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Convention Reports:

From Billi Gosh:

It was an historic convention in many ways. The first time a black man of a major party was nominated for POTUS. The first time the runner-up was a woman, and she earned 18 million votes. The greatest number of delegates who were under 35 years old. The largest venue ever for the acceptance speech.

From our front-row seats we heard the best speeches of their careers delivered by Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Barack Obama. What a privilege and what a thrill!

 

From Sherry Merrick:

The experience was phenomenal. I was so honored to be part of the Vermont Delegation at this historic convention. Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" Speech. Hillary Clinton delivered one her greatest speeches on the 88th anniversary of women acquiring the right to vote.

 

Some of my highlights of the convention:

Edward Kennedy's personal appearance and speech http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/08/25/democrat-convention.html?ref=rss , Michelle Obama's speech and Barack's surprise appearance, and Susan Eisenhower's speech http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ccy8UZdkd8 .

Thursday's entire experience at  Invesco Stadium from start (finding my way to the field via shuttle, attempted light rail, back to shuttle and finally a delegate bus) to finish with  Barack's  most amazing speech capped off with a surprise of confetti, streamers and fireworks.  Also,Barney Smith, one of the citizens' speeches that night had a great line http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuAVw_v3br8 . The energy and high expectations within the stadium of 80,000 like minded people was a rare and exceptional occurrence.  Yes We Can! I  have photos posted on the  OCDC blog. More will be posted  this weekend.  http://ocvtdems.blogspot.com/

 

I hope to have more delegate reports next week.

Delegate Service Day at the Convention:

As part of the convention's focus on engaging the community, the Vermont delegation spent last Wednesday morning building a playground for the students at Force Elementary. Senator Patrick Leahy and Congressman Peter Welch joined the delegation for the service project.

Delegate Service Day, an effort co-chaired by Michelle Obama and Colorado First Lady Jeannie Ritter, aimed to inspire a renewed commitment to service. Projects range from canned food sorting, painting at local schools, serving meals at shelters, reading to children, removing graffiti, landscaping at local schools, tree planting and park maintenance.