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.

Sunday Night and Monday Morning

Met with our group of National Hillary Delegate Network. Many delegates came by the hospitality suite to pick up their “300” button and to be in the company of other Hillary delegates. Everyone was hugging each other as they met for the first time in person after working online with each other.

John met Gloria Allred, a very strong Hillary supporter. They have been in email contact on a pressing issue, and they are still working on it. Gloria said that she would do anything that the Hillary Delegate group asked her to do, and Pat and Dale are emailing her now to give her a very big task.

John met Mayor Antonio Villarigosa. John introduced himself and said that he was a good friend of Fred Keely’s , our former Assemblymember and also Speaker of the Assembly,and Antonio said “Fred is the poster child of why there should be no term limits. Fred was a true leader and he is missed”.

John ran into Tom Hayden. John reminded Tom that they shared offices in Santa Cruz in 1976 when Tom ran for US Senate and John ran for Congress. They talked about the races they were in. Tom said it was very hard to support John Tunney after Tom lost, and John said, “Yes, it was very hard to support Leon Panetta after the race”, but both Tom and John supported their victors. They both said how hard it was for Hillary to now support Obama, but she was for the good of the party. They talked about Obama’s flip-flops, but they both agreed that in the end, Obama will be better than McCain by a long shot.

Pat went to dinner with the key members of the National Hillary Delegate Network (about 12 people). They talked strategy and got to know each other after two months of emails and telephone calls. The Group has received over 360 notarized Nomination Petitions for Hillary’s name to be placed in nomination. They are presenting Hillary with
the petitions sometime within the next two days.

Monday Morning, August 25, 2008

Pat is off to hand out the “300” buttons, a special button made for each person that signed one of the Hillary Nomination Petitions, and to have her first breakfast with the California Delegation.

John met Cathy Smith downstairs. Kathy has made a documentary “The Body of War”, produced by Ellen Spiro and Phil Donnahue and was nominated for an academy award. It is the story of her son, Tomas Young, who was paralyzed in Iraq three years ago. Her other son is stationed in Iraq now, and has been held over from coming home for one year now. He has three months left to serve. Her documentary is being shown here in Denver five times a day. It will be out on DVD within the next few months. Cathy says “we need a new president, and not McCain”. Her son was shot the same day that Cindy Sheehan’s son was killed. It was the day that we shut down the Baghdad newspaper and the city rioted. She says “we’d do the same thing if some foreign country came to America and shut down the New York Times".
She is taking care of her son Tomas, and is waiting for her other son to return home safely.

Our Adventure Saturday night

As John and I strolled down the 16th Street Mall in search of a restaurant for dinner we ran into Assembly member John Laird and his partner, and we had a nice chat. John told us that over 30 California legislators that are delegates will not be coming to Denver due to the budget process. John is on call and may have to fly to Sacramento on very short notice. They happened to pick the same restaurant (the Rialto Café) as we did, and got to see some of what is described below (the police action).

The 16th Street Mall is lined with lights on the trees and shops and restaurants. Many of the stores are displaying Obama t-shirts, signs etc,....yes, it feels like a coronation …No Hillary t-shirts, buttons, or posters are yet to be found. Maybe they will be sold when the convention starts. There are no cars on the mall just a mall bus that takes people up and down the mall for free. There are also horse drawn carriages and people powered bikes that seat two people. All this makes for a really festive atmosphere. We settled on a restaurant and as we sat outside on the rail watching all the people, an interesting thing happened. More and more police in riot gear and guns started to appear and move people off of the street as we watched eating our dinner. They cleared a whole city block, moving people to both ends. This went on for about 45 minutes as we tried to find out what was happening…and then we were asked to go inside the restaurant. And then a couple of loud booms….. The police were notified of a potential box with a bomb in it down the alleyway next to the restaurant and they blew it up. People were calm, jovial and curious about what was happening, including us. What was really eerie was to see so many police all decked out in one place (maybe 50 in all black gear, fully armed).….all a part of the adventure. The police were answering questions and allowing photos to be taken, they were polite but firm. One of the Boulder Police (on loan for the convention) was friendly to us and we joked back and forth as this scene took place. He told us that they expect trouble tomorrow (Sunday), not by Recreate ’68, but by some groups that just want to get arrested “to get the t-shirt” (..I was arrested in Denver ’08).

Upon getting back to the Sheraton, we were at the elevators and behind us we hear a voice “It’s the Bakalian’s “and we turn around and are greeted warmly by Shawn and Marjetka Bagley. They had driven to Denver, arriving on Thursday. More today as more and more delegates and their friends and family come into town….

