Obama's big speech

I'm at the Illinois party now. Suffered another indignity at the hands of a bitchy denverite... Got let in and welcomed at first without having to show any credentials, but then got kicked out later when I asked a friend why she needed a wristband to come in.

The hot topic of conversation here is how did Obama do? Two critiques have arisen.
1. His points on immigration were kinda weak.
2. His reference to jobs being shipped over to china should have been about jobs being shipped overseas. It's not just china that jobs are going, and china is not responsible for the jobs going overseas. Greedy multinational corporations are to blame, and jobs are going everywhere.

Ok time to peace out!
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Security

Just saw secret service, k9 cops, and other security run by. Scary. Snipers are also on the tops of the stadium. Also I hear there's a 6 mile long line of people still trying to get inside.

But durbin's next and then it's Barack time!
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Text of speeches

Sitting in the press area, we get advance copies of speeches. Here's a fuzzy picture of Barack obama's speech. Well, just the header. Don't wanna ruin it for you.
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Feet are stomping

Woah! People have decided to stomp their feet in addition to clapping and cheering. This place is gonna be rockin! When Al gore comes out, it will get nuts! And of course when Barack comes out, oh man!
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Arena Rock

Now that will.I.am, John legend, and Sheryl crow have performed, it dawns on me that playing large arenas like this is normal for them. The fact that this campaign to change this country has filled this stadium is a perfect example of how things are changing. People actually are getting engaged in ways they never have before.
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Detailed sked

So I ran into my friend Anh, who have me a detailed schedule for the events.

Right now congressman John Lewis is inspiring the crowd, invoking the spirit of mlk's work. We still have a dream!

Then it goes:
Bernice king
Mlk 3
Bill Richardson
Will.I.am with John legend and the agape church choir
Sheryl crow
Ray Rivera
Jab schakowsky
Mark udall
Tim kaine
Stevie wonder
Al gore
John kubiholm, Iraqi vet
Singer Michael McDonald
Susan Eisenhower
Retired generals tribute
American voices program
Dick Durbin
Barack Obama
Benediction
Adjournment

Bernice King and MLK, III are rockin it right now!
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Text of Tim kaine's speech

Just got kaine's speech in the press stands. It should be pretty good! Faith into action :)
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Everything just kicked off!

Ladies and gentleman, the progressive bluegrass band. Ya it's the band that we heard rehearsing earlier. Country, blue grass... Sorry, sounds the same to me.

Stadium is still just a quarter full. I hear the secureit line is brutal. Delegate seating on the floor is about 80% full.
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Verizon text gimmicks

On the jumbotrons are us maps with stars on them. You can text 62262 to vote for the issue that's most important to you. Area codes with the most cell numbers get the biggest stars on the map. The larger the number of texts from your area, the larger your star.

Also you can text a message to 62262 and it might appear on the jumbotron. For example, I texted "Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders in da house for Obama-Biden!"
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Michelle Obama is about 70 yards in front of me

She's being interviewed by Charlie Gibson from ABC
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Schedule for main events tonight

All times in Denver time (mountain)

4:31 call to order
4:58 governor bill ritter
5:10 DNC chair Howard Dean
5:17 rep. John Lewis
6:22 governor Tim Kaine
6:35 Stevie wonder
6:50 Al gore
7:09 Susan eisenhower
7:57 senator Dick Durbin
8:15 BARACK!
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Pregame at invesco...

Here are some pics. The scene of the stadium, me and j squinting cuz the sun is in our eyes, and a girl with a shirt that says "punk voter" for desi chick.
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Baking in the sun

Thankfully there's a bit of a breeze right now, because Denver can be kinda hot. They just opened the gates so now there's a lot more people in here. Up now is a banjo/country band rehearsing.

The stage is set up with fake greco-Roman style columns. It's kinda funny lookin. Like obama-opolis.

Mmm. Yea, I still don't like country music.
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We're in!!

