The convention officially starts around 3 pm, and yesterday was no exception. Delegates walk several blocks to the convention center (don’t get me started about the areas without curbcuts), go through a wall of security, and enter the Pepsi Center. It’s really no different from other sports arenas, right down to the overpriced hot dogs.
The opening speakers are usually some of the more, well, uninspiring and obscure. Many delegates, in fact, don’t even show up until 6 p.m or so. But yesterday was a bit different.
Tthe roll call began around 3:30pm. The roll call procedure was probably the most dramatic part of the convention. State delegations were called upon by the convention secretary to give their official votes. State leaders then come to the microphone and regaled enraptured delegates with all sorts of state trivia (Montana’s delegation could have saved time by just reciting the latest state census figures). As the convention secretary got to the N’s, North Carolina’s delegation stood at attention ready for our chance to shine.
We never got that chance. A few minutes before New York was to be called, security cleared the convention steps and the crowd began a loud murmer. The secretary then called for the New York delegation total. As she did, Sen. Clinton appeared from the left of the convention hall to the absolute pandemonium of the entire convention.
Hillary then firmly and dramatically made the motion to accept Barack Obama’s nomination by acclimation. I don’t remember her exact words, and I frankly couldn’t hear much over the the applause. What I do remember is that there were not many dry eyes in the house, and that in that dramatic moment party unity was restored.
3 Comments
September 2, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Mark,
Were the NC delegates warned that New York was going to sum up the roll call vote?
September 2, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Sort of. Each delegation has floor leaders, and our floor leaders were on the phone with the DNC secretary’s office pretty consistently throughout the roll call process. First we were told our votes would be needed, but then the final word came down from the DNC secretary’s office that Sen. Clinton would be there to move to nominate Obama by acclimation. A much more fluid, unscripted process than I previously thought.
September 3, 2008 at 1:38 am
From someone that was reading reports from Denver — it seemed more set. I read who was going to announce for NC and that NC was not going to get a chance to announce because of Sen. Clinton’s call for nomination by acclimation — within the same hour.