Friday night was the Gala Banquet. I was worried about what one wears to a Gala and someone reminded me, "We are democrats. Nobody will care what you wear." Sure enough, most were in semi-formal dress, but a handful of attendees were in full-on Gala-wear with sequins and feathers while others were in jeans and polo shirts. The night include a fabulous pork dinner (chicken for Brandon) at about $70 a plate.
Condi Rice showed up in her Gala wear. We heard great speeches by Senator Patty Murray and Governor
Chris Gregoire. The highlight for me was the speech by Kansas Lieutenant Governor Mark Parkinson who was a Republican but changed parties when he realized that his party was no longer in line with his beliefs. I appreciated his message because I think it was a good reminder to all of us to stay in touch with the issues rather than blindly voting along party lines. It is just as important to remember that blindly voting on one issue or even a few could leave one in the dark on several other issues that might sway their position.
Later in the evening, there were hospitality suites all over the place. It was somewhat reminiscent of my college days in that the atmosphere was similar to that of a fraternity party. However the purpose of these
suites open was to give national delegates time and space to meet each other. Many of us only knew of
others in name or over email. The other purpose was for candidates for the at large delegates to meet us and pitch their case for why they should be selected. Brandon attended this event with me and we compared notes often on first impressions, but more fittingly, on just how strange the experience was.
What's up with the Clinton People?
There has been so much talk about reaching out to the Clinton supporters in an effort to bring the party work and energy together. Most of the Clinton supporters I know consider themselves "Democrats First" and don't subscribe to the idea of not voting for Obama. However, I keep hearing all these stories about Hillary people who are angry, hurt, and down. I think that, as with most other groups, there are variations. I encountered a little of both types of Hillary supporters. Example: For this photo, we were asked to go down on the patio and pose for a photo. We walked past the Hillary hospitality suite and while we were down there, they started chanting "Hillary! Hillary!
Hillary!" and folks from our group responded by shouting "O-ba-ma!" Some of us tried to shift the chant to "Dem-o-crats" and that took on okay. I was glad to see the unified chant take over. But then, someone from the back of our group started chanting "Hillary!" back at the Clinton supporters. So in a matter of seconds, we went from chantin
g at each other, to chanting for unity, then to honoring Hillary and her supporters. I was thinking this was going to really start the weekend out right.
We returned to our room around 12:30 in the morning and I had a raging blister from my "fancy on a budget" shoes.
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