Mass. Delegates Ride High in Denver for the DNC

DENVER — The mile-high gathering of the Democratic Party last week left Massachusetts delegates gasping for political air, unable in many cases to find the words to describe the impact of seeing the first African American win a major party’s nomination for the White House.

Ray Jordan, a former Springfield, Mass., state representative attending his ninth Democratic National Convention, paused before comparing the thrill of working for Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, on the floor of the 1972 convention in Miami, to what he witnessed in Denver.

“Never in my wildest dreams, as a delegate for Shirley Chisholm — ‘unbought and unbossed’ — did I think I’d see the day when an African American would be the party’s choice for president,” said Jordan, vice chairman of the Democratic State Committee and a senior member of the Democratic National Committee.

For state Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry, a first-time delegate, the convention’s central drama was not so much Sen. Barack Obama’s ascension to the columned portico built on the 50-yard line of Invesco Field to accept the nomination, but Sen. Hilary Rodham Clinton’s full embrace of her primary rival.

“Her speech was amazing,” said the Dorchester (Boston) legislator. “She was exactly on point as to every reason why we should get behind Sen. Obama. She really made it clear why Sen. Obama represents exactly what she believes in and why we need to put our divisions behind us and elect him to the White House.”

Newswoman Liz Walker, in Denver to film a campaign video for Women for Obama, roamed around the Massachusetts delegation much of the week, interviewing delegates with a handheld digital video camera.

“I didn’t expect to be so moved by the delegate roll call,” said Walker. “As the states, one by one, got up to cast their votes for Barack Obama, it suddenly became real, that an African American would be the nominee.”

For the Rev. Miniard Culpepper, a convention veteran going back to 1980, the tribute to US Sen. Edward M. Kennedy on the opening night held special significance. He had worked for Kennedy in Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey and New York before heading to Madison Square Garden for the 1980 nomination fight against President Jimmy Carter.

“Kennedy’s speech in New York — ‘the dream will never die’ — was the greatest speech he ever made. And Hilary’s speech was the best I’ve ever heard from her,” said Culpepper. “But what I learned in 1980 is that we have to do more to heal the divisions.”

Eric Turner, a Newton resident serving as treasurer of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, said he couldn’t assess the convention without turning to the past and the long history of activism, sacrifice and struggle leading up to Obama’s historic nomination.

“We’re standing on the shoulders of others,” said Turner, a Memphis, Tenn., native whose family was active in breaking down the walls of Jim Crow during the civil rights era. “It makes you think of all the voter registration drives, the civil rights marches, the struggle against forces that discouraged participation in the political process. What we see this week isn’t happening by accident — it’s come about as a result of struggles that in 2008 are unimaginable.”

Working behind the scenes at the convention, Sharon Stout spent the week managing three dozen Denver volunteers assigned to help the Massachusetts and Maryland delegations staying at the same hotel, the 12-story Renaissance in the city’s northeast quadrant. While coordinating transportation, meals and tours, as well as fielding calls, the Newton-based fundraiser said she felt privileged to be a part of the event.

“We’re all called to help in some way,” she said. “I’m just glad to do my small part.”

Her job description did not include holding back stampeding conventioneers who tried rushing past disabled delegates waiting for bus transportation in the parking lot outside Invesco Field. Stout found a uniformed Denver policeman to help commandeer a bus for the wheelchair-bound delegates and deliver them to their doorstep.

As a result of her efforts, Stout arrived at the closing night Massachusetts delegation celebration at Coors Field three hours late.

“It was worth it,” she said. “After all, isn’t that what Obama is asking us to do — be part of something bigger than ourselves?”

source:  BayStateBanner.com