Although I had heard that the Florida Democratic Party’s JJ dinner would be the same day, I knew that I must walk for Obama. I had recently received an invitation to a $50 Florida bloggers luncheon at the JJ on June 9, 2007. It was very tempting, but no, I told myself “I must walk for Obama. I can’t abandon my team on such an important day.” Then I was told that bloggers who attended the luncheon would be given press credentials to the JJ Dinner with special guest, Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Ok, now I must admit that I was officially torn. I tossed and turned and agonized over the decision. My fellow O- Train leaders looked at me like I was crazy. They said that they had everything under control and that I shouldn’t pass up the opportunity to blog about the JJ and hear Nancy Pelosi speak, but I still remained conflicted about abandoning my team.
I then received an email from the Obama campaign's Florida Volunteer Coordinator, Joan. Although we had worked together on a previous campaign, Joan and I had never actually met in person. She asked me if I was attending the JJ dinner because the campaign was sending some folks down from Chicago and that she would love it if I came down. So I replied that if Obama’s campaign wanted me there, then I would go. I finally got off the fence and made the sacrificial decision to go to the JJ dinner. I was stepping up and taking one for the team.
I paid my $50 without booking a hotel room because at $200/night, my new mission was to find a roommate. One of my friends sent out an email asking if anyone had room for "poor lil' thefos" so luckily, a fellow DFAer and friend, Nancy from Orlando, took the bait and offered to share her room with me on Saturday night. Most of my area friends were driving down Friday afternoon, so I was resigned to a 5 hour drive by myself.
On Wednesday, my best friend and fellow Obama supporter, bobnbob, belatedly decided that she wanted to go with me plus she offered to drive. This was great news for me. This meant that “Thefos and Bobnbob’s Most Excellent Adventure - Part II was about to begin. If you want to read about our first adventure, you can find it here:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/12/13/103819/94.
Being the mooch that I am, I boldly asked Nancy from Orlando if bobnbob could join us and she graciously said yes, so very early Saturday morning, we set off on our most excellent adventure - part II.
Bobnbob and I arrived at the Westin Diplomat in Hollywood, FL just in time to attend the Florida Democratic Party’s first annual bloggers luncheon. When we pulled up in front of the hotel, I jumped out of the car to pick up our hotel room key while bobnbob asked Victor the Valet where we should park. Victor told her that he would park her car and he asked her for her room number.
When she answered “I dunno…” he countered with “What is your name?” She told him that the room was in someone else’s name. So his next logical question was, “What name is the room under?” Even though bobnbob had met Nancy before, she couldn’t remember her last name, so after a very long pause, she replied “Nancy from Orlando?” I don’t know why Victor took an instant liking to bobnbob. It could have been her natural charm or her Barack Obama buttons. We may never know, but he did mention that he liked her Obama buttons and asked if she had more. She didn’t, but she handed him a button off her shirt. When another valet asked bobnbob for her name for the valet ticket, Victor responded “No name necessary.” We didn’t know what that meant but it seemed like a good thing at the time.
Inside the lobby, we were greeted by two young Obamanians, Matt and Alex. We couldn’t chat long because we were late for our luncheon. We entered the first annual Netroots luncheon and suddenly realized that we were proud laptop carrying members of the netroots nerd club.
Not that there is anything wrong with that but let’s just say that we seemed to have loudest personalities in the room. We certainly were not the smartest people in the room but I think that we were indeed the loudest. Loud beats smart, right? Work with me... it's a rock, scissors, paper kind of thing. 
For the record, everyone else at the luncheon did indeed liven up after the St Pete Times reporter left the room.
At the luncheon, we discovered that internet access in our room would cost us $12.95 each day and that there was no internet access available in any of the meeting rooms, including the convention hall where Nancy Pelosi would speak. Where the heck were we staying? Under a rock?
I was spending my hard earned money to stay in this dump and I deserved my internet access! I was paying my fair share of $50, for crying out loud! What else did they want from me? My first born child? Who said Democrats weren’t fiscally responsible? The only place in the hotel complex that had free wireless access was the hotel lobby, so bobnbob and I promptly announced that we were going to host a blogging pajama party in the lobby after the dinner. It is my understanding that the hotel would have charged the FDP and outrageous fee to enable wireless access in the hall where Nancy Pelosi was to speak, so this was our protest. We were mad as hell and we weren’t going to take it anymore. We were going to subject everyone to viewing us in our jammies, darn it. Innocent bystanders could be scarred for life but that’ll teach them to withhold our free wireless access! To our surprise, even though everyone laughed at us, they secretly loved our idea. Yeah, we were the trailblazers; we were the Netroots Rebels! The thing is, if we were so wild and crazy, why then, did the Westin Diplomat’s lobby personnel not even take the time to shrug his shoulders when bobnbob boldly told him about our wild and crazy protest? What kind of protest do we have when oppressive management doesn’t care about this historic moment? Their official response was to smile and say “That’s nice.” We expected threats of handcuffs, tazers and billy clubs, not condescending smiles.
