Sunday, August 24, 2008
Hillary to Release her Delegates on Wednesday
What will this mean for me? I am supporting Obama, but do I still have an obligation to those that elected me to support Hillary. More to come on this. I will be at her meeting where she will meet directly with her delegates and make the announcement. I hope that we can all come together as a McCain presidency will be a disaster. I'm proud that Hillary wants to unite the party.
Sunday in Denver
Waited 30 minutes for the hotel shuttle in the heat - but finally made it to my room. I had one hour to relax change and get ready to get on another bus to go to the Friends of New Orleans reception. While waiting in the lobby saw Matt Angle check in while he was on his cell phone the entire time, shook hands with Royce West and ran into my fellow SD8 Delegates Dr. Chad Conner, Sean Stevens and Precious Gholston. Grommer Jeffords (sp?) was also in the lobby chatting it up. I met up with fellow AA'er, Julie Tandy, another Clinton delegate and former mayor of Keller. We hung out together much of the evening.
The New Orleans party was huge - open bar with giant Obama beers and mixed drinks (but no Dr Pepper or Coke, only Pepsi products) and New Orleans food - basically a trafe (non-Kosher) smorgasbord of bottom feeders. Ray Nagin was hanging out having his picture taken with everyone. Should have brought my still camera! Lots of people and loud jazz.
Julie and I went to the NJDC event and got to hear a few Jewish Senators and Congressmen speak (Henry Waxman, Carl Levin, Jerry Nagler, Frank Lautenberg to name a few). Good speeches that I wish my father could hear on why it is important to get Obama elected from a Jewish and Israel's perspective. Martin Frost was also there but didn't speak. I wanted to say hello but didn't get a chance. Julie knew him and got to say hello. They also had food at NJDC event - needless to say, no shrimp or crawfish like the New Orleans event. It was held at the Golda Meir house, an actual home that she lived in when she lived in Denver. We walked back to the convention center with Sam Rosen who established a scholarship for DNC summer interns in memory of his daughter. As a big macher (contributor) he was an honored guest of the convention.
Got to go to bed now to be awake for my 7am breakfast!
The New Orleans party was huge - open bar with giant Obama beers and mixed drinks (but no Dr Pepper or Coke, only Pepsi products) and New Orleans food - basically a trafe (non-Kosher) smorgasbord of bottom feeders. Ray Nagin was hanging out having his picture taken with everyone. Should have brought my still camera! Lots of people and loud jazz.
Julie and I went to the NJDC event and got to hear a few Jewish Senators and Congressmen speak (Henry Waxman, Carl Levin, Jerry Nagler, Frank Lautenberg to name a few). Good speeches that I wish my father could hear on why it is important to get Obama elected from a Jewish and Israel's perspective. Martin Frost was also there but didn't speak. I wanted to say hello but didn't get a chance. Julie knew him and got to say hello. They also had food at NJDC event - needless to say, no shrimp or crawfish like the New Orleans event. It was held at the Golda Meir house, an actual home that she lived in when she lived in Denver. We walked back to the convention center with Sam Rosen who established a scholarship for DNC summer interns in memory of his daughter. As a big macher (contributor) he was an honored guest of the convention.
Got to go to bed now to be awake for my 7am breakfast!
Waiting at the Airport
It is finally here! I am so thankful that I bought tickets! I could not have dealt with the stress of non-reving (for those of you who are unfamiliar with "non-rev" that is an airline employee flying standby) to Denver (see previous post). I checked the flights last night and they were all red (IE hard to get on). It is an hour before flight time and I am trying to chill out. Tongiht, I may try to make the NJDC event or I will go to the "Friends of New Orleans" Major Event. I think $100 is a little pricey for the NJDC event - Golda Meir film starring Valerie Harper (AKA Rhoda) and hobnobbing with the Jewish senators and congressmen. We will see. Updates to come. The Friends of New Orleans is free, but will be huge.
The Day Before Departure
Things did not go well on Saturday. My phone wouldn't charge. I had upgraded my phone service to unlimited internet and Friday and something happened to it. I sent Ed out to get a new battery - $48! For not much more I could have upgraded to a better phone. Oh well. I didn't want to be rushed into a phone decision.
