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Rhode Island Delegates Prepare for Opening Day

CHARLOTTE, NC — With official proceedings beginning tomorrow at the Democratic National Convention, members of the Rhode Island delegation met at a reception this evening where Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse urged them to have take advantage of the next three days.

“There will be a lot of good material to bring back to Rhode Island and send a strong message about President Obama and the work to be done to get this country moving again,” said Whitehouse to his fellow delegates. “Have fun, but pay attention for those telltale moments that you can take home.”

Before the reception, RI Future caught up with RI Democratic Party Chair Ed Pacheco and Executive Director Stephanie Mandeville at their temporary office in the delegation’s hotel in Concord, about 20 miles north of the city.

Both were still excited from the delegation’s first look at Time-Warner Cable Arena convention site yesterday. According to Pacheco, the RI delegation has prime spot behind Pennsylvania and just about 100 feet from podium. If you’re looking for Rhode Island on TV tomorrow night, they will be to the left of the podium. How did our state score such a good location? “I don’t reveal my secrets,”said Pacheco.

The delegates were delighted to finally be in the convention hall, said Mandeville. “It was like a kid’s first trip to Fenway.”

They had a chance to tour the convention floor, get the feel for Rhode Island’s space, and participate in a rehearsal of the roll-call process led by Convention Secretary Alice Germond. In something that sounds like it could be either a bit of wisdom from a ten-time convention veteran — or perhaps a wee bit of a prompt to keep things moving — Pacheco reported her advice to the delegations: “Pretend it’s 1:30 in the morning.”

According to Pacheco, delegation Chair Gordon Fox is still working on his roll-call announcement. “He’s trying to work in they typical things, like coffee milk,” said Pacheco, “But also wants to recognize that in Rhode Island, we stand on the shoulders of great senators like Claiborne Pell, whose policies we not just important for our state, but the whole country.”

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DNCC Lays Out Convention Themes in Opening Presser


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Left-right, Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx, DNCC Secretary Alice Germond, Obama for America press secretary Ben LaBolt, Conventn Chair LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and DNCC CEO Steve Kerrigan (Photo by John McDaid)

CHARLOTTE, NC — The Democratic National Convention kicked off this morning with a press conference previewing the week and repeatedly stressing two key messages: that the convention is the most open and accessible in history, and that a key Obama campaign theme  will be “rebuilding America from the middle class out.”

The 50-minute presser featured DNCC Chair Steve Kerrigan, Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx, Convention Chair Los Angeles Mayor Antionio Villaraigosa, DNC Secretary Alice Germond, and Obama for America Press Secretary Ben LaBolt.

The main news from the session was that the draft platform will be distributed to all delegates when they arrive in the hall tomorrow, and that Georgia Rep. John Lewis has been selected as Sergeant-at-arms for the proceedings.

“It’s been incredible to see the ground energy for this convention and this President,” said Foxx, who expressed pride that Charlotte was hosting its  first major political convention in 150 years, and while he predicted a close race, he expressed optimism about Obama carrying the state again in 2012.  “The people of North Carolina understand that this President has had their back.”

Just as the convention four years ago in Denver helped the campaign focus the energy of its 25,000 local volunteers, Villaraigosa said that Charlotte would do the same for North Carolina.  “This is the start of a new way to engage in the political process,” he said, promising a “working convention,” that would engage and energize volunteers and participants as well as laying out a vision and articulating a path forward.

And the people doing that work on the  delegate side represent a true cross-section of America, said Germond, noting that among the 5,556 delegates and 407 alternates — 50% of them women– there were increases in African-American, Latino, and youth representation, with a record 644 young delegates, including 285 students. “In many cases, this is their very first convention,” she said. “We will learn from them.”

In the Q&A, LaBolt responded to a question about the significance of today’s Gallup results which found Romney’s convention speech last week produced only a marginal bump.  “Most Americans who tuned in were looking for answers,” he said, “but the Romney convention speech didn’t address their questions.” He promised that President Obama’s speech — which he said is still being fine-tuned — would “lay out the pillars for rebuilding the economy from the middle class out.”