Aug

26

Daddy’s Little Girls

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Michelle Obama fired up the Convention on Monday night. But she was upstaged by her little ones, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7. Lets face it these kids are just too cute. Both of their faces lit up like Times Square when they saw their father on the big screen. And when the Senator asked their opinion of their mother’s speech here’s what they said:

“I think she did good,” Sasha said.

“I think so, too,” Malia said.

And then Malia said, “We love you, Daddy.”

And Sasha said, “We love you, Daddy. Bye.”

Michelle Obama’s speech was indeed good. It was better than good. It was touching. It was real. I felt like she gave us a honest glimpse into their lives, their hopes and dreams. At one point, Michelle’s voice cracked when she relayed a story about the day the Senator drove her and their daughter, Malia, home from the hospital. These are real people, who know what it is to bring up a family in this day and age. They have the utmost respect and love for each other - qualities that are becoming a rarity nowadays. This is the couple I want to be role models for the children I consider to be my nieces and nephews. They are my role models as well.

 

 

Aug

26

I’m me, really!

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For weeks leading up to the convention fellow Hillsiders and other New Jersey-ites were asking me to get them credentials for the convention floor.   Well let me tell you picking up my own credentials wasn’t that easy and neither was getting to the Pepsi Center from our hotel, The Inverness.

 

Just getting the actual convention floor pass was like some sort of clandestine operation straight out of a Tom Clancy novel.  First we had to line up outside a designated hotel conference room.  You know your girl (that’s me) was slick, I cut out of breakfast early to be one of the first in line.  Then we were shepherded into a dimly lit conference room where only 3 - 4 delegates were allowed in at a time.  I kid you not.  Next we had to present a picture ID and sign for an envelope that held our documents and were informed to guard it with our lives, we won’t be getting another pass.  Afterward we were shepherded out of the room through a different door and re-emerged in natural sunlight.  This process will be repeated every day of the convention. 

 

So now I figured the hard part was over.  Just hop on the shuttle bus and we will be at the Pepsi Center in 30 minutes.  Wrong.  With traffic and other hotel stops it was more like 1.5 hours.  Oh and let’s not forget the security at the venue.  After having my pass inspected twice, going through an airport like metal detector, having my bag searched, being wand-ed down and walking a half a mile to the convention door I thought we arrived.  Wrong again. 

 

Imbedded into the hall pass is some sort of security chip that was scanned by what looked like a garage door opener.  Then we were allowed entry.  Now being an District Delegate Alternate, we weren’t seated on the convention floor.  Other Alternates, Honored Guests, and Special Guests had Hall passes and were seated in the mezzanine.  But hey, I was just glad to be there giving myself an upper body workout waving signs some chipper volunteers handed out. 

Aug

26

Fired Up, Ready to Go

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I figured that some of you may be watching the convention on CNN, C-SPAN or any one of the hundreds of other media outlets that’s covering the event.  So instead of providing a blow-by-blow of what happened on the Convention floor, I’ll focus my coverage on the behind the scenes stuff and what the NJ Delegation is doing. 

During breakfast on Monday, we convention goers were treated to a round of speeches by Governor Corzine, Congressman Steve Rothman and a bunch of other politicos.  All good rah rah speeches, but the standout by far was Mayor Cory Booker of Newark.  Never before had I been so proud to be a Jersey Girl.  He broke it down on why NJ is a fantastic place to live.  Y’all know that NJ is constantly the butt of jokes for reasons that I won’t waste any bandwidth on.  But Mayor Booker (perhaps I should just call him Cory) really showed out.  Go New Jersey!

Oh, and I must give a special shout out to Keith Hovey, a Princeton lawyer who led NJ’s Draft Obama campaign back in February 2007 (that’s before the Senator announced his candidacy), he delivered a fantastic update on the credentialing process.  Go Keith!!!!

 

 

 

 

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