**Editor’s Note: Racine County Democratic Party Chair Meg Andrietsch is at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. She offered to provide dispatches from the event.
The Democratic National Convention is meeting this week in Philadelphia. The Wisconsin Delegation has 96 members, representing all areas of the state and both candidates. We are sharing our hotel with the delegations from Montana and Alaska.
We officially kicked off with a reception on Sunday night at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. There were delegates from 17 states at our event, and we were treated to food and drink, as well as jazz, ballet, and dance music. It was fun reconnecting with friends from other states, and it was our first opportunity to meet as a delegation.
Our days start with a full breakfast – and with speakers. Monday we heard from Virginia Governor Terry McAullife, as well as our own Congresswoman Gwen Moore. The Congresswoman is a crowd favorite, and we always enjoy hearing from her.
After breakfast, there were caucus and councils meetings, as well as events and lunches sponsored by various groups. Then we made our way to the Wells Fargo Center, either by shuttle bus or the subway. It was 97 degrees with a ‘feels like’ of 108. Walking a block in that heat took a lot out of almost everyone. Water to drink and air conditioning revived us, and we heard from some inspiring speakers.
US Senator Cory Booker set the tone for the evening, and First Lady Michelle Obama provided a great contrast between the Democratic and Republican nominees. US Senator Bernie Sanders was the final speaker, urging his supporters to support and vote for Hillary, and to continue pushing the progressive agenda.
After convention parties are sleep-stealers. Since we didn’t adjourn for the day until after 11, then moved 20,000 + people to buses ( and on the correct bus), we finally got to the party at 1230. We stayed an hour and got to bed at 2.
The alarm rang at 6:30 to get ready for the delegation breakfast. We were honored to hear from 4 US Senators – Jon Testor from Montana, Tom Harkin from Iowa, our own Tammy Baldwin, and Bernie Sanders. It was a full room and a very enthusiastic crowd from Wisconsin, Montana, and Alaska.
The hotel lobby was full all morning, as people met to go to all sorts of meetings. That’s where I sat to type this report, and I saw and chatted with a couple dozen people. The hotel provided free coffee 24 hours a day, so it was a great meeting place. The market was across the street, and folks went there for a ‘to go’ lunch, and brought it back to eat. Then they geared up for the trip to the Wells Fargo Center for tonight’sevents. The first President Clinton was scheduled to address the second night.
To be continued …