| The Democratic National Convention and the Nomination of U.S. Senator Barack Obama Witnesses to a historical moment |
Obama delegates and Celia Jackson an alternate at the Second Congressional District’s Democratic caucuses. They were joined in Denver by Al Cooper, who
attended the convention as an observer.
Over the course of four issues of The Capital City Hues, we are reliving the historic Democratic convention through their eyes.
Tuesday, August 26
While there were a number of speakers slated to speak at the Democratic Convention on Tuesday — including Wisconsin’s own Governor James Baldwin
and Second Congressional District Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin — the real buzz of the day was the anticipation of U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton’s speech that
night. In the closely contested nomination fight, Clinton came up just short of grabbing the nomination and there were fears that a note of disunity would be
sounded.
“The outside media make it sound as if it were a big battle,” Huntley-Cooper said. “And there was an adjustment for Hillary supporters when Hillary did not
have enough votes to become the nominee. Rightfully so, I could understand why people were angry. It’s just like losing a loved one. You go through the stages
of grieving. I think Hillary’s supporters went through the stages of grieving for their hope, their dream to see the first female president of the United States. But I
thought there was a sense of unity throughout the whole convention. There wasn’t any drama or incidents that showed a divided party. It was all unity. And
Hillary did a wonderful job in kicking that off on Tuesday night.”
Stan Davis was a little apprehensive about what would unfold on Tuesday night. “Tuesday was the first time that I looked at any outside media about what
was happening in Denver,” Davis recalled. “If you looked at the outside media, you would have thought there was a big civil war going on between Barack
delegates and Hillary delegates and there was all of this strife in the party. I wasn’t seeing any of that at all. And I never saw it at any point in the convention. But
we were still wondering if she was going to go up there and talk about Barack or was she going to talk about Hillary. I have to tell you that on Tuesday and
Wednesday, she showed a lot of character and gave a speech that had to be painful to give, had to swallow a lot of pride and I think she did what was necessary
for the party and the country, to let a lot of her supporters to move on. There will always be people who are so emotionally involved in this that they won’t be
able to. But I think she gave a lot of people permission to move on. I felt she said that she had moved on and so others could too. And then on Wednesday at the
nominating meeting, I think she took it a step further. That’s what I took away from her speech. She gave what seemed to be a sincere speech that hit all of the
points it needed to hit. She did not specifically say ‘And I therefore request that everyone who voted for me go out and vote for Barack Obama,’ but she did as
much as one could without explicitly saying that.”
State Sen. Lena Taylor didn’t have any doubts about what Clinton was going to say. “Tuesday was my girl, Hillary,” Taylor exclaimed. “She was wonderful.
She basically told people — all of these people were saying ‘We want Hillary. We want Hillary — ‘You weren’t doing it for me, were you? If you were doing it for
me, you missed the boat. This is bigger than me. We can’t take more of John McCain’s philosophy.’ In the nutshell version, Hillary talked about how brave Barack
is and she is going to do as much as she can to help elect Barack Obama and everyone should be supportive of Barack. She nailed it for me. She said what
needed to be said to move us in the right direction for supporting Barack. I never doubted, to be very frank with you, that she would show the support that needed
to be shown for Barack.”
Celia Jackson also felt that Clinton did what she needed to do. “I really think she did it,” Jackson emphasized. “She did it I felt with her chant ‘No Way! No
How! No McCain!’ I left that hall completely convinced very clearly that Hillary was on board for Senator Obama. And what I really liked in what she did in her
speech was she really challenged all of the people who voted for her. ‘Did you just vote for me? Or did you vote for what we need in this country?’ Then she
cited examples of different people and individuals she had met along the way on her campaign and talked about them individually, that those were the people
that we really need to do it for and unite as a party in order to get behind Senator Obama. I didn’t feel that there was any doubt although I know some of the
commentators and pundits were saying ‘Well, she never said he could lead.’ I felt she gave a very, very strong endorsement of Senator Obama. I was very
comfortable and I thought it didn’t leave a whole lot of room for doubt.”
Next issue: The nomination, Bill Clinton and Joe Biden
attended the convention as an observer.
Over the course of four issues of The Capital City Hues, we are reliving the historic Democratic convention through their eyes.
Tuesday, August 26
While there were a number of speakers slated to speak at the Democratic Convention on Tuesday — including Wisconsin’s own Governor James Baldwin
and Second Congressional District Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin — the real buzz of the day was the anticipation of U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton’s speech that
night. In the closely contested nomination fight, Clinton came up just short of grabbing the nomination and there were fears that a note of disunity would be
sounded.
