From Philly to Denver

Whenever you get thousands of people from all over the country to travel to one place to celebrate or witness something it's usually for a sporting event -- a final four, a superbowl, a rose bowl. Traveling to the Democratic National Convention is really not that different. I flew from Philly through Dallas. The flight from Philly showed no signs of DNCers and I slept the whole way (7:30 am flight). In Dallas, however, it was a completely different story. There were 3 flights within 1 hour on American airlines, all bound for Denver. At each of the gates, you saw people visibly showing their colors. "Texas Delegate, DNC 2008," "The time for Change is Now," "Obama '08." You even saw remnants from past Conventions, Bill Clinton "Hope" pins, Kerry/ Edwards tee shirts. And then lots of guys in blue blazers. There was no mistaking where you were headed. My flight included delegates from Arkansas, North Carolina, New York, and Texas. And then lots of folks like me. Crashers.

The guy that sat next to me on the plane was an older, African-American gentelman wearing a U.S. Open Golf hat and white linen shirt. He wasted no time in asking me what my role at the Convention was. I don't particularly like talking to strangers, but on a plane, I will do so. Especially this flight where I was looking for any sort of angle to get into certain events. I told him I had no role and that I was just going out there. To my chagrin, he said "me too." He then proceeded to tell me that he worked for the Obama campaign both in New York and South Carolina (as well as Jersey and PA), and that his cousin taught Obama at Harvard Law School, and that he couldn't get credentials. He made no bones about being pissed about it. He said that all the guest passes and credentials were going to money contributors, not the folks, like him, that did all the work. Nevertheless, he was effusive about Obama. And vitriolic about the Clintons (whom he always referred to as a pair). But he confided that he was really nervous about the election because he doesn't think this country can get past the race issue. We both wished each other luck in finding credentials. The Arkansas delegats sitting in front of me had their entire program mapped out in a patriotically colored brochure. I was trying to scope out the events, that I'd be missing.