Within the Margin

The political press is moving on from talk of speeches and messaging and production values, in favor of polling bounces and job numbers and debate preparation. But I wanted to offer a final wrap-up of my convention experience in more detail than my final missive to the Poughkeepsie Journal last week allowed.

I’ve already talked about how the Rural Council, aside from letting me laugh and clap along with the incomparable Brian Schweitzer, rekindled my spirit and helped me remember why I was even in Charlotte in the first place. I’ve written about the excitement of Bill Clinton’s take-down of four years of myth-making by the opposition. I want to close out my ramblings on the convention by talking about 6 or so minutes  from the first night – the Kennedy tribute.

Now, I’m not as enamored with the idea of the Kennedy family as many Democrats. I never have been. In part, that’s simply generational; in part, it probably owes to the reality that I’m a largely abstemious person with less time than some for the personal dramas associated with the Kennedys over the years. But I’ve always had a healthy respect for Ted Kennedy’s legislative record, and more so after this convention. On Tuesday night, the first night of the convention, touching tribute was paid to the senator’s life and work – and it was all tied in to the accomplishments of the Obama administration. The video – worth a watch if you haven’t seen it – hit on so many key points, opening with the famous “the dream shall never die speech” from 1980*. It then launched into a chronicle of Kennedy’s legislative achievements and leadership on so many progressive causes, and praise for his place in history from Bill Clinton. Then came a show-stopping clip from Kennedy’s 1994 debate with Mitt Romney when the latter challenged him for his Senate seat. Romney’s vagaries and shifting positions, we were reminded in living color, are a longstanding phenomenon.

From there we saw his endorsement of Obama in 2008, and then – and this brought down the house – a smooth segue into Barack Obama’s achievements in the last four years. So many of these represented the next step forward from things Kennedy had worked on; these parallels were powerful in both an intellectual and emotional sense. Sitting in the audience, I could hear people’s breath catching as the video rolled and illustrated Obama’s place on this historical trajectory. Eyes were welling up all around. It was a powerful moment. Sometimes, the glitz and pomp of the political convention actually has something behind it, some real emotional and historical heft, and this was one of those times.

It’s the sort of moment that helped me understand why so many people were so happy for me when I was selected as a delegate. Conventions today are largely rallies – as delegates we’re not battling for our preferred nominee via floor demonstrations and closed-door arm-twisting; the official nomination is a formality by the time the convention rolls around. But there’s something to be said for rallying one’s spirit, and there’s real value in helping party leaders and activists to take stock of where they’ve been and where they’re going.

I was able to see first-hand the almost-spiritual connection so many of the delegates have with Michelle Obama, not just applauding but talking with her as she gave her speech, helping her along, praising her as she went. I was able to see the fire that burns in Cory Booker, who spoke hours before the networks were broadcasting on Tuesday. I was able to feel the energy on the streets of Charlotte, from store clerks excited by good speeches to the goodwill evident in so many local volunteers who wanted to make this work and help out in any way they could. I was able to enjoy great conversations with delegates from the around the country – Pat Jansen from Otsego, Minnesota; Wayne Manske of Mesa, Arizona; Bill Bonner of Meridian, Idaho.

So I’m energized again and looking forward to hitting my nearby swing states – Pennsylvania and New Hampshire – to lend a hand this fall. I will even try to make it out to Ohio one weekend to knock through a packet for Matt Clausen, the other man whose name appears on this blog, as he devotes himself to the OFA cause out there in the Buckeye State – where, thanks to people like him, there’s a palpable sense on the ground that Obama is opening a lead in the state perhaps most critical to his chances for reelection. Yes, everything feels a bit different this time around. Believe me, few are more  acutely aware than me that it’s not 2008 any more. But that different feeling exists because we’ve already done some of the hard work of governing – making difficult choices and tirelessly defending them from well-meaning and spiteful foes alike. In a few months, if we’ve done our job, we’ll have the opportunity to make more of those tough choices.

* Perhaps more interesting to me than the words Kennedy spoke in 1980  is a simple but powerful gesture: after Kennedy finishes speaking, he offers a brief, confident, authoritative nod – one which signaled that he meant exactly what he was saying, that he had much work ahead of him, and that he looked forward to completing it. He had made his run for the presidency, it hand’t worked out, but he was ready to move on and continue his work. It’s such a subtle gesture, and maybe I’m projecting something onto it, but I think it resonates as much as anything he was saying that night. Of note as well is the grandfatherly nod he offered at the end of his 2008 convention speech, when he spoke of new lights continuing the work. He conveyed a different sort of confidence now – the confidence that others could carry on the work and see it to completion.