Omg!! We have kick ass seats and access to the floor! We'll be kickin it in our seats during the dress rehearsal. Jennifer Hudson is rehearsing the national anthem now. Shawn Johnson just rehearsed the pledge of allegiance.

We're sitting right below the mile high stadium jumbotron.

Dang! Jennifer Hudson just rocked the anthem!
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Rock band!

Last day and we're finally legit with press creds! They get you through the line without metal detectors and into the specialty media lounge at the convention center, where there is free food, TV's, wireless, couches, and Rock Band!! Nerdy specialty (aka minority/blogger) media types rockin out on the xbox 360. Sweet!

On an ultra nerdy note, we just got geeky excited over meeting George Lakoff, treating him like a rock star. Right before that, we met Willie Brown!
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"Yes we can" and the agape church choir tonight

On my way to Denver at lax, I met the press secretary for the agape church choir, which has been the official performing choir for the dncc. I ran into her again this morning just now. We were both picking up our credentials. She told me that tonight they will be performing "yes we can" with all the stars in the video...LIVE!
Watch for them!

I love agape and their beautiful energy, and that they're reppin Los Angeles!
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Weird Asian American racial dynamics in Denver

So now we're hungry and tired from the extended emotional stress of dealing with the credentials scam. We're not at any parties right now, where people go at night to get free food and drink. We prefer real food while sitting down.

So now we're at one of the last places open for food, and it's a place with an inordinately large number of creepy white men asking us about our angry Asian man shirts. Also it took a ridiculously long time for us to be visible to the servers. We we're invisible.

But then the other day I was hypervisible at a Thai restaurant where I was asked by another patron what he should eat. "you probably know what's good here."

SIGH!
Now there's a white man singing bobby brown songs. Oh lord! Save me from Denver... A city full of racial microaggressions.
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Signs in the hall

You are the flags, tall signs, and square signs? Those get passed out by volunteers carrying them with black trash bags. Priorty goes to delegate on the floor and then the risers directly in front of the stage and then they kinda trickle over to us folks in the nose bleeds on the sides. Am I paranoid? Or are the rows where I am getting skipped cuz a lot of us are Asian American? :-P

Biden's rockin it! But seriously... So proud of Tammy Duckworth! Asian American woman represent! No other Asian American speaker other than Maya acknowledged being Asian American, and my section went nuts!

I like Biden. He's scrappy. I'm tired of losing.
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Moving vets film

This is some powerful stuff and for the first time tonight the hall has a hush over it. I think this is prepping for Tammy duckworth
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John Kerry

Shut down guantanamo! That's what the protesters are demanding outside. Who is this guy? Where was he 4 years ago? He's kinda funny!
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Big bill

Dems love big bill. Dang! What about nafta? Don't ask don't tell? Ira-ira? "work"fare? Better than W, I guess.
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Things to look forward to

Ok now I'm just addicted to and abusing mobile blogging. Harry Reid is speaking now, but I'm more excited about Abhi's upcoming blog about the sikh delegate from cali. Also right before Biden will be Tammy duckworth from Illinois. She is hapa, disabled female Iraqi veteran... Primetime! Asian American woman representing on the primetime national stage tonight! Around 8 PM.
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Born in the USA?

Melissa ethridge is singing springstein's old classic, but what about immigrants? Another observation by dougie fresh... Lots of white people here and they have difficulties clapping to the beat.
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Deleware is sparkly and Melissa ethridge is performing

Ethridge is singing god bless America now and deleware has special sparkly things.