After the lunch, we went to the lobby to lurk (I have found that more often than not, blogging is more about lurking than actual blogging.) As we found our “free” wireless connection, we ran into the St. Pete Times reporter, who we lovingly refer to as “Redford.” OK, we didn’t actually run into him but we did spot him from across the lobby and hunt him down as he was trying to take some quiet time to write as he sat near the rear door. We chatted about our kids, the hotel’s atmosphere, and political blogging until he told us to get lost because he had work to do. His employer was paying
his bill to stay at the Westin Diplomat but we were forced to spend our own money. Just imagine what our $50 could have gotten us elsewhere.So Redford blew us off. We are big girls. We can take it. In fact, contrary to popular belief, we can even take a hint, so we went in search of our own outlet to plug into. We made ourselves comfortable on some chaise lounges near the front door of the lobby. As we began to blog, we noticed that Senator Bill Nelson walked in the front door and sat down by the north tower elevators. Neither of us wanted to speak to him after hearing that he voted for torture. I mean, come on...torture? That is not who we are. That is not who my military family members are. Nor does torture make my military family members safer. I do not believe we should continue to give up the moral ground on this. Although I had a lot to say to Senator Nelson, I realized that this was not the time or place to address it. So, in the end, we didn't bother leaving our comfortable lounges to speak to Senator Nelson but I did take the time to email Redford. I sent him a note indicating Bill Nelson’s exact location, just in case he was interested in talking to him.
As we continued to blog, we welcomed elected officials like FL State Representatve Betty Reed, FL State Senator Charlie Justice and his wife, Oldsmar City Councilman Greg Rublee, various political operatives, friends and acquaintances.
The police started congregating near us, so naturally our first thought was “How the heck did they find out about our plans for the blogging pajama party?” Remembering management’s nonchalant response, we could only conclude that someone important was about to enter the hotel, so we were ready when Nancy Pelosi walked in carrying her own garment bag. We lobby lurkers gave her a standing ovation while bobnob shouted “Welcome to Florida!” Nancy seemed genuinely surprised as she turned around and said “Thank you.”
As we turned our attention back to our laptops, I saw a flash of blond (John Edwards’s type) hair dash by in a flash. Upon closer inspection, we noted that it was only Redford running to catch up to Senator Nelson. I shouted “Didn’t you read my email?” He didn’t stop his pursuit but replied “What email?”
About this time, we realized that we were late for the Barack Obama campaign volunteer meeting. We took the escalator up to the Obama meeting but had just come to the conclusion that we were on the wrong floor when we spotted Nancy Pelosi and her entourage coming out of an elevator. I started to approach her but noting the tight security surrounding her, I thought it would be prudent to ask her to approach us instead. Our reputation could have preceded us and we could have been slammed to the floor by the Secret Service so I shouted “May I shake your hand?” She said yes and came over to us. I shook her hand as she asked me for my name. I told her who I was and that we were from Tampa. I also said that I was proud of her. She thanked me and turned to bobnbob and asked her for her name. Nancy Pelosi thanked us for Congresswoman Kathy Castor to which we responded with an apology for Gus Bilirakis. We insisted that we are working on getting a replacement for Gus. As we parted company, we realized that we missed a photo op. Man, we really were slipping. How did we let the good of Florida and our country get ahead of our selfish photo opportunities? This was not like us at all.
We made it up to the packed Obama volunteer meeting where we watched a video and heard campaign representatives, Rep Tony Hill and State Representative Lorraine Ausley
and Kirk Wagar speak about why they support Barack Obama.
Although I was very interested in hearing other Florida Obama supporters speak highly of Barack, I was whispering to others in the room to see if anyone knew who Joan and Jessica were. 
When I finally met each of these fine ladies in person, we hugged like long lost friends. 
It was nice meeting the folks from Chicago, but it was really great finally meeting Kirk Wagar, Jessica Clark, Joan Joseph and the rest of the Florida volunteers as we have been working tirelessly toward the same goal to elect Senator Barack Obama to be the next president of the United States.
Since we had press credentials but not a dinner ticket, we joined a couple of Tampa Bay area bloggers to grab a bite to eat before we went up cover the JJ Dinner. After our snack, bobnbob and I found the escalators to the convention hall area. As we began to walk toward the ballroom, a Hillary staffer approached us with literature. Bobnbob said “No thanks.” But then she added “Evidently, you haven’t knocked on a Republican or Independent’s door lately.” Bobnbob’s response couldn’t have surprised Hillary’s staffers too much. That table looked beautiful yet lonely.
Disclaimer: We will work for whoever wins the Democratic primary, but there is definitely energy and excitement about Barack Obama that is almost palpable.Bobnbob and I parted company briefly as I went to retrieve my laptop which was charging back in our room. Bobnbob was saving me a place at the press table at the back of the convention hall, while I found myself somewhat distracted by my friends at the Obama Campaign table.
