Opening Day!!

“As I tuck in (my girls), I think of how someday, they will have families of their own, and they will tell their children how...this time, we worked to make the world as it should be...”

-Michelle Obama, 2008

Democratic National Convention

As most all of you know, today was the kickoff night for the 2008 DNC in Denver, Colorado. Very disappointingly, most of us (who don’t happen to be lucky enough to have connections with important people) didn’t get access to the convention floor.

I was really upset at that at first because Junior Statesmen of America had managed to get access for its students many times in the past (including 2004) and floor access had been essentially a defining feature of the Symposium for several years, even though we had been informed of the possibility of not getting access. (I guess I figured they just had to tell us and we were all but guaranteed to get floor access).

Still, I was somewhat consoled by the fact that JSA had at least gotten us tickets to the viewing party organized by the Democratic committee, so at least we got to see the speeches in a theater with several large movie screens.

I was originally planning just to listen to the speeches and comment on them as a whole, but Michelle Obama’s speech was just so inspiring and that quote was just really...amazing. There were many quotable quotes, such as the part of her speech where Michelle spoke of her father who had been afflicted with Multiple Sclerosis getting up an extra hour early to get dressed so he could go to work, because he believed in what he was doing and believed in providing for his family whom he loved more than anything.

I admit Obama was not my first choice for president--I was a Hillary girl all the way--but the speeches tonight were incredibly touching and inspirational, and I’m extremely disappointed that at mere weeks from turning 17, I will miss the opportunity to give my electoral support to the Democratic nominee.

Today was also the first of several delegate breakfasts in our Symposium agenda. Now, I know I’ve complained before about 4:30 a.m. being a ridiculous and ungodly hour to have to awaken so as to make it to the delegate breakfast on time, but in the end I think it was worth it as I got to personally meet and shake hands with several of my California delegates, and even managed to get interviewed by some of the media/press people swarming around (listen for me on the radio stations KPBS and KQED!). I was so excited about it I ended up doing a little happy dance afterwards. (I hope none of the other press people who were actually filming got that on tape!)

Soon after that, we had the opportunity of listening to several guest speakers, including an entire panel of delegates to the convention. They all had interesting perspectives, but my favorite speaker of the day was this fiery Chinese Hillary supporter from our own California, Julie Wong. She was such a powerful speaker and shared my views on so many ideas, such as the unfairness of the media scapegoating Hillary Clinton for “hurting Obama’s campaign” because of the closeness of the primaries.

What I admired most about her was that she considered herself an American first, a Democrat second, and a Hillary supporter third. Even though she, like many others of us (including me), was disappointed that she wasn’t getting the nomination, she was fired up and ready to fight for her party’s nominated candidate.

Her fire and passion and dedication is an inspiration to me and other aspiring young ladies all across the nation, and I believe it is people like her that unify and thus strengthen both our parties and our nation as a whole, and I hope to see and hear more of her as the convention progresses.