Where's kanye!?
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Mobile blogging

Is this working? Big shout out to desi chick if this works. In case this does, just wanted to share that I finally got credentials for today and tomorrow. I'm in Pepsi center now, and got teary eyed when Hillary suspended the rules and had Barack nominated by acclimation. It was an amazing moment.
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Day 2: Still Credential-less in Denver

J and I left Panda Palace for the Convention Center in the morning. The people who had promised us credentials so that we could blog the experience of first-time Asian American convention goers and what it’s like told us to go to the AAPI Caucus meeting and that things would be straightened out on our credentials. J had gone to the credentials office the day before and our names were not there. We arrived at the caucus meeting and simply got bounced from person to person on getting credentials, and were ultimately told that we would most likely not be getting them. We were infuriated, because they had approached us last week encouraging us to come out, promising that they would have credentials for us. J and I had been resigned long ago to not coming to Denver. So when they outreached to us, we only decided to come out because they promised us credentials. Then the (Asian American) woman we spoke with had the nerve to ask us, “What exactly do you need credentials for? Is there a specific reason you need them for? If you have a specific event you want to go to, we’ll get you in.” I was so pissed. So we are now essentially convention crashers and moochers.

Thankfully, we have amazing friends around in Denver as delegates, community leaders, organizers, etc. They have been bringing us to various parties (“It’s not about coming up with a policy platform and solving the world problems. It’s about what party you can get into.”). Last night they brought us to Senator Dick Durbin’s (Illinois) party. People are still trying to help us out with getting credentials, but the experience has taught us a couple things. First, the AAPI community still has hella weak leadership in political maneuvering on the staffing levels to make things happen. Most of the time, they have no idea what they’re doing. Second, people like to make promises and get our hopes up, so they can look good, but in the end they don’t follow through or don’t know how to follow through on things and are simply dicking us around.

On to more positive things… we were inside the Convention Center (not Pepsi Center) most of the day attending AAPI events. Unfortunately, we missed a lot of the protests outside – anti-war, anti-Guantanamo, anti-abortion, anti-Islam, anti-ICE raids, etc. However, we saw the current Godfather of AAPI politics, Mike Honda. Others we saw on day 2: Yul Kwon (Survivor: Cook Islands), John Chiang, Ashwin Madia (super rising star from Minnesota), Howard Dean, Sidarth (“macaca”), and Tammy Duckworth (Illinois rising star).

We went over to the Indian American Leadership Initiative’s event, where we also saw Kamala Harris (San Francisco DA). But no one was more popular than Ashwin Madia. The room could not stay hushed for most of the event, like a Desi wedding, except for when Ashwin took the stage. Then everyone was quiet. Well… almost.

Although ethnic/specialty media outreach has been dicking us around, we’ve been getting good camaraderie and support from fellow bloggers from www.sepiamutiny.com. We’re sharing pictures and stories, tips and info.

No credentials of any kind means no entry to the Pepsi Center for all the speeches. So we ended up watching Kennedy and Michelle’s speeches from Panda Palace. Watching from 3 miles away was such a tease, but WE LOVE MICHELLE! J is a Public Allies alumna and so is Michelle. We definitely teared up when she spoke, and Malia and Sasha were totally precious. I’ve seen Maya speak in person before and she’s great and has good rapport with the audiences, but in her DNCC speech she seemed a little stiff.

After loading up our first AAM post and pictures, we left for the APIA Vote gala event. On our way over, we walked by a lot of cops in riot gear blocking roads and entrances to buildings. I have an uneasy feeling about things. The weather is hot. The protesters are outnumbered by riot gear/swat members. They’re facing off on street corners. It’s only a matter of time. I hope all things stay chill, but there’s a tension in the hot air.

APIA Vote gala:
Good food and limited open bar… I always wondered what APIA Vote spent their money on. Then we finally saw Norm Mineta. If Mike Honda is the Godfather, Norm Mineta is the PIMP! Honda was everywhere getting his ring kissed. Mineta was chill and hard to find. Then he just appeared at the APIA Vote gala. PIMP!

Then it was off to Dick Durbin’s party several blocks away. We saw the Senator a few times, but the best part was asking Ann (the lady who brought us) about her first experiences at DNCC’s. She was so gracious in giving support to us newbies.

PICTURES HERE!