It was the best of times but I needed to focus on finding bobnbob at the press table. I have to say that it was really cool to be able to flash our press credentials and walk right in to the convention hall. Back in 2005, bobnbob and I really had to work hard to get in free, but this time, we had official press credentials. I’m just sayin’ that we liked this new turn of events.
I finally arrived at the press table. It was dark but I located bobnbob who told me to pull a chair up to the table. I did as I was told, but inadvertently reached into the reporter’s backpack next to me. Come on…didn’t I just say that it was dark? To make matters worse, I apparently allowed my chair to become entangled with the whiney reporter’s backpack straps. WR (whiney reporter) was not happy with me and I thought he was one of the surliest reporters I have ever encountered. I tried to be friendly with him but he sternly reprimanded me with “I have a deadline!” crap. Hey…bloggers have self-imposed deadlines, too. (Apparently, my self-imposed deadline was about 6 weeks out.)
As I tried to focus on the many Florida Democratic leaders who each spoke briefly, WR continued to complain and mutter under his breath. He leaned over and complained to the reporter on the other side of him about how many democrats were being permitted to speak. Geez but WR was high maintenance. I realized then that although I didn’t want to miss a word from the podium, I found my self increasingly distracted by the drama at the press table.
As one of Nancy Pelosi’s staffers handed out a typed copy of her speech to us at the press table, an AP reporter complained to her about the "activist bloggers" at the press table. She turned her gaze toward some empty space at the press table and told him that there appeared to be room at the table so if he wanted to move up to the press table, then he should do so. I loved how she dismissed him. It was excellent.
I tried to concentrate on what our Florida representatives had to say but I was still somewhat distracted by WR. Fortunately for everyone involved, he left before Nancy Pelosi spoke. I turned my gaze back to the speakers at the podium like Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Alex Sink, Bob Wexler, Charlie Justice, Karen Thurman, etc., when I was again distracted when a random photographer whacked a Miami Herald reporter in the head with his tripod. She was wincing as he continued on his way, oblivious to the pain he inflicted on one of his own. I tried to stop the guilty drive-by whacker. I was ready to tackle the SOB, but the victim said that she would be OK and not to worry about it. She was rubbing the back of her head as she said this but I respected her request and let him escape.
Just then, Redford approached the press table looking for a place to sit, so I waved him in to WR's recently vacated seat. As Redford sat down, he jokingly said "I can’t believe that I have to share a table with these "liberal bloggers." So when he began to whisper to the reporter on his left, I told Redford "Shhhh! I am trying to blog here."
Again, I tried to focus on the speakers...Kathy Castor, Christine Jennings but Redford again interupted my deep concentration with his cell phone/blackberry thingamajig. The St. Pete Times Buzz Blog was giving him big headaches and then Rep Dan Gelber stopped by to chat with him. They were discussing the upcoming Florida constitutional amendment proposed by the Republican led Florida Legislature. Bottom line is that this tax cut scheme is bad news with a surprise balloon at the end but Republicans are counting on Floridians to not understand the verbage and vote for it anyway.
It dawned on me about this time why Pelosi's speech was handed out to the press in advance. I guess it is common knowledge that the press doesn't actually listen to these speeches. That being said, I do recall that you could hear a pin drop when Senator Barack Obama spoke in the same type of environment back in 2005.
When the JJ dinner ended, I realized that I didn't have much written down but I'd worry about that later because we had a protest to host in the lobby. As promised, we changed into our jammies and took the elevator to the wireless protest chaise lounge area near the front door of the lobby.
We had many visitors stop by our pajama party,
but I have to say that my favorite visitor was Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Although we had been having a good time with many of our friends from other campaigns, I couldn't help myself when just as this picture was snapped...
I opened my robe to showcase the Obama logo on my T-shirt. My goal was to overshadow Debbie's pitiful Hillary button. Little did I know that this picture actually exposed how much bobnbob and I have come to look alike. Now I understand why a waiter at our favorite Mexican restaurant accused us of being sisters and yes, we both were born in Pittsburgh so even though we were born a few years apart, it does appear that we were separated at birth.The next morning, we managed to retrieve bobnbob's car with only a tip for the valet, so bobnbob indeed had warmed her way into Victor the Valet's heart with her easy charm. As we drove home, we heard that the Tampa Bay O - Train team had conducted a successful walk for change while we suffered in South Florida. They knocked on nearly 5000 doors and received a lot of positive feedback about Senator Barack Obama. It seems that many Floridians share our "Audacity of Hope."
1 comment:
Most awesome "excellent adventure"!
Great writing, scratch that, reporting on the weekend - and am looking forward to the FL Democratic Convention in October! "Lois and Clark" are in for an eventful weekend!
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