Monday Night - On the Convention Floor

I am in absolute awe of this amazing opportunity to be at this '08 DNC Convention. I was in Boston, but not as a delegate. And it was fun and a great experience. But yesterday, when I walked into the Pepsi Center, it took my breath away. The place was decked out with red, white and blue.

The perimeter was pretty far out - and the whole week is going to include a LOT of walking. But you walk through the securtiy gates and see the huge Pepsi Center with all the DNC banners. You walk by the CNN Grill, where the exposed brick building has been painted with the CNN logo. And then you get into the convention center itself, and you can feel the buzz...

(Holding up my credentials outside the Pepsi Center)

I got there extremely early (2:30 PM), because Fox 11 was following around myself and another Young Democrat, Rachel Pellam, and asked us to get there early. So while the energy of the crowd was just beginning to build, it gave us a great chance to walk around and get up close to the stage.

Wow.

(On the floor, waiting for the Convention to begin)

(Near the stage, at the beginning of the programming)

The CA Delegation is not on the actual floor, but our seats aren't horrible. We're actually right behind the CNN booth...

(CNN's Wolf Blitzer reporting -- right in front of the CA Delegation)

(CNN's John King, checking his blackberry at the CNN stage)

... which is how I was able to get this picture with Anderson Cooper!

(CNN's Anderson Cooper poses with Rachel Pellam and me)

Once the event really got rolling, we got to see just how impressive the production was. The stage has huge video screens that wrap above the stage to the ceiling, where images, colors and shapes are played, accenting the speaker. For instance, for the innvocation and benediction, they played what looked like stained glass. For the Sen. Kennedy introduction, there was a video and behind the major speakers are shapes or colors.

(The stage during Speaker Nancy Pelosi's speech)


(The stage during Jesse Jackson, Jr.'s speech)

In between the speakers, there are short Obama videos and lots of shots of delegates on the floor, waving and dancing. Yes, there are a lot of the stereo-typical delegates - decked out in buttons and weird hats. Several delegations have themes - for instance, Florida is wearing flamingo sunglasses and Alaska has matching jackets.

(Yep, this is Florida!)

As the evening moved on, more and more of our well-known local delegates showed up -- Mayor Villaraigosa (and his son), Controller Laura Chick, Councilmembers Garcetti, Greuel and Hahn, Congressmembers Maxine Waters and Diane Watson and School Board Member Yolie Flores Aguilar. I also sat two seats away from Delores Huerta for the majority of the major speeches. There were sightings of San Francisco District Attorney Kamala D. Harris (a wonderful young, dynamic political figure) and, celebrity-wise, Bill Maher.

(Council President Garcetti shows off his Obama Pride)

(Councilmember Janice Hahn was a huge fan of Michelle Obama's speech)

.... I'll break down the individual speechs in a later post. But the initial impression of the experience was a breathtaking one, and reminded me how incredibly lucky I am to be a part of this historic convention.