After the Convention

I am home and just now catching up with life. So much happened in the last couple of days at the convention. I want to share just a few of the highlights.

Wednesday morning as John and I got in the elevator we ran into Rep Charles Rangel of New York (Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, Chairman of the Board of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Dean of the New York State Congressional Delegation) who has always been someone who I liked very much. It was a thrill to talk and laugh with him for a few minutes.

First things first….a visit to the hotel lost and found to retrieve my drivers license so that I could vote for Hillary. When you get your delegate credentials each morning they ask for your license. So glad that it was found and I voted for Hillary!!!

At the breakfast that morning our own former Rep Leon Panetta spoke and John and I had a nice chat with him afterwards. BTW John ran against him in the Democratic Primary in 1976 and we have been very friendly ever since.

I went to a roundtable discussion of congressional leaders entitled “They Got the Memo: Members of the Congress Reveal How They Push a Pro-Women Agenda”. It was sponsored by Women’s eNews and the Women’s Media Center. It was very good and even though I was not able to stay very long I was able to talk briefly with Martha Burk (political psychologist and women’s equality expert, is co-founder and President of the Center for Advancement of Public Policy, a research and policy analysis organization in DC. She was formerly the chair of National Council of Women’s Organizations - 200 organizations representing ten million women) who I had met on the Ms. Cruise a few years ago, Sara Gould (President and COE of the Ms. Foundation for Women), Jennifer Thurston (Associate Editor for Women’s eNews), and Linda Meric (National Executive Director for 9 to5, National Association of Working Women). “The Memo” is on the Women's eNews link on the right.

Then I joined Hillary delegates and supporters from all across the country at a gathering in which Hillary thanked us personally, talked about the campaign and released us to vote for whoever we wanted. Most people had voted by then and most people voted for who they wanted to anyway even though there are 12 states which have Binding Voter Laws, 9 of which voted for Hillary Clinton, some like California, Kentucky and Massachusetts by large numbers. The 12 states are - Arizona, California, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Virginia - The law states "All delegates to the National Convention pledged to a presidential candidate shall in all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them."

About the Roll Call Vote

From one Hillary delegate who heard an interview with Alice Germond, DNC Secretary, who was asked directly about the “300 Group” nominating petition and whether it would create divisiveness in the party. She replied that it was all part of the process and that following through with the roll call vote with or without Senator Clinton's name formally placed in nomination would be a demonstration of our unity and not disunity.

At the California delegation breakfast Tuesday morning a group of us had asked Gloria Allred (the most famous woman attorney practicing law in the U.S., a feminist, activist, and television and radio commentator and an elected Hillary delegate) to research and give a legal opinion on whither or not CA delegates are legally bound to vote for the candidate that they are pledged to. She did that and asked to speak to the CA delegate breakfast in order to announce a short meeting of the Hillary delegates after breakfast. The purpose of the meeting was to talk about the fact that they were legally obligated to vote for Hillary according the CA rules. She was not allowed to make this announcement, but got some good press coverage wearing a gag. She was able to gather a small number of Hillary delegates where Gloria and Dolores Huerta spoke with difficulty over some loud background music.

At each hotel on Wednesday morning, delegates cast their votes and at the convention center Wednesday night Dolores Huerta (a CA delegate) placed Hillary’s name in nomination. She was asked to do this by Hillary’s campaign and was given a speech by the Obama campaign. They had moved the time up an hour without telling anyone and started the roll call at 3:45. California was still counting when they got to us so we passed. I, along with many others, did not get to see Dolores which was a real disappointment. I did however sit with her the whole night. She and Gloria Allred and I had a good time talking about what was going on and what needs to be done.

California passed because, as I was told, not everyone had voted yet (and I believe they did not want to show a big jump in votes for Hillary). They then went through the other states until New York when Hillary so very graciously moved for acclamation.

