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July 26, 2004A quick rush…This afternoon, I got to the Fleet Center around 4 PM. The place was fairly empty as they had reports from the rules committee and credentials committee. It wasn’t particularly exciting and the bloggers were busy trying to get their wireless connections up and running, joking around a little and getting to know one another a little better. I spent a bit of time going through email that has piled up and posted a few of the entries I wrote earlier. I got a call from Lon Seidman who is an alternate from Connecticut. He was down on the floor, so I decided to go down and visit. On the way down, I ran into Maura in Va. She was one of the winners of the DCCC contest. I let her blog from my machine as I went down to the convention floor. To get on the convention floor, I needed to exchange my regular press pass for a rotating press pass. I can only go on the floor for half an hour at a time. I swung by the Connecticut delegation, said hello to Lon and some of the other folks. It appears as if Sen. Kerry will pass through Connecticut on Friday. The Connecticut delegation is very excited and hopes to get out great crowds for the event. I also swung by the Texas delegation to see some of my old friends from there. The excitement on the floor is much greater than the excitement you feel up in the nosebleed area, and I imagine the level of excitement event even on the nosebleed level is much greater than anything you feel watching on TV. I walked through the New York section as the Women Senators came on the stage. They went wild waving their “New York loves Hillary” signs. It was pretty exhilarating. I wonder how many of the other bloggers have gone down on the floor, and how much they are being the typical geeks, staying with their computers. Comments
I'm telling all the bloggers this, but here's my unsolicited advice/request: Get out of the 'bloggers' nest,' or whatever they're calling the gilded cage they've got the bloggers in. Go talk to actual delegates, the rank and file Democrats, even if you have to do interviews in the hall. We're the party of the people - go talk to them. Ask them what they need most to succeed when they go back to their homes and communities. What tools will help them win? Do they need better phone lists? more volunteers? web site hosting? yard signs? Cut through all the meta-bull and get real. For example, everyone is talking about the NY Times magazine article about rebuilding the party. As Mitch Kapor pointed out, though, "when investors lead entrepreneurs it's a very dangerous sign." If we're going to re-engineer the party, and engage in all this self-criticism, let's start with meeting the real needs on the ground. Well then, let's get some specifics while we have a good focus group in town. Thanks for the good coverage so far, and thanks for your dedication to our democracy - it is inspiring. Posted by: Seth at July 26, 2004 9:11 PMPost a comment
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