Alaska Democratic Party Convention - Saturday Morning-Early Afternoon

Raven Hall at the Alaska State Fair held about 650 people from late morning through mid-afternoon today, as the general body of delegates to the 2008 Alaska Democratic Party Convention got down to the preliminaries for their candidate fan-out. I had been an alternate delegate, but a couple of our delegates didn't show, so I was chosen to move up.

The highlights of the early afternoon were speeches by Diane Benson and Ethan Berkowitz, our Democratic Party U.S. House candidates, a passionate statement on behalf of Hillary Clinton by California U.S. House Representative, Lynne Woolsey, and an eight-minute-long video from Barack Obama. Each of these four items was of special interest in one way or another.

The only contentious presentation was that of Rep. Woolsey. She was received warmly, as she described the 2008 issues, and the role of Democrats to take back our democracy. As she announced her support of Hillary Clinton, many in the audience protested, some loudly, profanely. But civility returned a bit at a time, a people realized that the 180 to 250 Clinton supporters in the audience needed to have a voice on the podium.

Barack Obama's video, made specifically for Alaskans, was very direct, his grasp of Alaska issues secure. This was helped along by the local knowledge, no doubt shared with the candidate, from key staffers who are from here. If every voter from either party sees this video, it will have an impact. And it would be in Obama's favor.

The Benson and Berkowitz speeches were both well crafted, and they showed some of the growing awareness of differences between these two remarkable peoples' viewpoints, and showed the difference between a person drawn toward politics in mid-life, and one who seems to have aspired to politics most of his adult life.

Ethan Berkowitz came up after a stirring speech by Benson. He didn't warm the audience until well into the delivery. As usual, what got the audience going for him was his genuine passion for full development of Alaska's immense renewable resource potential. But delegates started rolling their eyes as he intoned, again and again, "Rise for hope, rise for change, rise with me for Alaska!" As some of the audience rose, they seemed to resent the strident tone, as he repeated his chant. Some of us who were at the GOP convention, and witnessed Sarah Palin's delivery of her mantra, "Stand up with me for change," were struck by how much less Ethan resonated.

Benson, who has earned some sturdy creds at this convention, delivered the best speech I've ever heard her give as a candidate. She told a string of stories, about how she has built her own life, has successfully struggled as a single mom, and beaten adversity time and again. The stories she told of others, being crushed by our health care system, insurance industry, criminal justice system, a corrupt Veterans Affairs Agency, drew cheers. What drew the most shouts from the audience were her references to women finding a larger voice in our politics.