The irony of the outcome of the 2008 Democratic convention in Denver was that for the first time in political history, women delegates outnumbered men. In terms of gender makeup, the West Virginia delegation is exactly 50/50. Such division follows party rules. In terms of race makeup, four African Americans represent West Virginia and the rest Caucasian, although the party rules require only three minorities.
Although the selection of Hillary would have made history, so did the nomination of Barack Obama.
One must realize that until 1940’s the Democratic Party was seen as a white man’s party. In 1924 there was only one alternate delegate who was black. Change was slow even though majority of blacks started voting Democratic during the Roosevelt administration. As late as 1960 there were only 33 black delegates at the Democratic convention in Los Angeles.
The two hits at the convention represented the age spectrum. On Tuesday night Obama’s two daughters stole the show when they talked to their father on the screen. The next night it became Joe Biden’s mother who became the celebrity. In fact when Obama made his surprise visit to the stage, he mentioned her.
Speaking of a small world, when I went to get a floor pass, the DNC worker Shawna Blair told me about her grandparents Melvin and Sally Peluchette who live in Wheeling.
She still made me return it after 30 minute time limit.
Walking on the floor at the Pepsi Center was quite difficult, not just because of the number of people, but because of the space occupied by the media. Almost one-third of the floor area was taken up by television. The irony of the CNN set was that the commentaters faced away from the podium. So that they had to turn their heads to see what was actually occurring on stage- a feat they mastered during their continuous broadcast.
Outside the Pepsi Center on Wednesday protests were planned, but for the most part not well performed. Ironically one of the groups called itself “Recreate 1968”- referring to extensive protest mounted in the streets of Chicago at the 1968 convention.
What is interesting about the protests at Denver forty years later was that it was preceded by a concert by “Rage Against the Machine”- a group known for instigating their audiences.
Meanwhile inside the Pepsi Center, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley was endorsing Obama. Forty years before his father was mayor and drew national attention when he when he shouted at an alleged obscenity at a speaker criticizing the Chicago police force. The “macaca moment” was captured on camera and symbolized the chaos inside and outside the convention hall.
Such factionalism is absent from 2008 convention as current mayor of Chicago is supporting a black senator who won his 2004 primary without the help of the city machine. After that primary victory, however, the Chicago mayor became a key supporter. And some attribute the efficiency of the Obama campaign to its Chicago origins.
The Obama campaign provided some good news to the West Virginia delegation in the form of more visitor passes to the Thursday speech at the stadium. Perhaps the generosity reflects the announced increase in commitment of resources to the state by his campaign.
The move to the football stadium for tonight’s acceptance was novel. In 1960 John Kennedy spoke at the Rose Bowl stadium home in Los Angeles. But the Denver move poses a logistically problems since all the media and security equipment could not be moved out the Pepsi Center until 10:00pm last night.
Obama’s speech tonight will end the 2008 Democratic convention on both an historic a unified note. It also will mark the start of intense campaigning in electoral cycle that started more than 16 months ago.
-Dr. Rupp is a Professor of political science and history at West Virginia Wesleyan College
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