DNC CONVENTION- DAY 5
BOSTON-DAY 5
Today was a day on which I felt it necessary to catch up on lost sleep. I wasn’t scheduled to do any shoots for the campaign, until around one PM, so after staying up until around 5 the previous night, I took the liberty of sleeping until noon.
I awake, take a decent shower (finally found out to coax hot water out of the dormatory faucet), down two fruit/yogurt smoothies, and loaded with tripod, camera, mike, batteries, and headphones, head to blackstone park.
I was being sent to cover a protest against a proposed bioweapons laboratory in Boston, where Dennis was scheduled to give an address. I get there with time to spare, and have a chance to speak with other Kucinich supporters, on site- it’s unfortunate that I have such a hard time remembering names, as they were such good folks. The organizers of the event had done a danged good job- free refreshements were available, independent security details had been set up, and there were dozens of tables for the distribution of literature and petitions.
Soon after I arrived, some anarchists tried to take down the US flag from the park flagpole, to raise their black pirate flag (for some reason, the anarchist wankers had adopted a priate motif, throught the convention.) I was about to intervene, when the security detail stopped them. Afterwards, the cable was tied at about nine feet up the pole, so they couldn’t get to it.
Again, I must take a moment to declare that the anarchists were the most irritating factor of the convention- they never ceased to create trouble, even at events that they SHOULD have supported. I have no problem with a group that wishes to express their political views publicly, but MAKING TROUBLE IS NOT A POLITICAL STATEMENT. These folks seriously need to get a job, and get out of the way of those fighting for progress.
After about an hour of standing around, the event coordinator took to the stage, and announced that Dennis had been called back to the fleet center. It was understandable- he was scheduled to speak that night, yet it was frustrating. There were two other Kucinich campaign camera personnel in attendance, and we all felt pretty let down.
By that time, it was around 4, and I decided to take a look at an invitation I had gotten for an Alabama delegation event at boston harbor. This was something I was looking forward to, as John Edwards was scheduled to spend almost an hour, speaking with attendees. I was under the impression that it was scheduled for the next day- but I sudddenly realized that it was supposed to start TODAY- a half-hour from now.
CURSES! The famous “Abortion Van” (see photo gallery) had parked right outside of the forum, and I was looking forward to doing an interview with the drivers. Drat and drat again- first, I miss reverend Phelps because of low battery power, and now, I miss these guys, because of scheduling.
Such is life, I guess. I pack everything up, and run like mad to the north of Boston, where I found that the event venue was nowhere to be found. I ran into two Alabama Kerry Delegates (one of whom turned out to be Alabama’s secretary of state), and we spent a good half-hour, looking for the party, and eventually found it at the end of a rather long pier, flanked on both sides by closed-down fishing enterprises.
Security, again, at the convention and all affiliated events was higher than I’ve ever seen before. This was a rather formal event, and when I arrived at the door, a tough-looking cop stopped me.
Even though I had a printed invitation, and comprehensive ID, the cop told me (without even consulting the hall staff) that I couldn’t get in. To be quite frank, although I was dissapointed, I don’t blame the guy. This was a rather high-profile event, and all the attendees were dressed in formals, shaved, and smelling of soap and cologne. I, on the other hand, was a freaky-looking guy who spoke in a northern accent, was carrying bags of suspicious-looking stuff, clad in dusty jeans and sweat-soaked t-shirt, and I probably smelled like a locker room after the “Sumo Wrestlers Against Underarm Deoderant” convention left town. Fortunately, after I handed over my ID, and the invitation, the cop went inside, and verified that I had, indeed, been invited. I was ushered through the door, after a complete inspection of my bags. It’s easy to forget, when you’re in such a tight security situation, that the cops are just doing their jobs, under tough conditions.
When I got in, I stowed by bags, equipment, and wandered into the main hall- and felt pretty shameful, in my sorry state- it was, without a doubt, the most swanky event I’ve ever attended- lounge music, high-class foods, open wet bars (I just drank coke), and migrating hors doeuvre trays featuring such delicacies as artichoke hearts stuffed with crab meat cooked with saffron. I felt sorta like Sam Lowry in Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil”, attending his mother’s swank party.
I didn’t know many folks, so I just helped myself to the seafood available (I’ve never been a fan of raw oysters, but I ate four, there), and sat around, watching the traditional schmoozing and goings-on that usually occur at such events.
Now- not to denegrate our good southern folks- but it was strange. I lived down south for 13 years, and by and large, southerners are republican, intensely provincial, and so conservative, it makes your teeth hurt. It was wierd to be surrounded with people speaking with rich, southern accents, who were all progressive, open-minded, and so well-spoken. It was the first time I’ve ever heard someone speak of Aristotle’s dissertation upon the balance of pathos, ethos, and logos in a southern drawl.
Geez- where were ya’ll, back when I was stuck down there?
I hung around for about two hours, until it was pretty apparent that Edwards wouldn’t appear. Again, while it was dissapointing, it was understandable- he was due to give his speech to the convention within a few hours, and he had a LOT on his table.
I bid the delegation adieu, and headed back to emanuel college, via taxi and subway, arriving just in time to catch Dennis’ speech on c-span.
It was a good performance- it covered all of his points, and, I hope, convinced a lot of the progressive voters out there who supported him to support the Kerry/Edwards campaign, but-
It wasn’t his best speech- he’s done better in times past- I was hoping that he’d be able to raise the convention to the heights of emotion that only he can, but I guess you can only do so much, when you have 7 minutes in which to relate your message.
But, for everybody at the Kucinich HQ, it was a golden moment- it was what we all had worked so long and so hard for- and we were all happy to see it happen. In some rooms, there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.
The rest of the evening, for me, was spent writing up reports, editing video, and formatting photos. By the time I crashed, it was 4:00 AM, and because of the day’s no-shows, I had a lot of sore muscles, new blisters, and only five minutes of useable video.
I swore that after a hefty 3 hours of sleep, I would hit the streets with a vengeance, and record as much footage as I could, during the last say of the convention.
Fade out…