Democratic Convention Recap: Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Ann-Marie Luciano Bio

Wednesday morning began with Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon's breakfast meeting. She asked ahead of time that everyone wear their favorite sports jersey to the event, so the atmosphere was festive as many people arrived in t-shirts or jerseys from various local and national teams. We entered the room to the sound of the Denver drum band playing loudly – there's nothing like the sound of loud drums early in the morning after a week of too many drinks and too little sleep.

The special guest for the breakfast was Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is originally from Baltimore. Speaker Pelosi highlighted for us how often McCain voted with the Bush Administration during the recent legislative term, pointing out McCain's opposition to an SCHIP and Medicare reform bill that would have helped many people in need.

Wednesday afternoon I attended an Equalitea (Equality Tea) sponsored by the National Organization for Women. As the attendees entered the building for the meeting, we were greeted by a few dozen anti-choice protestors outside. Some of the NOW organizers were telling me that the anti-choice protestors usually make it a point to demonstrate near NOW meetings. I unfortunately had to leave the tea early due to convention schedule being bumped up to an earlier start time.

My last night at the Pepsi Center was incredible. The highlight for me was hearing President Bill Clinton's speech. Many of us commented that he had redeemed himself to us through that speech. Hearing him reminded me of how bad we've really had it under George W. Bush.

After the Convention I went to Fado's Irish Pub for Governor O'Malley's party. At the party many of us were surprised when Governor O'Malley stepped up onto the stage with a guitar in hand and introduced Virginia Governor Kaine and Montana Governor Schweitzer. The Governors performed several songs, with Governor Kaine on the harmonica and Governor Schweitzer on the tambourine. I couldn't stop laughing at how funny it was to see these Governors drinking Guinness and singing Irish songs together. What an event to witness. Reverend Jesse Jackson showed up for a brief appearance to say hello. After Governor Schweitzer left, Arizona Governor Napolitano came up on stage to play the tambourine for a few songs. Surprisingly, they all sounded pretty good together.