In the evening I dumped out my purse to clean it out and my wallet was missing. I think that I lost it at the manicurist, which was closed at that time. I went back and left a note on the door. The owners called but couldn't find it. It had over $200 in it, not to mention $200 worth of Macy's gift cards. On the good news side, my DL was in another wallet along with two Visa cards that I typically don't use. But it had both ATM cards. I cancelled the cards and my Dad came over and gave me some cash. Someone probably just took the cash and dumped the wallet. The last thing I needed to deal with on my way to Denver
In the evening I dumped out my purse to clean it out and my wallet was missing. I think that I lost it at the manicurist, which was closed at that time. I went back and left a note on the door. The owners called but couldn't find it. It had over $200 in it, not to mention $200 worth of Macy's gift cards. On the good news side, my DL was in another wallet along with two Visa cards that I typically don't use. But it had both ATM cards. I cancelled the cards and my Dad came over and gave me some cash. Someone probably just took the cash and dumped the wallet. The last thing I needed to deal with on my way to Denver
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Getting Ready for Convention
Everyday I am getting e-mails and snail mail for different caucuses, events and parties. So much to do and so little time in Denver. I feel tired just thinking about it. A friend who was a delegate in Boston told me that he would fall asleep during the actual convention. Our day will start at 7am with a state delegation breakfast. The gavel drops each evening at 9pm, however, there will be parties each night until late. I hope I can find Dr. Pepper in Denver to keep me going!
Friday, August 1, 2008
The Red Carpet Affair
Friday July 25 was a special affair sponsored by Democrats United in honor of the National Delegates. It was an interesting and fun evening. It was good to schmooze with my fellow delegates, after all, we will be spending a lot of time together in Denver. As one of the honorees, I had to introduce myself on stage and walk down the catwalk! Haven't done that since I was 12 years old. It gave me a chance to plug Carol Kent, our candidate for HD 102. And she gave the best speech out of all of the candidates!
Monday, July 7, 2008
article for NDTDW (north dallas texas democratic women)
The Road to National Delegate – by Janice Schwarz
I had been planning to run for National Delegate for around two years or more. My friend and 2004 National Delegate, Anthony Pace encouraged me and guided me as to what would be important to get elected. Although I was already very active in Democratic activities, I took on additional responsibilities when the opportunities arose. By the time of the primary, my political resume was full with leadership positions.
The true campaigning for the National Delegate seats began after the Senatorial Convention. I started receiving e-mails and post cards from my competitors. The excitement of Clinton-Obama race had brought out new Democratic activists. There were many more people interested in running for National Delegate than ever before. Often, when I looked at the competition, I thought that maybe this was too much, and I would never make it. Besides, I was working very hard for Carol Kent as her field director and it was another distraction from the time that I could devote to that race. But I also thought, if not now, when?
I waited until the week before State Convention before sending out my one piece of collateral. I did not want the competition to see what I did before hand and try to copy it. Unlike any other piece of literature that I saw, mine had testimonials from other prominent local Democrats. Also, I threw in a picture of my family – I have cute kids and a good looking husband and thought – let’s use this to my advantage! I also created a label that I could wear and hand out to my supporters. Since SD 8 was primarily in Collin County, I started attending the Collin County TDW meetings. I attended a meeting for SD Clinton Delegates (and made my first speech on the fly). I went to the SD 8 Delegate Organizational meeting (I spoke about North Dallas Democrats HD 102), and then it was onto a Wine tasting in Plano for SD 8 Delegates (my second speech). When opportunities arose, I was out there.
I knew that State Convention would be the most critical part of the campaign. Thursday night I made it to the opening reception, attended Royce West’s party and went on the pub crawl afterwards. Friday early afternoon, Harriet Miller (our founder and my roommate) and I checked in, and we worked on my speech. An important issue for many Clinton delegates was healthcare, since that was an area where Clinton and Obama had different platforms. I knew it would be important to differentiate myself from the other candidates; therefore I included mentioning that both my husband and I are cancer survivors. It isn’t something that I generally talk about, but I thought it was pertinent and something that made my concern with people having access to health insurance more real. Harriet helped me with my focus and made the speech the best it could be. We practiced over and over and got it under the 60 second requirement.
My boss told me “If you are running as a Hillary Clinton delegate, you need to wear a pants suit”. Therefore towards the end of the General Session (around 9PM) I went back to my room before the vote and put on a nice pants suit. SD 8 had to reconvene since we did not have the opportunity to finish our business. I took my flyers, recruited Harriet and Anthony to campaign for me and went up to all of the Clinton delegates one last time and asked for their vote. All the experience I had from canvassing for Martin Frost and Harriet Miller was put to use for my own campaign. If they said they would support me, I asked them to wear one of my stickers. As I kept handing out stickers, a realization came over me – I’m going to be one of the top candidates. When people said that they already had a candidate, I asked them if there was a runoff would they consider me. And they would say yes and took my brochure.
When it was time to make our speeches, ten women (24 had put in applications) came forward to run for the one Clinton delegate spot. I went last – a suggestion from Carol Kent. We had no microphone or megaphone and I shouted my speech so that everyone could hear. The first vote was taken and Jeanne Rubin from Collin County and I were the top vote getters. I’m pretty sure that Jeanne had more votes, but she needed a majority to win. Then we went into a second vote. It was too close to call. The decision was made to line up behind each candidate. We had counters on each side of us and the vote was 47 to 47. Sue Mottinger, the Clinton SD 8 coordinator asked for two quarters. Jeanne took the opportunity to pick the quarter and I got to call it. My instinct said tails and it was tails! I could only say “Oh My God!” I was shaking and started to cry since I was in such a state of shock and amazement. I had never won an election in my life. My friends on the Clinton side came around and hugged and congratulated me. I was lucky to have good friends such as Lenna Webb (we promised to support the other should one get into the runoff) and Bob Franklin on my side. Plus Bob’s campaign snacks helped me through as I started to get the shakes prior to my speech.
