Arkansas state representative Lindsley Smith reports on first day of the 2008 Democratic convention in Denver

Please click on image to ENLARGE photo of some Democratic delegates from Arkansas at the national Democratic convention in Denver on August 25, 2008.
The author of the post below, Arkansas Representative Lindsley Smith, is at right. Her husband, Professor Steve Smith, is in the center of the photo.

First night of the Convention‏
From: LINDSLEY SMITH (lindsleysmith@msn.com)
Sent: Tue 8/26/08 1:30 AM

We had a wonderful day today for the first day of the convention. We began by having an Arkansas Delegation breakfast in which Congressman Berry and Congressman Ross spoke and excited us for the day ahead. We departed to various locations for interest group caucuses. I attended the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Caucus meeting and met many delegates from other states and heard from the Governor of Kansas and her inspirational call for better national conditions for working families. I also was pleased to meet the national president of AFSCME, Gerald McEntee.

Many of us have been marveling at the wonderful investment in light rail in Denver. As a previous member of the Arkansas Legislative Public Transportation Committee and learning about the merits of light rail, I was particularly impressed with the success and economic engine provided by light rail, not to mention the wonderful environmental benefits. We then met up at the Pepsi Center for the Convention.

I showed up first, actually, I think I showed up before all other DNC delegates, but not before Wolf Blitzer and John King. The two hours prior to the Convention were spent by me observing all of the wonderful nonverbal aspects of the stage and buzzing media getting ready for their shows. I went up to the stage area to see where the speakers would be staying prior to coming out to speak, viewed the location of the lecturn and looked up to the expansive hall, and marvelled at the signs around the hall designating the great states of our nation. I made my way around the hall to find the Arkansas location, which is a super location right in front of where the major networks are reporting. If you are looking at CNN then our location is right in front of their set--a great location!

Howard Dean started off the Convention, followed by Speaker Pelosi, and we reviewed the Platform, Rules, and Credentials. I hope you were able to view it tonight, and I hope that you can feel the excitement in the room. There was a strong showing of unity and victory, a lot of dancing, a lot of laughing, and some tears of inspiration. I believe we were all deeply moved by President Jimmy Carter and Rosiland Carter. The speeches moved beautifully into each other and played nicely off each other to inspire us and motivate us. I was also deeply moved by the speeches of Senator Ted Kennedy and Michelle Obama. Attached are some pictures of our day of excitement.

Lindsley