Day 1 of the DNC is in the books, and there is plenty you already know about what went down. Joe Kennedy III introduced a great video tribute to his late uncle. Governor Patrick absolutely killed it with a megawatt speech that had the whole center on its feet multiple times, and the First Lady was powerful, touching, warm, electric, stunning … I’m running out of positive adjectives, but the basic reaction from everyone at the convention was “WOW!”
Here’s what I can give you for an inside scoop on from my little perch:
- If you’re looking at the stage, the MA delegation is seated to the right of the podium, in the first rows of seats off the floor itself, about 2/3 of the way back in the hall. The seats are good, and the view is solid.
- We are right by the CNN booth! Wolf Blitzer and Dana Bash were a few feet in front of us all night. A host of big names hopped in the chair next to them (not an empty chair!) for an interview, including Vicki Kennedy and Governor Dukakis.
- We are in prime celeb-sighting territory. John Leguizamo and Tim Daly from the Hollywood set walked right by us, and there were a zillion other political celebrities who zoomed past.
- Ayanna is an extremely enthusiastic flag waver. Seriously, give that woman a flag and she gets an upper body workout that is no joke.
- We are seated in alphabetical order. This means I get to spend the convention sitting next to my friend Nikko Mendoza!
- I did 2 live interviews with Fox News Radio’s Jessica Rosenthal from the floor of the convention. She asked me about how the messaging to woman is different at the DNC, compared to the RNC last week. We also talked about Michelle Obama’s performance after her speech was over (see above for my over-the-top assessment).
- The convention volunteers mean business! If you stop to stand a watch what is going on in a spot you don’t belong in, you can’t count to 5 before a polite but firm volunteer tells you that you need to move along. It makes good sense given the number of people they need to manage in the hall and the clear security concerns – not to mention just plain old not wanting to be rude and block someone’s view – but these men and women are impressively speedy!
Big doings tonight with Elizabeth Warren and President Clinton speaking. Personally, I’m most excited that Ayanna and Felix Arroyo will be speaking for Massachusetts during the roll call this evening. Super proud!
AP and JM at the DNC 
No mention of Julian??