Day 1: Hawaii-California love, Panda ridiculousity, and random VIP sightings

I floated in and out of the AAPI Summit event in the Hyatt Regency, to check on the Little League World Series Championship game with Hawaii representing the USA and Mexico representing the rest of the world. After the Summit, I was able to watch the rest of the game and celebrate the 2008 LLWS champs from Hawaii, in the Hyatt bar with the Hawaii delegation. Andy Winer, the chair of the Obama for Hawaii campaign, and everyone else from Hawaii have always been amazingly generous and supportive of me, ever since I spent 4 days helping them out on the Big Island leading up to their February 19 Primary. Sitting in the bar, they pointed out some VIP’s that walked by, like HRC advisor Howard Wolfson who was in athletic gear finishing up his work out at the hotel.

What's the Little League World Series got to do with politics? A couple weeks ago, Cokie Roberts of ABC News criticized Barack Obama for going on vacation in Hawaii, where Barack was born and raised and where his grandmother, sister, brother in-law and niece still reside. Roberts' argument? "I know his grandmother lives in Hawaii and I know Hawaii is a state," but it looks "foreign and exotic." I wonder what Cokie thinks about Hawaii reppin the U.S. and winning the LLWS twice in 3 years.

Police in riot gear
When I tried to leave the Hyatt to go to Blue Scholars’ performance down the street at the Capitol with the protestors (against war, ICE raids, and the Guantanamo detention center), there was a group of protesters marching down the street, and the Hyatt was on lock down. Nobody was allowed into the Hyatt or out of the Hyatt. So during the wait to get out of the Hyatt, I started taking pictures of stuff outside of the building, through the windows, and of things inside of the building that I thought were interesting. A Hyatt staff member, James, immediately stopped me from taking pictures. I wondered aloud (very loud), “Has the Bill of Rights been suspended? I thought I still had First Amendment rights). James was not amused. All around the building were several police battalions in riot gear.

About 10 California delegates are AAPI out of 241 district-level delegates
According to Jenn Pae, former USSA president and one of the youngest delegates, there are very few AAPI delegates. In fact, Jenn is the only Korean American delegate from California.

California party to benefit areas hit by Katrina: Got FEMA?
Thanks to Jenn, we got into the California party.
Three years after Hurricane Katrina, residents are still recovering. Thanks to Bush’s incompetent appointees in the federal government, FEMA botched things up royally. So the California state Democratic Party decided to throw a big party to raise money for areas hit by Katrina. Randy Newman (think: Toy Story’s “You got a friend in me”) performed and so did a great New Orleans style band. There was great food and an open bar with commemorative beer bottles by Mavericks brewery in Half Moon Bay. The Guam delegation, wearing their red Islander shirts, was the hit of the party. Tons of people came up to them to take pictures.

Famous people:
Governor David Paterson – NY
Mayor Shirley Franklin – Atlanta, GA
James Carville – DNC Advisor
Howard Dean – DNC Chairman
Congressman Mike Honda – CA; DNC Vice Chairman
Judy Chu – CA Board of Equalization
Sam Yoon – Boston City Councilman

Housing: Panda central
Mrs. Angry Asian Man and I found an apartment for rent in town for the convention week for a good price. It’s a great little place about 2 miles from the Convention Center. As nice as it is, J and I are a bit weirded out by the fact that the décor looks like a panda threw up all over the place. There is a panda trashcan, panda soaps, panda pictures, panda puzzle, panda wine bottle, stuffed pandas, panda paintings, etc. etc.

What I learned today:
Each state’s delegation stays together at designated hotels. For example, all of California’s delegates stay at the Sheraton. However, the party’s VIPs stay at one special hotel where security is extra tight. At the end of the day, I finally realized that the Hyatt is where all the VIPs are staying. When I went to any other hotel venue there was little to no security. Even during the protests, when I was in lock down at the Hyatt, other hotels were not on lock down.

When there are large crowds in random places, like hotel lobbies or on the streets, there is likely a political or entertainment celebrity in the middle.

Day 2 is not over yet, but stay tuned for more coverage.
PiCTURES ARE HERE!