Day 2 Democratic Convention Recap: Monday, August 25, 2008

Ann-Marie Luciano Bio

Editor's Note - Ann-Marie lost Internet connection until today. This was written Monday night and we received recently when she gained access to the Internet.

Written 12:00 p.m. MT:

This morning started with each state having its own state delegation meeting. For Maryland, we heard from Governor O'Malley, Congressman Cummings, Party Chair Michael Cryor, and our special guest -- former U.S. Senator from Colorado Gary Hart. The Senator said something that stuck with me: that Republicans are not good at governing because they don't believe in government. Hurricane Katrina was the best example of this. Republicans do not represent the vast majority of Americans' interests. Senator Hart explained that the way they get Americans to vote against their own interests is to use fear. By focusing on fear to the exclusion of actual issues, Democratic issues get lost.

In light of this I think that every Obama supporter needs to bring every conversation about the election down to the real, substantive issues. Don't let McCain supporters get away with changing the subject to Obama's patriotism or his "celebrity." They want the election to be about these non-issues, hoping many of us will forget that when it comes to what matters, McCain is only on the side of the rich and the well-connected.

After the state meeting I headed to the Convention Center for the Ethnic Coordinated Caucus meeting. This is a caucus focused on how Obama can reach out to various European and Muslim ethnic communities. Representatives from Irish-American, Italian-American, Iranian-American, Polish-American, and Democrats Abroad, as well as many others, were in attendance. DNC Chair Howard Dean came to our a meeting for a special appearance. He talked about how important it is for each of us to go into our respective communities and register voters, walk door to door and spread the word about Barack Obama. The various panelists talked about how the focus of the reach-out is on certain ethnic communities in certain key states. Rather than simplifying the vote as "Catholic vote" or "Christian vote" the campaign instead is focusing on the interests of various ethnic communities in order to build support for Barack Obama.

Tonight a bunch of us from Western Maryland will be heading to the Democratic Governors party. Can't wait.