Impressions of the Conventions (One)

My company, Unión Radio, a Spanish speaking radio network, sent me and one other colleague, León Krauze, from Mexico, to cover the two party conventions at Denver, CO. and St. Paul, MN. The experience ended up being much more enlightening than expected.

Although I have my personal preferences in these elections, I decided to keep an open mind so I could do my job as a journalist.

We arrived at Denver for the Democratic Convention on Monday, which proved to be a small mistake. It would have been better to be there at least one day before.

From the start it was a very interesting and engaging adventure. On Monday, everybody was concerned about the unity of the Party. Hillary Cinton’s followers were very visible and some of them were very angry and blatantly manifesting their opposition to Barak Obama. The real issues, however, were not discussed much because the atmosphere was tense and all the attention was on the ‘Hillarians’. Michelle Obama gave a good speech but it was not enough to get the delegates –and the media- really energized.

Tuesday was Hillary’s day. The Pepsi Center was abuzz with speculation about her speech. I was able to gather opinions from Obama’s and Hillary’s delegates. Most of them were at ease, convinced that she was going to say whatever was expected from her. However, the real question was: Is she going to deliver a sincere and honest speech? Will her body language say what her mouth will speak?

She did. If there is something Hillary Clinton demonstrated that night it is that she is a real ‘animal politico’. It was clear that she would not put on her shoulders for the rest of her career the stigma of splitting the Democratic Party. She knew what she had to do and she did exactly that. And her body -and her smile- said it.

On Wednesday Bill Clinton delivered a very energizing speech, as only he knows how to do. The crowd loved it and they loved it even more knowing that there was true party unity. I had the chance to be at the floor at that time and the energy of the crowd was really strong. That same afternoon, on a carefully designed move, Hillary Clinton herself had moved that Barak Obama was elected the Presidential Nominee by acclamation. The night closed full of promises for the next and really big day.

On Thursday, the Invesco Field’s surroundings were a mess. Eighty some thousand people were trying to squeeze themselves through one single security check point. Fortunately, our Media credentials allowed us to move ahead of the line. Still, some people complained because we cut in line. Not a big deal.

We waited for the big moment. The carefully staged series of speeches gave us a few surprises. The best one of all? Hearing eighty some thousand voices chanting in unison: “Sí, se puede”.

And then, the star made his appearance. Barak Obama gave a down to earth, clean, non populist speech. Although that night was an anniversary of that Martin Luther King’s “I have a Dream” speech, Obama abstained from attempting to emulate the Civil Rights champion.

Obama talked about every one of the issues that were open at that moment and responded to all the criticism he had been subjected to. It was, we all agreed, a very pragmatic speech, straight to the point and delineating his program. Of course, the words ‘change’ and ‘hope’ were coming up every two sentences, but, hey, isn’t that what he was supposed to say?

I admit it: when I came out that night I was feeling ecstatic, convinced that we had been witnesses to a historic event. For the first time in American history, an African American was the candidate of one of the major parties and, based on what we had just heard, it looked as if he could very well be the next president of the United States.

As we walked towards the train among the huge crowd, my colleague León and I recorded our thoughts (23 minutes of them) convinced that they were, too, a small part of history. Perhaps I will publish them here… in Spanish, though.

Then came that hit on Friday.

When I woke up that morning to turn the television on, the news about the Republican vice-presidential candidate, Alaska’s governor Sarah Palin were… how can I say it?... appalling. The immediate impact was –there is no doubt- huge. I felt it right there and then.

As the day wore on and new information regarding Ms. Palin started to come up, some of the hope of the previous day started to shine again. It was a brilliant move by McCain’s campaign, no doubt, but it came at a price. Not only her lack of experience –which brushed away the main criticism McCain had been making to Obama- but also her very conservative opinions were reasons to believe that she was not going to be the Hillary’s Votes sucker they initially estimated she could be. Still, it has taken several days for the democrats to recover from that impact.

However, Ms. Palin’s real effect was not among American women but in her own party: her figure –more than her words- energized the Republican campaign, something that was definitely missing at the time.

Then, during the weekend, there came the menacing ‘Gustav’. Fortunately, it went away without major consequences. Ironically, it helped the Republican Party in several ways. For starters, ‘Gustav’ was the perfect excuse for President George W. Bush and Vice-president Dick Cheney not to show up at the Convention. It meant that there will be no recent memory in Americans voter’s minds of Mr. Bush right next to Mr. McCain. Although Bush is the party's chief, McCain can claim the 'maverik' stance for himself. What an irony.

You bet the campaign was more happy than sad with all this. They also attempted to make of ‘Gustav’ an opportunity to show the ‘good hearts’ of the social conservatives. They setup a Hurricane info center and a donation booth. Fortunately, it didn’t last long enough for it to really stick in people’s minds. However, it also took away the attention of most Americans from the electoral arena, which meant that Obama’s historic night had passed to oblivion in a matter of days.

But there was a small event that had a stronger impact than everything else. In my flight from Denver to St. Paul, another type of hurricane was expecting for me: Hurricane Maggie.

(Continued...)