When I filled out the application to be a delegate back in March, the world was a pretty different place. I was not expecting that as a delegate, I would be watching the convention on TV, from my couch, with my dog sleeping next to me on a pile of unfolded laundry. 
I ran to be a delegate for the 2nd Congressional District, but I didn’t know that means you actually have to campaign to be a delegate, (any registered Democrat in the district can fill out a quick form and vote for you) and well, I had a grand total of 3 days to campaign before the voting deadline. Fortunately, the Biden campaign also needed to pick their at-large delegates to represent Kansas as a whole. I’m honored that they picked me, and that I get to represent rural Kansas, because as you’d expect, a large number of delegates are from cities.
As the spring turned to summer, it felt like the goal posts kept moving. We started with the full convention, which means airfare, and several nights of hotels to pay for. Then we started looking at maybe a smaller convention, and then maybe just the delegates, and then of course, we landed at the first virtual convention, designed to be watched by millions at home on TV. My duties as a delegate are already over, we did our votes virtually, so other than caucus meetings that I find interesting, I am off the hook.
I followed along the first night like a proud but worried parent at their kid’s first recital. Will the feed freeze? Will there be dead air? Will it be awkward? Will the zingers land right without audience reactions? Will it look like a telethon? The answer to the last three is, 1) yes, but it always is, 2) no, (Klobuchar) and 3) at times. but I think with a very limited amount of time the organizers managed to create an intimate, and hopeful, event full of catharsis, and that’s no small feat!
The last few months have been tough. But on Monday night for two hours we remembered what it was like to all do the same thing at once, that doesn’t involve watching a show about dragons, and I honestly didn’t realize how much I needed that. I ended the night feeling hopeful!
Michelle Obama! I missed you! The intimacy of the format made her speech, which no doubt also would have been powerful from a podium in front of thousands, feel like you were having a conversation with a friend, who feels the same as you, but is a lot more eloquent. I know it’ll be a very hard speech to top. Bernie Sanders had the line of the night, currently being printed on bumper stickers and T-shirts across the country, “Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Trump Golfs.” Yowza.
NIGHT TWO’S keynote address, featuring 17 rising stars from across the country who represent the next generation of the party was really inspiring. This was something that an in-person convention could not do as well as virtual. In person the DNC would have had to make a decision about who to feature at the podium, and everyone else would go unheard. So in this case, the format offered a more diverse group of voices, and that’s something to be celebrated.
I think there was a lot of worry that the format couldn’t possibly match the fanfare of an in-person convention, but in one notable case virtual was miles better. The roll call is usually delegates in wacky hats on the convention floor yelling about things like cheese (apologies to Wisconsin for that dig, but you know it’s true). Rhode Island’s stoic calamari guy was this year’s random, and instantly viral answer to how you can still shill a local product. It was lovely to see each state get to represent themselves where and how they wished, which in the case of Woodson County’s Mark Pringle, in the middle of a Kansas field. After being home for months, it felt like a road trip across America, and it was a fun tour of regional accents! It was a timely reminder of how we are a big, diverse country.
I don’t know what the 2024 convention will look like, I’d imagine we’ll all want to get together again, but I hope we can take some of the intimacy of this year’s with us.
ONE LAST THING. If you are unsure of your voter registration status, you can check at KSVOTES.ORG. Even if you think you’re registered, check to make sure all the information is updated, especially your address. Your vote matters!