According to the Secretary’s office, the hotel vote was called a "posterity" vote. Some the Hillary delegates were told at the last minutes that we needed to collect 800 signatures to force a roll call vote of all 56 delegations. We tried Tuesday but did not make the deadline because we were told this at the last minute and did not have time to organize. It thus moved our ballot vote from the hotel into an acclamation vote, and our final official Hillary vote was turned into a vote of acclamation for Obama. As a part of Hillary’s historical campaign, the final roll call tally in California was Barack Obama: 255 and Hillary Clinton: 145 (with 41 people not voting). Hillary won California by 10% so many Hillary delegates defected. Nationally the final roll call was Barack Obama: 3188.5 and Hillary Clinton: 1010.5.

Bill Clinton spoke Wednesday night and was another high point of the convention for me. He was amazing and the reception for him was overwhelming. I ran into Joe Klein, in the hall way and he signed a picture that was taken of the two of us at a Hillary rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. At the end of the night I had a wonderful conversation with a fellow old time feminist in the women’s bathroom of the hotel which brought tears to my eyes……a lot of emotion and some very busy days and nights.

Thursday night was the big night at Invesco Field with Obama accepting the Democratic Party nomination. It had been a long week and there were many people who wanted my ticket for that night so I gave it up. John and I spent the evening with our new friends from the “300” group having a wonderful bar-b-que, talking and watching everything on TV.

I have put up pictures from the adventure on flicker to the right. I want to thank all the wonderful new friends that I have met and my old friends that helped make it possible for me to be a delegate to this historic convention. Our friendships will continue on. There is more to do…..please keep posted …coming soon…. An exciting new project!!

McCain’s VP pick and Hillary supporters

Hillary said in her speech Tuesday night “I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?”

I believe that women who support Hillary support her because of what she stands for and that we thought she would make the best President and NOT just because she was a woman, although that was definetely a bonus.

McCain picked Gov. Palin for many reasons; one of them being to bring over us disappointed women Hillary supporters. But if he thinks disaffected Hillary supporters of this country are stupid and willing to vote for just any woman when she stands for everything that we are against he is very mistaken. It is insulting. Gov. Palin is rabidly pro life, and pro gun, and she's not exactly a champion of women's civil rights. I have yet to see where she stands on health care, equal pay and other issues that I care about deeply. Women will not vote for a candidate that is using Hillary's historic campaign to advance an agenda she clearly opposes.

This choice of Palin does not demonstrate any sudden epiphany of feminism on McCain's part. Rather it is a cynical attempt to upstage Obama and reach out to the most radical elements of the GOP. This is insulting to American voters, particularly Democratic women. During most of the convention, I felt that the Democratic Party was pandering to me in their language and in the parade of women who appeared on the stage. However, the choice of Palin has scaled heights of pandering that I had thought impossible to achieve. But one thing McCain’s pick will do is keep Hillary Clinton in the forefront throughout the general election. We'll be hearing the phrase 'Hillary Clinton voters' until November." This is good for women and the issues that affect women disproportionately.

I am off to Fresno for a family wedding this weekend. I will catch up with more stories about the convention when I get back.

My Perspective

This has been an HISTORIC campaign. Some were working to elect the first African American and they thought he would make the best President. Some were working to elect the first woman and they thought she would make the best President. Yes, there were things that happened during this primary campaign that were not right and we all know what they were. They need to be written about, addressed, and changed!! We have all learned a lot and that it good. This is only the beginning…this campaign taught us that there is so much more to do to have total equality in this country, but we have made a huge step forward. THANK YOU HILLARY!!!!

I have been a pragmatic, positive community organizer and political activist since the early 70’s. Hillary’s historic campaign provides us with an amazing opportunity that we can not miss. There are so many people who have become active for the first time. All of us who worked hard to collect almost 400 petitions against great odds, to put Hillary’s name in nomination and helped give her the ability to negotiate with Obama out of strength, we should be extremely proud. I want to personally thank Michele Thomas, John West and Suzanne Grier and so many others!!! Without them, none of this would have been possible and we would not have been successful. I have proudly worn my “300” button and my husband was even offered $30 for his (he said “No”, of course)…..it is worth soooooo much more than that!!!!

