Report on the Democratic Party of Wisconsin Convention
Part Two

My last post left off after the speeches at the presidential candidates' forum, where Howard Dean wiped the floor with everyone. Then we adjourned to the hospitality suites.

Dean was there, and I finally got a chance to meet him. We did not speak too long, but I also got some words in with Kate O'Connor, and with Paul (last name still on the business card I haven't unpacked yet), who was there videotaping everything, including a very excited Folkbum. I have to say that in person, despite having been in the middle of a grueling month of campaigning, the governor was in great form, attentive, personable, excited to meet everyone. Kate O'Connor basically had to grab his arm to drag him from the still-buzzing room for some much needed rest.

I didn't get into the other candidates' hospitality suites while they were open, so I cannot say how popular Dean's was compared to everyone else's. I will say, though, that Dean's room was packed. I met so many people in the room my head just kept spinning, including a number of local Democratic luminaries who want to work on the Dean campaign. Burlington doesn't have an office here in Wisconsin yet, but when they do, I've got a list of politicos to staff it. That's on top of the hundreds of new Dean volunteers who signed up at the convention.

After Dean himself cleared out of the suite, it closed up pretty quickly. But I did not wander off--I actually stayed in the mostly empty suite to catch latecomers and turn them into Deanistas. I think I got a few. Then I wandered out about 11:00 or so, when I got to meet Russ Feingold, state Attornery General Peg Lautenschlager, and former Representative Tom Barrett, all of whom seemed very genuinely interested when I mentioned that I was one of the coordinators of Milwaukee for Dean. Barrett, in fact, earnestly expresses his hope that we do well (I hope Burlington's working on him--a Barrett endorsement would be a major score!).

I wandered past the Kerry room--not quite empty, but as it was hostile territory, I did not go in. I never made it as far as the Kucinich room, because I stopped in the Graham room. It was fairly crowded (they hadn't packed up the food yet, and the beer was still tapped). But I found that three of the four tables with people were tables full of Dean supporters. It was good to sit and talk with so many of them.

I also talked a bit with Gwen Graham-Logan, who was complimentary of Dean and Dean's kind words toward her father (this was before Dean said Graham was not a "major" candidate). She was circumspect about the whole cozy self-congratulatory thing that Dean and Graham seemed to be developing, but she did say that she thought a Graham-Dean ticket would be fantastic. I said vice-versa, of course.

I wonder if there's not even more calculation going on than we might think--a lot of pundits (professional and blogging) figured that Dean's dig at Graham was a gaffe, and Dean does have a habit of not moderating his speech as much as I might like. (At least he hasn't called any reporters "major league assholes" yet.) I can't help but think that maybe Dean's line was calculated to raise Graham's profile, and get people used to hearing Dean's and Graham's names in the same sentence. Hmmm.

After a while, Gwen Graham-Logan began to wonder about the process of shutting down the room. "Do I have to take down the signs?" she asked. "I'm all alone here--I've got no volunteers or anything." At that point a few of us Deanistas in the room pitched in to help clean up the literature and the signs from the wall for her.

I finally dragged myself out of the convention at about a quarter to one, only to return about seven the next morning for the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) breakfast. The food there was standard hotel convention food--sausage, ham, bacon, institutional scrambled eggs, and pastries. But it turns out that it was the first food I'd eaten since lunch Friday!

I got to meet Stan Johnson, president of WEAC, plus a number of other guys in ties, officials of some sort in the union. As part of the breakfast, we had speeches by some politicians, but members of the union also got to speak. First up was state senate minority leader Jon Erpenbach, who also happens to be the highest-ranking Wisconsin pol to endorse Howard Dean so far. So after he spoke, I took a moment to introduce myself to him, and invite him to Milwaukee for some Dean events we've got coming up.

During that time, the WEAC folks were reminding us of important pro-public education work we need to be doing and supporting. Russ Feingold also came in and spoke, and, once again, proved just how lucky Wisconsin is to have him as Our Senator.

Next speaking was Midge Miller, a long-time activist in the state whose son is now a state senator. She spoke on behalf of the Kucinich campaign, and mostly just read from his literature.

I need to say here again that I have very little against Dennis Kucinich, and that, if things were different--i.e., he had a chance in hell to win--I might be supporting him. (I am concerned about his abortion flip-flop recently, though).

After Midge Miller spoke, I wanted to get up and give my spiel about Howard Dean, but it was at that point that our state superintendent, Libby Burmaster, came in, and she was, of course, given preference. I have to say that Burmaster has done a fine job in a difficult position. She inherited a state school system that, under the thumb of Republicans in Madison has gone from among the best in the nation to one in the middle (though her predecessor fought hard against them, too). School choice in Milwaukee has cost districts across the state much needed dollars, and has proved absolutely nothing about the effectiveness of voucher programs. There's a link to Rethinking Schools over on the right side of my page, because I believe in what they do. They began as a Milwaukee-area fight against the evil "reforms" of the early 1990s, including vouchers, and they have kept up the good fight.

I spoke after Burmaster (good company so far, eh?). But as I was speaking, Elizabeth Edwards (candidate John's wife) came in--becuase I wasn't nervous enough! And as she was speaking, in came Governor Jim Doyle! That's right: If you want to plot the order of speakers that morning, it was our state superintendent, me, John Edwards's wife, and the governor of the state. That goes on the vitae.

Oh, so I got a very good reaction from people about Dean. The stack of literature that I passed around the room disappeared, and I gave out a half-dozen Dean buttons to the assembled teachers--about 75 in all. I didn't see that many people talking Mrs. Edwards!

After the breakfast was over--basically, after the governor finished speaking--I got a moment to talk to him, since my wife and I actually went to Beloit College with his son, Gus. Doyle also wished me luck with the Dean thing.

I found the Dean table again, after talking to Doyle. It was absolutely devoid of literature. Ethan from Eau Claire was there, and I asked him where all the lit was. "We got cleaned out last night," he said. As it turns out, the Dean table was the only table to run out, and not because we had less stuff, but because there was greater demand, coupled with a prime location right inside the main entry to the lobby outside the ballroom where the speeches were the night before. So I dropped off the hundred or so sheets I had left, and a few bumper stickers, and chatted up the table workers and visitors a while, before heading to the new house to paint, paint, paint.

I want to take a moment to thank Ethan, as well as Steve and Liz for all their hard work with the convention. I also want to thank everybody who staffed the table, including Erik and about a half-dozen other people I met there for the first time and whose names escape me. We did a fantastic job, and it was the volunteers who made it so great.

The straw poll results were also out on Saturday afternoon, but you've already heard me rant about that (see below), but in case you've forgotten: Dean kicked everybody else's behind. Squarely.

And that's how it'll be in 2004.