I am thrilled and proud to represent SD 8 in Denver. I will be blogging from the Convention –janiceschwarz.blogspot.com. I will send pictures and video (I’m going to buy a mini camcorder to take with me). Wish me luck in Denver!
I had been planning to run for National Delegate for around two years or more. My friend and 2004 National Delegate, Anthony Pace encouraged me and guided me as to what would be important to get elected. Although I was already very active in Democratic activities, I took on additional responsibilities when the opportunities arose. By the time of the primary, my political resume was full with leadership positions.
The true campaigning for the National Delegate seats began after the Senatorial Convention. I started receiving e-mails and post cards from my competitors. The excitement of Clinton-Obama race had brought out new Democratic activists. There were many more people interested in running for National Delegate than ever before. Often, when I looked at the competition, I thought that maybe this was too much, and I would never make it. Besides, I was working very hard for Carol Kent as her field director and it was another distraction from the time that I could devote to that race. But I also thought, if not now, when?
I waited until the week before State Convention before sending out my one piece of collateral. I did not want the competition to see what I did before hand and try to copy it. Unlike any other piece of literature that I saw, mine had testimonials from other prominent local Democrats. Also, I threw in a picture of my family – I have cute kids and a good looking husband and thought – let’s use this to my advantage! I also created a label that I could wear and hand out to my supporters. Since SD 8 was primarily in Collin County, I started attending the Collin County TDW meetings. I attended a meeting for SD Clinton Delegates (and made my first speech on the fly). I went to the SD 8 Delegate Organizational meeting (I spoke about North Dallas Democrats HD 102), and then it was onto a Wine tasting in Plano for SD 8 Delegates (my second speech). When opportunities arose, I was out there.
I knew that State Convention would be the most critical part of the campaign. Thursday night I made it to the opening reception, attended Royce West’s party and went on the pub crawl afterwards. Friday early afternoon, Harriet Miller (our founder and my roommate) and I checked in, and we worked on my speech. An important issue for many Clinton delegates was healthcare, since that was an area where Clinton and Obama had different platforms. I knew it would be important to differentiate myself from the other candidates; therefore I included mentioning that both my husband and I are cancer survivors. It isn’t something that I generally talk about, but I thought it was pertinent and something that made my concern with people having access to health insurance more real. Harriet helped me with my focus and made the speech the best it could be. We practiced over and over and got it under the 60 second requirement.
My boss told me “If you are running as a Hillary Clinton delegate, you need to wear a pants suit”. Therefore towards the end of the General Session (around 9PM) I went back to my room before the vote and put on a nice pants suit. SD 8 had to reconvene since we did not have the opportunity to finish our business. I took my flyers, recruited Harriet and Anthony to campaign for me and went up to all of the Clinton delegates one last time and asked for their vote. All the experience I had from canvassing for Martin Frost and Harriet Miller was put to use for my own campaign. If they said they would support me, I asked them to wear one of my stickers. As I kept handing out stickers, a realization came over me – I’m going to be one of the top candidates. When people said that they already had a candidate, I asked them if there was a runoff would they consider me. And they would say yes and took my brochure.
When it was time to make our speeches, ten women (24 had put in applications) came forward to run for the one Clinton delegate spot. I went last – a suggestion from Carol Kent. We had no microphone or megaphone and I shouted my speech so that everyone could hear. The first vote was taken and Jeanne Rubin from Collin County and I were the top vote getters. I’m pretty sure that Jeanne had more votes, but she needed a majority to win. Then we went into a second vote. It was too close to call. The decision was made to line up behind each candidate. We had counters on each side of us and the vote was 47 to 47. Sue Mottinger, the Clinton SD 8 coordinator asked for two quarters. Jeanne took the opportunity to pick the quarter and I got to call it. My instinct said tails and it was tails! I could only say “Oh My God!” I was shaking and started to cry since I was in such a state of shock and amazement. I had never won an election in my life. My friends on the Clinton side came around and hugged and congratulated me. I was lucky to have good friends such as Lenna Webb (we promised to support the other should one get into the runoff) and Bob Franklin on my side. Plus Bob’s campaign snacks helped me through as I started to get the shakes prior to my speech.
I am thrilled and proud to represent SD 8 in Denver. I will be blogging from the Convention –janiceschwarz.blogspot.com. I will send pictures and video (I’m going to buy a mini camcorder to take with me). Wish me luck in Denver!
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