The MOMocrats Throw a Party for Our Honorary Little Brother

Loooooocckkkshin.  What it do?

(Matt Lockshin, our favorite pesky little brother, surrounded by MOMocrats love; to his left, Donna/SoCal Mom, and Julie of Using My Words, is on his other left)

A birthday song for you, Lil' Bro Lockshin.  From the MOMs who made you rethink mom-jeans.

The DNC: The Road to the White House Goes Through the Mountain West States

(Note: I began this piece while at the DNC and have only now had a chance to complete it. The presentation at the DNC was excellent, substantive, and on-point--unlike our recent roll in the mud with Palin as VP pick, thanks to the RNC and McCain. As an addition to the McCain ticket, Palin's a hot mess straight from Jerry Springer, with media vetting of her record and life, literally, by the National Enquirer. How about a refocus on issues and the people who vote for them?)

Senator Ken Salazar (CO), Governor Janet Napolitano (AZ), and pollster Andrew Myers presented the case for Obama's potential 2008 win with votes from a newly emergent coalition, one consisting of eight Mountain West states (pdf). Latinos, college educated/upper income voters, and libertarian-leaning gun owners dominate the demography of the region, and generally they are hugely uninterested in the concerns that typically characterize Southern Coalition voters. The latter coalition have in past elections been mobilized by "values" issues summarized in shorthand as "(pro-)god, (pro-)guns, and (anti-)gays."

DNC 08: A Look at Obama's Foreign Policy Team

Yes, we know the Republicans are having their convention, and we're watching it with great interest. It's reminding us of how much more positive and inclusive our OWN convention was last week.

We still have a LOT of material from Denver that we've yet to share with you. So we hope you'll allow us to bask a little longer in the DNC's light. We think it will be a nice counterpoint to the bile we're hearing out of St. Paul.

John McCain's supporters have argued vociferously that Barack Obama has too little foreign policy experience to be an effective President in an increasingly dangerous world. (At least, that was their argument before McCain announced Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate).

I have always thought that the foreign policy argument was rather fallacious. A President is only as good as his or her team of advisors. Our last two Presidents were state Governors, elected without diplomatic experience.

The important thing to consider is who is on a candidate's advisory team.

Bill Clinton appointed Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright as his Secretaries of State and famously listened (and listened and listened) to his staff before he acted. World opinion of Clinton remained high through both his terms, even when his poll numbers suffered at home for the Lewinsky affair.

George W. Bush ignored the advice of first-term Secretary of State Colin Powell while pursuing a dangerous agenda set forth by neo-cons like Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle.

We know how well that has worked: We've overloaded our military in Iraq (at the expense of the real work we have yet to do in Afghanistan, and our homeland security). We've lost support of international allies and much of our influence throughout the world, as well as the moral authority to champion human rights.

John McCain continues to support that agenda, by advocating a continuation of Bush's policies; even flip-flopping on the subject of torture. His top foreign policy adviser is lobbyist Randy Scheunemann, a former aide to Donald Rumsfeld and president of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq.

But what agenda would Barack Obama bring to the Presidency? That was the subject of a panel I attended Thursday at the National Democratic Institute's International Leaders Forum, held the final day of the Democratic Convention.

The DNC: My Favorite Photos, Favorite Memories

Ten MOMocrats spent the last week at the DNC, attending events, meeting politicians and celebrities, writing, videoing, twittering, and watching.  We experienced the highest highs and some of the lowest lows.  We were conflicted when the duties of motherhood called, when a little one tumbled down the stairs, several others started school, and all of our kids missed our hugs and our presence and we missed them.  We had to check our emotions many times, and other times let them flow.

We were a part of history, bearing witness to the fruit of Dr. King's dream so long ago, when some of us were children, and others weren't even born yet.  Barack Obama may not have been our first choice, but we rallied around him, our party, and our nation.  He likes to say that his "is an impossible story" and so, too, is the story of the MOMocrats.

I can't say what my favorite moment was.  There are too many.  I can't describe it adequately in words; words fail me.  All I know is that I was surrounded by a group of women I adore more every second, and cannot imagine the experience without any one of them.  I wished that the other MOMocrats--Stefania, Jen, Joanne, Jenn, and Christine--who planned to come but couldn't make, had been there.  We carried their strength and humor with us, and tried hard to do them proud.

These are some of my favorite people and moments of the Convention. I wish you could have been there.

Illinois Secretary of Veteran's Affairs, Iraq War heroine, and triple amputee, Tammy Duckworth at the Asian-Pacific Islander Caucus.  The Caucus featured a panel moderated by Yul Kwon, Survivor Cook Islands Winner, and in true API fashion, singing.  It was wonderful to see so many APIs, from so many different cultures and circumstances, all in one place.  Growing up in Ohio, we were the only Asian family in our town for many years.  It was wonderful to see so many successful Asian-Americans together with a common goal.