Our first day in Denver

Saturday, August 23, 2008
After unpacking this morning because our bags came in on a later flight John and I went to have breakfast at a great local restaurant sitting out side watching the people walk by. Then we met up with the National Hillary Delegate group at their hospitality suite. I joined the initial small group to help make sure that Hillary’s name got into nomination. We circulated petitions in all 50 states and the territories via email to Hillary delegates. They had to take the petition and get it notarized and return it to the group. Many people helped so much on getting over 350 petitions returned, and more are coming in. A special thanks goes to Michele Thomas (CA), John West (Chicago), Suzanne Geier (TX), John Siegel (CA), Daniel Kagan (Denver), and Sue Castner (OR). It was so great to meet people who I only knew via
email. As people started to drop by from other states to get their “300 button” the room started to get louder with the excitement of people voices happy to meet each other. I met acouple of the delegates from South Dakota that I sent the petition to thanks to Holly Millar who introduced me to her friend Marc (a delegate) from SD).John was shooting some video of the team members and they explain in their own words what they were able to accomplish. This will be posted when we get home so come back to my blog.

At 3 PM, I officially registered as a Hillary Delegate and received my packet of information and given two big bags of California political goodies....Yippee!!! A photo of me on the bed with the booty will be posted also.

Friday night 8/22/08 in Denver

Getting on the shuttle from the airport to the Sheraton hotel, we ran into Bob Mulholland and his wife Jane,a Butte County Supervisor. Jane is a Hillary delegate (CA 2),and Bob is “uncommitted until Wed. night”, he says to us. Bob is a high-powered Domocratic operative (DNC member) from California. Bob’s work uncovered Hershensens visits to porn stores and to strip clubs weeks prior to the vote in 1992 that helped give Barbara Boxer the win. They got on the shuttle, and there was no room for us, so we waited for the next shuttle.
About 15 minutes later, we were on the next shuttle. With us on the shuttle was State Senator Hunter from Chicago. She served with Obama on the Health and Human Services Commission during their freshman terms. On Wed. night, Senator Hunter is holding a party for Obama from 9:30 to 1 AM and she invited us to attend. We gave her a business card and she said she’d put us on the invitation list. Also on the shuttle was Dee Dee Edmondson, who is on the Credentials Committee, she’s from Boston.

Later at the hotel, we ran into Bob Pike who is doing advance work for Gloria Allred and worked for Grey Davis for many years. At the hotel, on our 20th floor, we ran into a guy from New York who is on the Rules committee.
This morning (Sat.) John ran into Bridget, the aid to Randi Weingarten, the President of the American Teacher’s Federation, based in New York. We’ll be hooking up with Bridget to go to the National Hillary Network’s hospitality suite (the group was responsible for getting the Nomination Petition signed by over 300 delegates, and I was very active in the formulation and follow-through on the petition drive)

Dear Friends and Family,

John and I are off to Denver for the 2008 Democratic Convention. I am very excited and very honored to be one of 241 California delegates elected from each Congressional district. I am a proud delegate of Senator Hillary Clinton.

As you know I have put my heart and soul into Hillary's campaign for almost a year... not only a tremendous amount of time and money but emotion. I am one of those older white women who wanted to see a woman President in my life time. I felt so proud to support Hillary not just because she is a woman but because I believed she was the best candidate. Not only was I elected by the people of the 17^th Congressional District as a Hillary delegate but our district went for Hillary and I will be voting for Hillary on the first ballot.

A lot happened in this campaign that I have strong feelings about among them the current caucus system which disenfranchised so many voters and I was able to see up close in Iowa and Texas, and the sexism in the media that came out in this campaign that was unchallenged by the Democratic Party. In the future I will be working on strategies to energize Hillary's supporters and others to keep the issue of gender inequity on the front page, in the headlines and on the cable stations until we break through the insidious and mean-spirited sexism in this country. As Hillary said

"Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it. And the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time. That has always been the history of progress in America. Think of the suffragists who gathered at Seneca Falls in 1848 and those who kept fighting until women could cast their votes..."

I will be working to form a POLITICAL and FINANCIAL force to change the way this culture treats women, including the media, entertainment, sports jocks etc. and to coordinate the many networks that have formed as a result of Hillary's campaign. We can not miss this opportunity! I hope you will join me.

This blog was set up so that I can share with you my experiences in Denver and so that you can share your thoughts with me.

On to Denver!!!

News from the Democratic Convention

I will be going to the Democratic Convention as a proud Hillary Clinton delegate.
On this blog, I will be reporting daily from the Convention with stories and photos.