American moments:
Navajo code talkers carrying the flag into the convention at 3 pm, Monday, August 25. See this article.
Abortion protesters whizzing into the middle of Michelle Obama’s speech at the Convention Center and being escorted out just as quickly. My camera is so slow I couldn’t get a good picture.
And here at the Convention Center.
Best unexpected encounter:
Running into a friend I hadn’t seen in a long while at the women’s caucus.
Catch in the throat:
Hillary’s speech. And the exhibit of photographs of Iranians in Civic Center Park.
Déjà vu:
Barack Obama has said he will review every one of George Bush’s executive orders. That’s what Bush did to Clinton in 2001. I want many of Bush’s policies to be overturned, but then again, what about precedent? Is every president going to seek to erase the record of the last one? Will the pendulum always be swinging back and forth in a crazy manner? I don’t think that’s good for our country.
Determination:
Demonstrators shouting, “When the people of the world are under attack, what do we do? Stand up! Fight back!”
and
“Whose streets? Our streets!”
Energy:
Girl Scouts playing clapping games on the bus to Denver Monday morning.
Generosity:
The female announcer at ReCreate68’s concert on Tuesday night at Civic Center Park, saying, “I want to give you a poem.”
Good ideas:
If you know a woman who’s running for office, make her casseroles. Offer to baby-sit her children or drive them to wherever they need to go. That is the kind of support women need to run for office.
Most energetic speakers at the Women’s Caucus, 8/28/08
Governor and DNC Chair Howard Dean. He was a good speaker. I really have to wonder about “the scream.”
Senator Barbara Boxer. I think she’d make a good president.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz from Florida
Most poignant moment:
I was impressed by Michelle Obama. Toward the end of her speech about the struggles women face, she said she felt very emotional. I don’t know how anyone does politics without bursting into tears all the time.
Most shocking statistics:
Rwanda has a legislature that is 48.8 percent female. That is the highest percentage in the world. The United States, by contrast, has a national legislature that is about 17 percent female.
McCain has a zero rating from Planned Parenthood and NARAL. He even voted against requiring insurance companies to provide contraceptives. Barack Obama has a 100 percent rating from those two groups.
Stamina:
Lilly Ledbetter, the woman who sued Goodyear for equal pay after discovering she’d been paid less than her male counterparts: “I was there for 19 years and 10 months, making less money than my counterparts for the same work. . . . I will never get what is rightfully mine in this country as long as I live.” But, she said, if she could get this bill (Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act) passed for us, it would be worthwhile.