Healthcare: A Tale of Two ERs

On Wednesday of the Democratic National Convention, I spent over six hours in an emergency room and two urgent care facilities, trying to get treated for a bronchial infection that I feared had turned to pneumonia.  The story of the treatment I got (and didn't get) in two different urgent care facilities on the same day illustrates why healthcare in this country needs serious, thoughtful reform.  John McCain may claim that everyone has coverage by going to an emergency room, but I wonder when was the last time he visited a public hospital ER to see what goes on there.

I started getting sick the week before the DNC.  My family had taken a few weeks of vacation prior to the Convention to travel the Western States and some of our glorious national parks.  While at Yellowstone, I developed a nasty cough that kept me up through the night.  I went to the Medical Clinic at the park and saw a doctor who diagnosed me with "allergies, asthma, and altitude," gave me an albuterol inhaler, and sent me on my way.  A 10 minute visit cost $247, which may or may not be covered by my insurance.  He did not do a chest x-ray or anything more than listen to my breathing with a stethoscope and take a short history.

I got to Denver, and since I had no other symptoms other than being tired and the hacking cough, I tried to do all the activities I was supposed to do to cover the DNC.  We were working from 8 am to 1 am most days.  I took a turn for the worse on Tuesday night, with uncontrollable coughing, headache, joint pain, and chest pain.  I slept maybe two hours that night, and got up with no voice, a raging sore throat, earache, and could not stop coughing.  After consulting WebMD aka The Hypochondriac's Bible, I started to worry that I had developed pneumonia. I decided to seek medical care again.

I called my insurance company and asked for a referral to an urgent care clinic.  They gave me three names and numbers in Denver.  MOMocrat Donna was helping me and asked the hotel staff for a recommendation.  They first suggested an urgent care clinic downtown, then said that the Denver Health Center right across the street, was over-staffed for the convention, so we should try there.  They thought I could be seen quickly.

DNC '08 Note to the DNCC: Awe-Inspiring Conclusion, But Next Time, Hire an Event Planner

At 1:45 p.m. on Thursday, I left a Democratic Youth Council event at the Colorado Convention Center that I was live blogging on Twitter early to head toward Invesco Field to watch Barack Obama accept the Democratic Party nomination for President. Events at Invesco were scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m.; Obama was scheduled to speak at 8:00 p.m. I knew there would be a security line. And I knew it would be long.

I'd been to an Obama event many months earlier, at a stadium in my own home town,  where I had waited hours to see him speak on a chill winter night, in line with 20,000 other people. I'd seen the lines

But, I thought, Thursday's line would probably go smoothly. After all, Obama's speech in St. Louis had been planned at the last minute; it had been staffed by a small group of local volunteers, and it was first-come, first-serve. This event, on the other hand, had been carefully orchestrated for weeks by the DNCC, the city of Denver, the DNCC, and the Obama campaign; all of the attendees had tickets, and the campaign knew the size of the audience ahead of time. I'd already gone through the formidable security barrier around the Pepsi Center earlier in the week, and despite a long walk through the buffer, that experience had been much less time-consuming than I had expected.

I'd been told by the Youth Council folks who had supplied my Community Credential (the ticket to get inside Invesco) earlier that afternoon that they expected the line at Invesco would probably take about two hours to get through. So. leaving the Community Center before 2 p.m., I expected to be a little late and miss some of the pre-show entertainment.

Palin v. Clinton: It's Policy, Not Personality (Or, Just Say No to Stepford Votes)

Wish I could tattoo "It's Policy, Not Personality" on the eyeballs of Hillary Clinton dead-enders, otherwise known as PUMAs.

For ardent Clinton supporters somehow still wavering in their decision to vote for Obama (a number that's decreasing by the day), let me just do a little gentle reminding from the senator herself.

Instead of watching Clinton deliver her speech live on Tuesday night, I was racing around the Pepsi Center helping MOMocrat Julie P. set up her interview with Senatorial candidate Jeanne Shaheen (NH), so I missed a great deal of Clinton's speech as it occurred. (The entire day was devoted to celebrating women's suffrage on the 88th anniversary of its granting via the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, and culminated with Senator Clinton's speech that night.)

But here's the relevant section I was able to catch up with, thanks to YouTube:

Go to 4:52 in.