Just because Hillary is not the Democratic nominee (this time) does not mean that it is the end. We all have a wonderful new family now and there is so much to do. I will take some much needed time to rest and reflect and then will probably focus on educating, activating, and organizing women. We need to do that and we will organize!!!!

Hillary has shown such grace it has made me feel so proud to be a part of her campaign and cast my California delegate vote for her. I have done my share of crying at coming so close but losing the opportunity to have such an amazing, warm, caring, and brilliant person to be the first woman President of the United States. I have always believed that women bring a different perspective and different experiences to the table and need to be EQUALLY represented at every table for the sake of our country and the world. But what really got me was when Hillary asked us “Were you doing this for me or were you doing this for the people of this country?” There is a big difference between Obama and McCain, despite the flaws of the Democratic Party, we can not afford to have another Republican President. Please do what you can to help elect Barack Obama the next President of the United States.

PS: About the Roll Call vote – Politics played a part in how it happened which was to be expected. I understood what Hillary did and was very proud of her decision and the role that she played. California cast 263 votes for Obama and 179 for Hillary even though the state went 10% for Hillary.

I Voted for Hillary Clinton Today

I voted for Hillary Clinton on Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Here's two photos of me signing the official ballot for Hillary Clinton.
There's more to report. All of Hillary's delegates throughout the United States and the territories met with Hillary at 1:45 this afternoon. She thanked all of us for all our hard work, and we all yelled back "Thank you, Hillary". Hillary again told us that she wants to make sure that Barack Obama wins the Presidency in November, and asked all of us to work with her to make that possible. She then released her delgates, which means that they can vote for her or Barack, whatever they want to do. Hillary told us that as a Super Delegate from New York, she voted for Barack Obama this morning.

It was a great feeling being in the room with so many people that worked very hard to elect the first woman to become President of the United States. We came very close to getting the nomination. Now, we have to make sure John McCain is not our next President.

Hillary's Great Speech Moves the Delegates

Hillary Gives an Amazing Speech and to be there was truly a high point in my life.

You’ve all read about it, most of you viewed it. To be there, to feel the emotions on the floor was truly an amazing experience. The whole crowd of delegates, Obama’s and Hillary’s were all united, standing, clapping, screaming along with Hillary’s statements.
The energy in the room was UNITED. Yes, this does not clear up how we got to this point in the electoral process, but it did focus on the choices we have in November.

Going to breakfast now, and I think we vote at breakfast. Will post later today.

Tuesday Morning and Afternoon

Started the morning going to the California Delegation Breakfast and Gloria Allred had attempted to get on the morning program to celebrate the 88th year since the passing of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution giving women the right to vote, and also announce that the CA Hillary delegates were going to meet after the breakfast. Her request was denied. After the breakfast, Gloria and the “300” Hillary Nomination Petition group held an impromptu press conference to say what would have been said at the podium and a small number of Hillary delegates did meet.

From there, we went to a march to celebrate Hillary’s campaign. It began at the Central Park and ended a mile down the road at the convention center. Over 500 people marched, shouted slogans, and it was good to be all together celebrating Hillary’s ground breaking campaign. Besides winning all the major states except Illinois, when Hillary won New Hampshire, she became the first woman to win a primary while running for President of the United States. We celebrated for all the 18 million voters that chose her in this historic primary.

After the march, we went to the WomenCount.org meeting. I met with some old friends from our campaign trails. Alice Palmer who I met Houston, TX, was the former State Senator of Illinois that Obama replaced under some controversy, and Rosemary Straley who I worked with in Iowa and is a leader of the Hillary Support Network. I also had a very good conversation with Ellie Smeal, Feminist leader and founder of the Feminist Majority, and talked with Kim Gandy, the President of NOW who I first met when I went on the Ms. Cruise in 2004.

