Democratic Convention Day 1: Recap

I'm somewhat at a loss as to what to write about the first day at the convention. The convention is so big that it's pretty much impossible to encapsulate. The actual convention is just the most visible part of what is going on. Even before the convention gavels in at 3pm each day, there are dozens of panels, networking events, and protests. While the convention conducts its business on national television, there are watch parties all over the city - for youth, bloggers, activists, anyone not able to snag a credential into the Pepsi Center that night. Long after the convention ends each night there are dozens of parties as organizations try to build their brand name, budding politicos try to climb up the next rung in the political ladder, and insiders hold private meetings with senators, major donors and political figures.

It's an incredible circus of activity created by insiders and outsiders all looking for their piece of the pie in this election cycle - from the crazy activist hawking buttons on the street to the major elected officials and delegates in on the floor. So it's hard to give show anything more than the tiniest slices of what is going on. That said, here's my .02 on what I experienced on the first day and what it's like covering the DNCC.

Credentials
You can't do anything or get anywhere without a credential at the convention. The first thing every morning is getting your credentials for the day, which are usually located in far-flung locations not near mass transportation. Walking is your friend and you do a lot of it in order to collect your credentials.

Youth Council Press Conference
The press avail arranged by the youth council seemed to go quite well. The room was packed with young delegates, activists and Press alike. About 15 groups gave an overview of their work in 2 minute shorts, and I hear that some decent press hits are starting to come out of it. Will.i.am showed up at the end to do his own briefing on the importance of the youth vote. Sarah will have video of this later today I think, and I'm working with Remix America on getting some footage as well - hopefully individual 2 minute clips of everyone's presentations for people to embed on their websites and pass around.

Probably my favorite speech during the press avail came from Crystal Strait of YDA. Crystal used her two minutes not to pump up YDA (though she could have), but rather to highlight that even though youth representation at this convention is higher than ever - 16% of all participants - it is still not on par with young voter's share of the Democratic electorate. Young voters could be 20 - 25% of the electorate in 2008. In 2004 we were 19% of all voting Democrats. It's important to continue to highlight that disparity and push the DNC to continue down the path of greater inclusion and support for youth engagement within the party structure.

Starz Center/Sea Change Forum
Progressive Strategies and a few other organizations have set up a private mini conference within the confines of the Pepsi Center perimeter set by the Secret Service. You can only get in if you are a credentialed delegate or have an all access pass to the Center. I was able to snag one of those all access passes by agreeing to participate in a panel on Wednesday about the youth vote.

Yesterday I got the chance to go see Drew Westen present on his book, The Political Brain. If you haven't read it, the book is about the role of emotion in political messaging and offers practical advice on how to properly frame political messages to invoke the emotions on which most people base their vote. Westen's presentation created a compelling argument that Democrats have lost ground for 30 years because Republicans successfully branded the words "Liberal" and "Democrat" with negative emotional meanings. In response, Democrats offered not appeals to emotion, but to logic and facts, acronyms and policy wonkery. That is, when we respond at all.

I spent a few years working with an organization that did framing and message research. One of the biggest problems is that Lakoff and most people who work on framing tend to stay in an uber-theoretical framework, offering little in the way of practical messages responding to the current news cycle, so Westen's presentation was a refreshing change.

On a personal, star-sighting note, Morgan Spurlock sat behind me during the presentation. The Sea Change forum has that kinda feel to it - like famous people are waiting around the corner.

Big Tent
The Big Tent is the official blogger headquarters of the convention, and like the Sea Change Forum it is really it's own mini-conference happening at the same time as the convention. As I noted in my post yesterday, this is the place to meet all the bloggers and activists, check out panels on issues like Green Jobs and the war, watch the convention via live stream and recharge your all important laptop batteries.

There are hundreds of bloggers here and we are light years away from 2004, when only a few bloggers were even credentialed for the convention. I wouldn't even be surprised if the vast majority of people sitting in the room with me as I type this weren't even blogging in 2004. The blogosphere has grown up in the last four years and the Big Tent is one of the major hubs of activity here in Denver. Media are here interviewing bloggers, and elected officials have stopped by to acknowledge the contributions that bloggers are making to the party every day.

After Parties
I attended two after parties, one by Rock the Vote, and another by HeadCount. HeadCount's party was at the Ogden, an independent venue here in Denver and was headlined by Robert Randolph and the family band (blues and gospel based pedal steel jam rock). I was super impressed with the event. Despite being a few miles away from the main hub of events, the place was packed with local young people, delegates and VIPs alike. Everyone seemed genuinely into the scene and it had a real authentic, community vibe to it. (Washington Post's The Sleuth agrees with our analysis.)

Talking to Andy Bernstein, the ED of HeadCount, he said the organization is on track to register 50,000 voters this summer on concert tours and at summer festivals.

Across town, back by the convention center, Rock the Vote's party featured N.E.R.D and Fallout Boy. This event was a little weirder. The event was held at the Ellie Hawkins Opera House. It had a schizophrenic vibe to it. In the halls of the Opera House, something of a star-fucker scene was in full force, while inside the auditorium, a very young crowd rocked out to the music. Cringe-worthy moment of the night: when Congressman Meeks came on to talk and asked everyone to get ready for "the Fallout Boys."

Despite a much larger venue, I'd estimate that the Rock the Vote show had an only slightly larger crowd than the Head Count show. The event was also slated to feature the winner of Rock the Vote's DemRockracy contest, but I got there later in the evening after N.E.R.D played and missed the opening act.

Things I missed
I skipped out on the actual convention to get some much needed rest before the after parties. I did manage to get to the Big Tent in time to see Michelle Obama's speech but missed out on the rest. Tonight I will be in the Pepsi Center for the Clinton extravaganza. More on that tomorrow.

The Harvard Institute of Politics released new survey numbers in a press conference held at the same time as that by the Youth Council. I'll have more on those survey results later today.

Here are some photos from Day 1: