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The Unconventional Diaries: Bernie gets booed, but the band marches on

I still see my role here as trying to build bridges and mend fences so that we can unify the party.
Yahoo News has enlisted participants at the Democratic National Convention representing different viewpoints and roles to file daily diary entries on their experiences in Philadelphia. They are your eyes and ears at one of the most unconventional political gatherings in generations, offering a front-row seat on the convention floor, behind-the-scenes access to key political meetings and a vivid picture of what conventions are really like, both inside and outside the arena. Here are yesterday’s entries.

(And here are the entries from last week’s Republican National Convention.)

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Tensions were already starting to mount Sunday night. Bernie supporters were chanting pro-Bernie, anti-Hillary sentiments on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It was tense. After things died down, I met up with some friends, and then ran into David Axelrod. That was pretty cool.

Monday was packed. I still see my role here as trying to build bridges and mend fences so that we can unify the party. These efforts started on a fairly positive note. Everything seemed to be cordial at our delegation breakfast this morning between the Bernie and Hillary supporters. Everything was fine.

I made a point a point of riding into town with another member of the Bernie delegation who, in the days leading up to the convention, had been kicking up a lot of trouble online. She and I had a really good dialogue on the drive in to Philadelphia. I respected her position on a lot of things, but told her she had to represent our position as well. I thought it was productive to listen to each other’s perspectives.

She and I also drove to the convention center together so that we could attend caucus meetings. I went to the Asian-American and Pacific Islanders caucus meeting, where I saw some people I knew and had the chance to talk to them.

After that, Sen. Sanders had a meeting at the convention center with his delegates. That was packed. Two others spoke before Sen. Sanders, but when he took the stage it was just like any of his other rallies. He was enthusiastic and gave an incredible speech as always. He cited all the great things we accomplished on this campaign. The most noteworthy thing was when he said we need to do whatever possible to beat Donald Trump. All the delegates cheered loudly at that. And then he said the way to do this is to vote for Hillary Clinton. At that point, he was met with a cascade of boos. The crowd still loves him, however. All the delegates still love him. They’re not upset or turning their backs on him.

Sen. Bernie Sanders waves to his electoral delegates during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on Monday. (Photo: Bryan Woolston/Reuters)
Sen. Bernie Sanders waves to his electoral delegates during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on Monday. (Photo: Bryan Woolston/Reuters)

I’m not sure if the tension between the supporters of Bernie and Hillary will be alleviated during the week. It will be interesting to see if the senator’s speech has an impact. It’s all up in the air at this point, but I’m optimistic. If you poll most of my fellow Bernie delegates, even though they boo loudly and speak out on the Internet, they would concede that they’re voting for Hillary Clinton in November. Sure, they’re less enthusiastic than I’d like them to be. But on an individual basis, they do admit to me that they plan on voting for Clinton. When you get people together in a crowd, the positive feeling is infectious.

And the crowd has been really energetic so far. I’ve been to three of these now and there’s always a lot of energy at the beginning right after the gavel, and then it dies down until the prime time speeches start five hours later. The energy will continue to ebb and flow this week. It’s like this at all kinds of conventions on the state and national level.

Of all of the convention nights I’ve been to, Monday night was one of the most interesting and maybe the most memorable. There was a lot of heckling and booing. The emotions really went up and down. We gaveled in at 4:30 p.m., and the Bernie delegates had a lot of energy. They were feeling defiant and were still trying to fight despite their loss. As the night went on, people got the idea that it was ridiculous and getting out of hand — as Sarah Silverman pointed out. Cooler heads eventually prevailed.

Delegates hold anti-Donald Trump signs during the Democratic convention in Philadelphia. (Photo: Gary Cameron/Reuters)
Delegates hold anti-Donald Trump signs during the Democratic convention in Philadelphia. (Photo: Gary Cameron/Reuters)

I got the feeling walking out of the arena tonight that the Bernie delegates got their pent-up anger out of their system. I always got the sense that would happen at some point.

By the end of the night, it was a positive experience. I was afraid that I would see a lot of shouting matches between Bernie and Hillary delegates, but I didn’t see any face-to-face confrontations. There were a lot of Bernie delegates in tears at the end of his speech. One of my good friends, Zach Hawkins, the first vice chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, actually went up to an 18-year-old Bernie delegate who was crying, put his arm around him and encouraged him to not be disenchanted by the situation. It was a painful night for a lot of delegates, but I think this was the cathartic day that so many of them needed.

As told to Susanna Heller/Yahoo News

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I started Monday at 6 a.m. on the elliptical machine in the gym at my hotel. The place is packed with Democratic delegates, and one came in as I was getting started. He asked if I was with the RNC, and when I said yes, he told me the delegates had been “briefed” that we were at the same hotel.

The first part of the day was packed with media. I did a couple of radio interviews, MSNBC, CNN and then I did an interview with Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum inside the arena. I went right down to the convention floor and tweeted out a bunch of pictures of me down there. It’s a logistical nightmare here with the venues being so far apart. It’s not just me — reporters, guests, they all have their complaints, and we’ve been retweeting them. Anybody who went to the Cleveland convention, after one day in here, they’re wishing they could go back to Cleveland.

