Saturday, July 31, 2004
ROLL CALL
Wednesday night was the Roll Call of Delegations, when each Delegation officially casts their votes for the Nominee. This is what I was elected to go all the way to Boston to do - cast my vote and sign my name to nominate John Kerry to be the next President of the United States. It is the highlight of my Convention, seeing and hearing each Delegation's votes being cast. And then my experience got even better.
I had gone to the front of the Texas Delegation to take some pictures before we were due to cast our vote, and Ken Bailey, one of our Delegation Pages, grabbed me and said he wanted me up front to help fill in some of the spots of Delegates who were now filling in behind the Texas podium in the aisle. I went back up to my seat and grabbed my roommate Sheila to be with me, and placed a call to my Dad. "Change of plans, Dad. Don't look for me in the upper right corner of the Delegation. I'm on the front row."
We Texas Democrats, being from the same state as the current pResident, have a sense of humor about our situation. Our State Party Chair, Charles Schoechting, had cards printed out for us - two colors, one side red, one side blue. We're not known for being a Democratic state, so when Texas was called during Roll Call, we cast our votes for John Kerry - and Chair Schoechting said "right now Texas may look like this," and all 232 of us held up our red cards - "but on November 2nd, we will look like this" and we all, on cue, flipped to blue. It was quite a vision. If you want the picture, the latest edition of the Houston Chronicle on Thursday July 29th has a photo of Sheila and me proudly holding our blue cards.
After each Delegation was called to cast their vote, they left the floor. But not me. My friend, traveling companion and baseball fan Janice Kinchion, a fellow Delegate, and I settled in to watch the final Delegations cast their votes. For us, it is history being made and we're not missing a moment. Sheila was running up and down the rows collecting signs, and asked if we were ready to go catch the bus back to the hotel. "Nope, we don't leave until the final out" was my response. I think we were the last Delegates off the floor that night. I really didn't want it to end, I just wanted to sit there and savor every single moment.
Later, back at the hotel, I pulled Ken Bailey aside and I thanked him for what he had done. I told him "It may have meant nothing to you to pull me down to the front, but it meant the world to me. Roll Call is the highlight of my whole convention and I thank you for allowing me such an honor."
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I had gone to the front of the Texas Delegation to take some pictures before we were due to cast our vote, and Ken Bailey, one of our Delegation Pages, grabbed me and said he wanted me up front to help fill in some of the spots of Delegates who were now filling in behind the Texas podium in the aisle. I went back up to my seat and grabbed my roommate Sheila to be with me, and placed a call to my Dad. "Change of plans, Dad. Don't look for me in the upper right corner of the Delegation. I'm on the front row."
We Texas Democrats, being from the same state as the current pResident, have a sense of humor about our situation. Our State Party Chair, Charles Schoechting, had cards printed out for us - two colors, one side red, one side blue. We're not known for being a Democratic state, so when Texas was called during Roll Call, we cast our votes for John Kerry - and Chair Schoechting said "right now Texas may look like this," and all 232 of us held up our red cards - "but on November 2nd, we will look like this" and we all, on cue, flipped to blue. It was quite a vision. If you want the picture, the latest edition of the Houston Chronicle on Thursday July 29th has a photo of Sheila and me proudly holding our blue cards.
After each Delegation was called to cast their vote, they left the floor. But not me. My friend, traveling companion and baseball fan Janice Kinchion, a fellow Delegate, and I settled in to watch the final Delegations cast their votes. For us, it is history being made and we're not missing a moment. Sheila was running up and down the rows collecting signs, and asked if we were ready to go catch the bus back to the hotel. "Nope, we don't leave until the final out" was my response. I think we were the last Delegates off the floor that night. I really didn't want it to end, I just wanted to sit there and savor every single moment.
Later, back at the hotel, I pulled Ken Bailey aside and I thanked him for what he had done. I told him "It may have meant nothing to you to pull me down to the front, but it meant the world to me. Roll Call is the highlight of my whole convention and I thank you for allowing me such an honor."
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