“The outside media make it sound as if it were a big battle,” Huntley-Cooper said. “And there was an adjustment for Hillary supporters when Hillary did not
have enough votes to become the nominee. Rightfully so, I could understand why people were angry. It’s just like losing a loved one. You go through the stages
of grieving. I think Hillary’s supporters went through the stages of grieving for their hope, their dream to see the first female president of the United States. But I
thought there was a sense of unity throughout the whole convention. There wasn’t any drama or incidents that showed a divided party. It was all unity. And
Hillary did a wonderful job in kicking that off on Tuesday night.”
Stan Davis was a little apprehensive about what would unfold on Tuesday night. “Tuesday was the first time that I looked at any outside media about what
was happening in Denver,” Davis recalled. “If you looked at the outside media, you would have thought there was a big civil war going on between Barack
delegates and Hillary delegates and there was all of this strife in the party. I wasn’t seeing any of that at all. And I never saw it at any point in the convention. But
we were still wondering if she was going to go up there and talk about Barack or was she going to talk about Hillary. I have to tell you that on Tuesday and
Wednesday, she showed a lot of character and gave a speech that had to be painful to give, had to swallow a lot of pride and I think she did what was necessary
for the party and the country, to let a lot of her supporters to move on. There will always be people who are so emotionally involved in this that they won’t be
able to. But I think she gave a lot of people permission to move on. I felt she said that she had moved on and so others could too. And then on Wednesday at the
nominating meeting, I think she took it a step further. That’s what I took away from her speech. She gave what seemed to be a sincere speech that hit all of the
points it needed to hit. She did not specifically say ‘And I therefore request that everyone who voted for me go out and vote for Barack Obama,’ but she did as
much as one could without explicitly saying that.”
State Sen. Lena Taylor didn’t have any doubts about what Clinton was going to say. “Tuesday was my girl, Hillary,” Taylor exclaimed. “She was wonderful.
She basically told people — all of these people were saying ‘We want Hillary. We want Hillary — ‘You weren’t doing it for me, were you? If you were doing it for
me, you missed the boat. This is bigger than me. We can’t take more of John McCain’s philosophy.’ In the nutshell version, Hillary talked about how brave Barack
is and she is going to do as much as she can to help elect Barack Obama and everyone should be supportive of Barack. She nailed it for me. She said what
needed to be said to move us in the right direction for supporting Barack. I never doubted, to be very frank with you, that she would show the support that needed
to be shown for Barack.”
Celia Jackson also felt that Clinton did what she needed to do. “I really think she did it,” Jackson emphasized. “She did it I felt with her chant ‘No Way! No
How! No McCain!’ I left that hall completely convinced very clearly that Hillary was on board for Senator Obama. And what I really liked in what she did in her
speech was she really challenged all of the people who voted for her. ‘Did you just vote for me? Or did you vote for what we need in this country?’ Then she
cited examples of different people and individuals she had met along the way on her campaign and talked about them individually, that those were the people
that we really need to do it for and unite as a party in order to get behind Senator Obama. I didn’t feel that there was any doubt although I know some of the
commentators and pundits were saying ‘Well, she never said he could lead.’ I felt she gave a very, very strong endorsement of Senator Obama. I was very
comfortable and I thought it didn’t leave a whole lot of room for doubt.”
Next issue: The nomination, Bill Clinton and Joe Biden
Frances Huntley-Cooper (l) and Al Cooper at home
after a full week of the Democratic National
Convention
after a full week of the Democratic National
Convention
| Stan Davis (l-r), State Senator Lena Taylor and Wis. Dept. of Regulation & Licensing Secretary Celia Jackson at Mile High Stadium when Barack Obama gave his acceptance speech. |
By Jonathan Gramling
Part 2 of 4
After U.S. Sen. Barack Obama won the Iowa
caucuses in early January, his supporters began to
realize that that is candidacy was viable and more
than what dreams are made of. A groundswell of
support — particularly in the African American
community — built as Obama won important contests
including the Wisconsin primary on February 19. And
many of his supporters began to make plans to be
there when Obama became the Democratic nominee
at the Democratic National Convention in Denver
August 25-28.
State Sen. Lena Taylor — by virtue of being a
member of the Democratic National Committee — was
a super delegate and committed to Obama. Frances
Huntley-Cooper and Stan Davis were elected
Part 2 of 4
After U.S. Sen. Barack Obama won the Iowa
caucuses in early January, his supporters began to
realize that that is candidacy was viable and more
than what dreams are made of. A groundswell of
support — particularly in the African American
community — built as Obama won important contests
including the Wisconsin primary on February 19. And
many of his supporters began to make plans to be
there when Obama became the Democratic nominee
at the Democratic National Convention in Denver
August 25-28.
State Sen. Lena Taylor — by virtue of being a
member of the Democratic National Committee — was
a super delegate and committed to Obama. Frances
Huntley-Cooper and Stan Davis were elected