We have a reciprocal agreement with the Democratic National Committee in which our organizations exchange credentials for debates and the conventions. As of this writing, I don’t have credentials for the DNC. That’s made it very hard to get around. I’ve had to borrow passes from the media organizations we’re working with to get into the convention space.

I know the DNC is in the middle of a difficult situation with the email leak and the chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, resigning. I understand what the folks at the DNC are going through, but obviously we have a deal to make sure that we create a professional relationship, and now we’ve been through almost an entire day without getting a credential. That’s one of four days, or 25 percent of the convention. I feel for the folks over there. I understand from a professional standpoint what they’re dealing with. But again, this is why we create a system like this, so I’m not trying to beg, borrow and steal from the media.

The controversy at the DNC has also changed our plans a bit. When we started off, our goal was to talk today about the economic record of Hillary Clinton. We sort of pivoted immediately and started to double down on the chaos that’s here, and the division within the party. The message that we’re really trying to get across is that this is not about the DNC emails and one person resigning. This is about the deep ideological divisions in their party.

We’re getting some questions about the Clinton campaign’s claim that the Russian government was behind the DNC hack. If those are the toughest questions I face all week, we’ll have a great time. The idea that the Clintons are blaming the Russians for the fact their team wrote inappropriate emails — I can live with that.

After the interviews this morning, we did a press conference at our venue in Philadelphia: the 2300 Arena. It hosts UFC, mixed martial arts, boxing, wrestling. There’s a lot of history here. Parts of “Rocky V” were filmed here. “The Wrestler” was filmed here. We had a bunch of our surrogates: Sen. Rick Santorum was here, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus was here and Jose Fuentes, the former attorney general of Puerto Rico, was here. Reporters got this bag of stuff we put together called “Hillary’s baggage.” On the outside, it lists all of her scandals on it. Inside is a cloth called her “Secret Server Wiper.” There’s also a pair of loaded dice that comes up for Hillary every time. Because you’ll never win, it’s just always about her.

We started coming up with a lot of this stuff once we knew where this thing was going with the superdelegates, so we added in heavily the theme that the system is rigged. For the speeches tonight, we had a war room here at the arena, where we were basically fact-checking and doing rapid-response throughout all of their speakers.

There’s probably 20 to 30 moving parts here. We’ve got surrogates coming and going. We’ve got events. We’ve got interviews. There’s political activity going on at home in terms of battleground states.

I’m also trying to help out at home. My wife has got both of the kids. I was in Cleveland for almost three weeks, so I’m still trying to do every little part that I can to help her. A few minutes ago, between juggling calls for this, I called a handy man to make sure that the front door gets fixed.

I try to do as much as I can to take even a little bit of the weight off that she’s carrying. You’re just trying to manage what’s going on here while trying to make sure that you still have a home when you go back.

As told to Hunter Walker/Yahoo News

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When you arrive in Philadelphia and make your way to the Wells Fargo Center, you can feel the sense of anticipation. Every corner of the city seems ready for the big event. Despite the oppressive heat, delegates and visitors in town for the DNC convention were decked out and ready to gavel in the convention.

I am happy to be helping the delegates from my home state of Florida during the convention. The convention floor is not just a place, it is an experience. Each delegation is assigned a spot on the floor with the exact number of seats for their delegation. But there are hundreds of members of the media, staffers, VIPs and elected officials crowding into the arena too. The biggest challenge of the first day was getting everyone into the arena and seating all of the delegates correctly!

Once that was done, we were able to take of some official convention business. With a loud and boisterous “YES!,” the delegates approved what civil rights leader Ben Jealous called “the most progressive platform in the history of the Democratic Party.”

We also heard from a variety of organized labor officials who fired up the crowd. Especially notable was Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers. She got the whole room chanting, “I believe we will win!”

There were dozens of speakers who shared their stories with America today. But the crowd was especially eager for first lady Michelle Obama, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and, of course, the night’s final speaker, Bernie Sanders.

All three levels, from the floor to the rafters, were packed. As the final hour of the night got underway, I made my way to the Twitter balcony for a bird’s-eye view of the convention floor.

The Unconventional Diaries: A DNC volunteer's view of Cory Booker's speech

Tracy Russo, digital communications strategist and a DNC volunteer, captured this video of the convention floor during Cory Booker’s speech.

Cory Booker, in particular, fired up the crowd. He set the stage for the rapturous reception for Michelle Obama, who spoke passionately about why we need to elect Hillary Clinton. The first lady noted Clinton’s history of public service, and praised the magnanimous way Clinton rolled up her sleeves to help elect Barack Obama in 2008. And she spoke about just how much is at stake in this election. But when First Lady Obama started speak about Hillary breaking the glass ceiling and began to tear up, I did too. It is something we’ve taken for granted coming into this event, that Hillary would be the nominee. But the truth is that we are breaking 226 years of tradition. We are about to make history. And sometimes it hits me that this is an election that could change the fate of America — and what is possible for all our sons and, most importantly, our daughters.

