most of these men! More later! Jim Webb

LukeRussert

Willie Geist

Denver Day 2

I cannot believe that tonight was only the first night of the convention. With the amount of people I have met and sessions I have attended, I feel like I have been here for a week!

First let me say, if you were not entirely inspired tonight, then you did not have your television tuned to the convention speeches. From Teddy Kennedy's appearance on stage after the heart-wrenching tribute by Carolyn Kennedy to her uncle to Michelle Obama's phenominal speech that inspired the audience to raise their voices in loud enthusiastic cheering. Those two children and the appearance of Barack on a video conference just endeared them all to every one in attendance. It was electrifying and being in the midst of this celebration was awesome!

Before going to the Pepsi Center Venue, the entire day was spent in celebration of women. I started out in a theater with a program entitled The Unconventional Woman. It was in a beautiful theater and the stage was set like a living room. Donna Brazille was the moderator and on stage sitting on couches were Senator Claire McCaskill from Missouri and Senator Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota. Donna led them in a discussion of how they came to be senators and how when they began there were so few women. There was then another discussion with a woman governor and two women representatives. The third act was Senator Barbara Boxer from California who was absolutely fabulous. She just told stories about life as a woman senator and inspired all women who were considering running for offices in their communities to do that. The final part of the program was when 300 Girl Scouts from Denver were brought on to the stage symbolizing the future for women. I learned that badges in baking or sewing have been replaced with lots of preparation for public service.

During the afternoon I went to the EqualiTEA given by the National Organization for Women. There were lots of speakers, but the very best were the tributes to the late Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, my congresswoman, who died suddenly last Tuesday night in Cleveland. Connie Schultz, our pullitzer prize winning journalist, presented a beautiful tribute to Stephanie. I was so glad to be there honoring Stephanie, who should have been in the room, speaking herself.
I must add that before entering the University Club where the Tea was held we had to walk through anti-choice protesters who accused all of us of being baby killers and called us many other ugly names. It was not pretty and very ineffective. Large number of security police had to take their time to make sure 300 women entered safely.

It has been a very long day. We just stopped into one party and headed back to the hotel knowing that we have a full schedule tomorrow.

Denver -Day 1 Sunday

Got up and out of the house early today for our flight to Denver at 8:13 AM. Surprisingly the flight loaded promptly and left the gate on time ( a surprise for this traveler). We got into Denver, no luggage delay, a taxi waiting, and we checked into the Hyatt without incidence. What a great start!

I have never, ever seen so much security dressed in riot gear, brandishing automatic weapons on their shoulders. I thought maybe we took a wrong turn and were in Iraq! Before we entered the hotel, our bags were sent through a screening process. The police are everywhere - at the elevators, in the coffee shops, in the lobby, on the hotel floors - they are everywhere. Do I feel safe or do I feel that I should be worrying about something?

I had my first real excitement just as we were checking in. You have to understand that celebrity to me means someone in the media who delivers my news on mostly cable TV. Those are the people I get excited to see. Well, there right in front of me checking in was the man and woman who I watch each morning, "Morning" Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzenski from MSNBC. I went up to him and said, "Please tell me if I am being intrusive, but I am a real fan of yours. Would it be all right if my husband took our picture together?" He was so nice, called Mika over and they stood on either side of me and I got my first "celebrity" shot! I then went up on the elevator with Donna Brazille, another commentator that I am fond of.

Joe, Judi, and Mika

My sister-in-law Susie hosted a very nice party this afternoon for her friends and colleagues which numbered 650 on the RSVP list. Many came and went so it was never real crowded. It was held at Zaidye's Delicatessan and was called a "Nosh and Schmooze", which means to have a bite to eat and visit with friends. It was wonderful! We chatted with fellow Ohioians who are delegates and others active in the DNC. We chatted with Congressmen Nadler from New York and Honda from the Silicon Valley, and Senator Ben Carden from Maryland.

We then had a wonderful afternoon with friends who live out in the mountains in a suburb of Denver. What a magnificent home they have built right on a nature reserve. The views from the wrap-around deck were amazing and we had a great dinner before they drove us back to the hotel.

As I am on east coast time and it has been a long day, I am ready to "hit the sack". There is just such excitement around here that it is contagious. Some people like sporting events or live concerts, but being at the Democratic National Convention is the ticket I like best!