Daniel Ewald {thanks, Daniel Ewald}

Falling back into my old habits, I slept through my three different alarms. As it turned out, though, the bright light of the dawn was enough to rouse me from sleep this morning.

The Young Dems again made our way to the Renaissance Hotel to eat and hang with the rest of the Maryland delegation. The vast expanses of land are still a little jarring, as I’m used to being around the urban settings of Baltimore and D.C., and sprawling suburbs. Even my travels to Garrett County or Kent Island for work would feature visual diversions either based on land features or quaint little towns. Not so much here. Oh, there are mountains, but they are way off in the distance, near the horizon, along with most of the buildings. Not that it much matters since I took a quick nap on the way there.

Today, breakfast was conducted with the theme of sports and teamwork, which I did not participate in. Not because I was not a team player. It was due to one of the other Young Dems not having a shirt, so I literally gave her the shirt off my back. At least my other shirt was flashy enough I could pass as a cheerleader. Mayor Shelia Dixon was the host and sponsor for the meal and espousing the standards of Team Maryland. While we honored the elected officials there such as Gov. Martin O’Malley and Rep. Donna Edwards, we all were treated to a very special guest: Speaker Nancy Pelosi stopped by and addressed the crowd.

With Speaker Pelosi present, I saw just how powerful Maryland was on the national stage. Speaker Pelosi reminded us of her childhood growing up in Baltimore and of her father, a former mayor of the city. And while you can take the girl out of the state, she ain’t ever gonna get rid of them Baltimore crabs. Rep. Steny Hoyer is the Majority Leader, second in the House hierarchy only to Speaker Pelosi. Rep. Elijah Cummings, the former leader of the congressional Black Caucus, is the chair of Maryland for Obama and is widely seen as one of the best orators in the House. Rep. Chris Van Hollen is responsible for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which brings in new talent to run for House seats. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger is on the House Intelligence committee, which is kinda odd for a member who is only in his third term. Speaker Pelosi spoke warmly of his skills and abilities on the committee, however, and is proud of the work he’s done thus far. Senator Mikulski is the first woman who was voted on her own right into the Senate and is currently the dean of the female senators. Lofty goals for new members Rep. John Sarbanes, Rep. Donna Edwards, Sen. Ben Cardin, and hopefully soon, Rep. Frank Kratovil, and Rep. Jennifer Dougherty to live up to. But then again, we would not expect less from our elected officials.

Nothing was particularly exciting for me on the events for the day. Well, that and the fact my feet still hurt from standing up for about seven hours the night before. I spent the time watching CNN and MSNBC comments on the previous night’s speeches. Almost all thought that Hillary Clinton delivered the best speech of her career. For me, I thought it was very moving, given that I watched it last night with throngs of people who believed in the good she can do.

A highlight of my TV viewing was the selection of the nominee. For a little background, conventions used to begin without a definite candidate. Delegates would meet and debate the merits of the ones who fought in the primaries and picked which ones they thought would be the better candidate. With the rise of constant media and states moving up their primaries, most conventions of the past few decades resulted in the nominee being known and the nomination process moot by the time of the convention.

This time, though, it went down differently. While Hillary Clinton did suspend her campaign and implored her delegates to support Obama, there was still uncertainty of what would happen. Some states, like Arkansas, which was won by Clinton, cast all their votes for Obama. Most other states, like Maryland, split their vote close to the percentage the people voted by if Obama won. Others which Clinton won, like Massachusetts, went against the will of people and gave Obama a majority of their votes. California was the shocker, however. Many delegates were the most ardent Clintonistas. They passed, claiming that a majority of their delegates had to be absent due to a vote in Sacramento, and the votes of the alternates had not been decided yet. Suuuuure. A better cover story would be that they did not want to push Obama over the majority of delegates and give that honor to Illinois instead. While it did not work out that way, I, along with all others watching, thought what did transpire was even better. Hillary Clinton asked if the rules could be suspended and have the audience proclaim Obama the nominee by acclamation. While Speaker Pelosi did rush through the vote a bit, lest the California delegates shout too loudly on their plane rides, it did make for great symbolism. Plus it had the added side effect of making it to the evening news.

Eventually I got a little bored with the news and editing my pics and videos from the previous night. So I tasked myself with a new goal, getting a credential for the convention. If you want to be a part of the convention, obtaining one is vital. There are different ones allowing you access to the floor, outside hallway, or outside the building. I previously typed about the trials one would have to do with the lottery to get one. This time I figured I would try a different route. Asking for one. Turns out, it was pretty easy. I actually wound up with three passes which I shared with the others from Baltimore City Young Dems. The real challenge will be to obtain the same thing for Thursday, when Obama speaks. That will be amazing to see in person.

While walking to the Pepsi Center, I got to pass by major news stations ranging from Fox News (one vowel movement away from what it does to the news), PBS and even BBC. Most of the newscasters were hanging out and shooting the breeze with conventioneers, a nice change of pace from their usual yelling and screaming at one another while they report the news.

My credentials allowed me access into the building, but not onto the convention floor. This was mostly due to the restricted access for the day from the vote earlier in the day. Again, I got to see the television news crews mill about, interviewing people at random. Radio was also present again ranging from Fox News (still one vowel movement), to Air America Radio (yes, Rachel Maddow is hot). I settled down in front of a large plasma TV along with at least 30 others to watch the convention play out with honoring our veterans (like most of my family), our responsibility in the world, and the challenge we have to face in restoring the peace so many enjoyed during most of the ‘90s – from the peace dividend we all got rich off of to not having to worry about my brother being sent to a senseless war.

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