From here, we went to the Emily’s List gala meeting. Over 2,000 women and men were in attendance. Ellen Malcolm introduced Senator Barbara Mikolski who after her speech introduced Hillary Clinton. The room went wild with applause and loud cheers for our leader. Hillary told us about how important it is to work to elect Democrats, women and men into all levels of government. She said we need someone in the White House we can work with, and she asked all of us to join her in working as hard as we worked for her to make sure Barack Obama and Joe Biden win in November. Hillary said that she knew a little about how the White House works, and if President Obama was not on our side, she could call Michelle and that would get the job done. Hillary is all for us helping get Barack Obama our next President of the United States.

We couldn’t stay to hear Speaker Nancy Pelosi or Michelle Obama or the others that followed. Now I’m off to the convention floor to watch Hillary Clinton give her speech.

Monday: Michelle Obama and Ted Kennedy

Monday Breakfast, California Delegation

I spent some time passing out the “300” button to those who had signed the Nomination Petition. Gave Gloria Allred her button, as she had signed earlier. We had a meeting with Gloria scheduled for 10 am to discuss our legal positions. More on that tomorrow.

Our California elected officials talked at breakfast: Speaker Nancy Pelosi was the main speaker. Before breakfast, we received our credentials for the day, good to get into the Pepsi Center. The credentials are given out each day, for that day only.

Had our meeting with Gloria Allred, with nine of our “300” project team members.

Went to the Unconventional Women meeting hosted by Ambassador Swanee Hunt in partnership with the White House Project, the Latina Initiative, Women’s Voices Women Vote, and Judi Wagner’s Electing Women Program. Unconventional Women features non-partisan conversations among internationally-known leaders and experts intended to galvanize women in political action as candidates, supporters, and mentors. You can learn more at www.unconventionalwomen.org Speakers included Senator Barbara Boxer, who introduced a film made by her daughter, Nichole, and the sister of Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, that focused on the 14 women in the US Senate. Congresswoman Hilda Solis (D-CA) and Congresswoman Carolyn Mahoney (D-NY) who praised Hillary’s accomplishments and former Governor Jane Swift (R-MA) was the moderator. A very powerful, uplifting, experience.

Monday Night: Michelle Obama’s speech; Ted Kennedy delivered also.

Got on the bus to go to the Pepsi Center. A slow bus ride, and much talk on the bus among the delegates. It was a thrill to walk into the Pepsi Center and see what I had been seeing on past conventions on TV. The California delegation overlooks the CNN TV booth and we could see all of the talking heads and the guests as they appeared during the night. Dan Rather walked by. The event was very well done. There were many speakers that were normal people to talk about Obama, a very nice touch. Caroline introducing her Uncle Ted made many tears fall from our delegation’s eyes. Then seeing Senator Kennedy giving a fired-up speech, knowing that for him to just be there was a miracle, more tears fell from many men and women in the delegation. Then Michelle Obama gave her very strong and very well delivered speech. There were many times people stood up to clap for her during her speech. After her touching family oriented speech, Michelle was joined by her two daughters. They were “joined” by Obama via TV hookup. They exchanged some words, and the Obama delegates were really shouting it up, and the Hillary delegates joined in to a lesser extent. Overall, it was a great opening night, and it was very exciting for me to be there and take part in this process.

UPCOMING ANNOUNCEMENT:

SAVE the DATE
You can watch the Women's eNews forum with grassroots activists live on Thursday, August 28 at 2 p.m. EST, and you can access it from our Web site's home page: www.womensenews.org!

The Memo, our Special Report on the Status of U.S. Women, will be inserted in the official packets of all 20,000 delegates at the Democratic Convention.

The Panel, What Women Want: Journalists and Activists Connect Stories and Solutions. Seven grassroots and national activists will tell about their successes-and what remains to be done-to address the key points of The Memo: wages, barriers to employment, poverty, reproductive health, violence and homophobia.

Confirmed panelists are: Sara K. Gould, Ms. Foundation for Women; Liz Abzug, Bella Abzug Leadership Institute; Rita Smith, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence; Mary Kay Harris, Direct Action for Rights and Equality; Althea Francois, Safe Streets/Strong Communities and Jacinta 'Jacy' Montoya, Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights-and myself, representing Women's eNews.