The DNC: The Lazy Anarchist

Last night at Invesco, during one of Barack Obama's most inspiring speeches, he talked about education. He said:

Now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every child a world-class education, because it will take nothing less to compete in the global economy. Michelle and I are only here tonight because we were given a chance at an education. And I will not settle for an America where some kids don't have that chance. I'll invest in early childhood education. I'll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries and give them more support. And in exchange, I'll ask for higher standards and more accountability. And we will keep our promise to every young American -- if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college education.

Frankly, this couldn't come too soon.

If you're a regular reader, you've already heard about the wild adventure I had with MOMocrats Julie Pippert, Donna Schwartz Mills, and Deb Gorman.  While Julie and I may have scared Donna and Deb when we ran into the crowd to interview protesters and take photos, I can assure you that the scariest thing I witnessed that night was the appalling lack of knowledge the protesters showed.

The DNC: The Convention is Over But the Connections Continue

Speaker Nancy Pelosi struck the final gavel of the Democratic National  Convention last night, signaling an immediate and inevitable end to  the four days of frenzied activity, intense emotion, and the constant  sense that what you are doing matters.  Quite frankly, I'm relieved it  is over.  There is only so much exhilaration a person can take all at  once.

I spent the night last night with old friends who live in Denver. This  morning, they shared with me this reaction from a neighbor to Obama's  speech: "I didn't like the speech. I mean, why should we help the poor?"

Ahem.

What a lovely opportunity to discuss the role of government from a  Democrat's perspective, that is if you can stomach any further  engagement with one so minded.  And of course, you have to engage  because hearts and minds don't change any other way. Still, it was  trying if not alarming, leaving my friend to contemplate why she is  living where she is living and how in 2008 we still have so far to go.

From my friend's house I came to the   Denver airport which seems to  have mopped itself up from the flood of visitors that came in for the  Convention.  I was uncharacteristically early, so had some time for a  breather at the Food Court where I checked my much-neglected email,  and had the kind of fast food meal I don't let myself eat much anymore.

Quite deliberately, I wore an Obama t-shirt to the airport today. I  hoped to invite conversation by wearing it, and it served it's  intended purpose.  A woman named Genie came over to me with a wry  smile and said, "it was pretty great, huh?" A Political Director for  the SCIU union in Illinois, she is from Obama's home district and  proudly told me that her support pre-dated his senate run.

She then went on to tell me that her boss was a speaker at Invesco so  she and a few coworkers got tickets. As she stood in the long line  approaching the stadium last night, a guy walked by with a concert or  sporting event-style sign saying "I need a ticket." Though it had to  have been the hottest ticket on the planet, she just gave him one.  Later, when she was at guest services trying to recharge her cell  phone, she lamented to the clerk that she was up in the nosebleed  seats, and the clerk gave her a ticket in a better section. This kind 
of generosity kept paying itself forward throughout the event.

Genie, a Caucasian, told me that she was sitting with her male African  American coworker. At the end of Obama's speech, a White male stranger  came up to the coworker and gave him a full embrace. Then the stranger  pulled back, looked the coworker in the eye and said, "I didn't think  I would ever vote for a Black man."

This was a week for hearing that kind of thing, for watching people  step gingerly or leap across lines they had drawn, and to see them  seek --and usually find -- embrace on the other side.

Genie and I were soon joined in conversation by Randy, a baggage  worker here at the airport.  He asked us what we thought of McCain's  VP pick. And then Randy talked about how he usually gets three days  off in a row, and how he would use those days off to do voter  registration right here in Colorado.

That's what these final 67 days will be about. Talking to strangers,  crossing lines, reaching out, engaging.  All of it hard work, all of  it essential.

Something tells me there's more fast food in my future. But I hope  also more  people like Genie and Randy.

The DNC: Up & Coming Democratic Leaders

One of the things I didn't expect with the Democratic National Convention was the large youth contingent.  I don't know why, really, because it's not like I haven't been somewhat tapped into what they've been doing; I just didn't realize how major a force they were becoming.  When I was in college, the people I knew who were involved in politics seemed to be doing it for the wrong reasons, so I was turned off to the idea.

Somehow 13 years out, I'm still technically a youth at 35.  In February, I can no longer claim that title.  But what it means to the rest of us is that the Democratic Party is working hard to engage and mobilize people ages 18-35 and they are even working on younger people trying to get them involved before they can vote.  The youth vote is imperative for the Democratic party, especially with a presidential candidate that energizes younger people so actively.

In terms of candidates and new leaders, it's amazing to think that Joe Biden ran his first campaign for Senate at age 29 and was sworn in as a 30 year-old.  (As LawyerMama says - what have we been doing with our time?)  There was a celebration at the DNCC for 40 under 40 who are emerging leaders in the party and there are some incredible people running for office in that category.  One who has received the most buzz at the convention is Scott Kleeb, running for Senate from Nebraska.