Elizabeth Warren was amazing, painting a clear picture of current issues and challenges. And Bernie closed out the night with a strong endorsement of Hillary, giving his supporters their due for the hard work they’ve done to put the issue of economic inequality front and center.

You can feel love and excitement in the room — love for country, pride in our party and anticipation for what is to come. Immigrants, senators and celebrities alike all came to the podium with the same message: We are stronger together!
It’s been a long but amazing first day. If this is what Monday has brought, I can’t wait for the rest of the week.

Written by Tracy Russo

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Monday was crazy but good. I’m still on West Coast time, so I didn’t wake up until 9:30 a.m., which was awesome.

I’m still excited from our Sunday rally, which was a huge confluence of people across the spectrum. We had Bernie and Hillary people. And it was a refreshing and a contrast with what we saw on the floor today.  It is great not to see people arguing over superdelegate rules or kvetching over Lord-knows-what. As an organizer, I know Election Day is important. And then the day after Election Day is just as important. It’s great meeting with people who share that view.

Today had a lot of work getting prepped for the week ahead. I sat in our office at the Marriott for a couple hours answering work emails and making sure people have tickets to an event with the California delegates. But a big benefit was that I got to spend time with our organizing team in Pennsylvania, and it is great seeing them face-to-face. We were able to have real conversations.

The people in the convention hall are simply talking about doing stuff, whereas the people out here are the ones talking to voters. They talk strategy in the arena and outside is where the feet meet the ground and action is taken. And it’s cool to straddle both sides this week.

We had also an event at the arena, which went well. We’re talking to delegates and letting them know what we’re doing in California and across the country. We pushed people to make the platform stronger on the climate and environmental issues. I believe we are ultimately going to come together on Election Day — Hillary and Bernie people — and rally around the issues. It may sound hokey, but we believe it. And that’s our goal: to bring Bernie people on board and make them active as volunteers. And it’s working!

It’s funny, I was in the Twitter hospitality suite and I ran into a friend from high school who is now a reporter for the Daily Beast. It’s great to see familiar faces I haven’t seen in a long time and sitting down to talk.

I had no idea there was so much substantive stuff outside of the Wells Fargo Center, including various panels and workshops. I’m really excited for tomorrow. We’re going to a number of event with pollsters, activists and organizers who are all centered around activating the youth vote. Things are looking good. We’re getting ready to learn a lot tomorrow.

As told to Andrew Bahl/Yahoo News

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To start off the day Monday, we had the Arkansas delegation breakfast with New Mexico Rep. Ben Ray Lujan as our visiting speaker. My friend former Sen. Mark Prior of Arkansas also stopped by. He’s been named vice chair of the convention, so we were very excited for him for that honor. I also had to go over and pick up my finance-committee credentials, which I get by helping with the fundraising.

A highlight was going to a lecture and policy panel, which featured former Attorney General Eric Holder. His remarks were insightful. One of the things he said that resonated with me had to do with Mr. Trump’s taxes. If Trump releases his taxes, he would get beat because of what’s in them. That speaks to why we should insist on seeing the tax returns. The policy panel talked about the importance of transparency and why it is important in these elections. Also on the panel were Jake Sullivan and Maya Harris, top advisers to the Clinton campaign. We got a little look into how her campaign is faring, which was nice.

I got to talk with Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings a bit. I enjoyed special little things like that. I apologized that he was treated so rudely by some of the people here. But he is an impressive gentleman.

Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey gets the crowd fired up on Monday at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. (Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey gets the crowd fired up on Monday at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. (Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

The primetime speakers were great as well. I thought Sen. Cory Booker did a great job. Our son was a Senate page last fall, and he kept talking about how much he admired Sen. Booker, and how all the young people were enamored of him. I had followed his career a bit since then, and he didn’t disappoint tonight. And of course Michelle Obama was amazing. We brought our daughters down to the floor for that speech, and Arkansas is in the front row, so they were so close they could almost touch her. For our daughters to be that close to the first lady was an amazing  moment.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren was a very effective communicator. I got to know her a little when the president nominated her to be the first head of the Consumer Protection Bureau, and I invited her to come to Arkansas. She did a great job, and is a tremendous voice in our party. That story about her family and how she formed her beliefs, I heard that when she gave it to a group of Arkansas bankers. And she did very well.

I think most of the party is together to begin with. Even most of Sen. Sanders’ supporters are siding with Hillary Clinton. The loud, rude interruptions we are dealing with were from a minority of a minority within our party.

I thought Sen. Sanders needed to do a better job during the day of talking to his supporters. But tonight he implored them on social media not to be rude or boo and that was a good thing for him to do. Then he gave a full-throated endorsement of Hillary. I think and believe he did what he needed to do.

As told to Andrew Bahl/Yahoo News

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It was an interesting day on Monday. When I went to get my credentials in the morning, I encountered a lot of people who were still discussing Debbie Wasserman Schultz and how she would exit gracefully. We ended up getting word early in the afternoon that she made the decision not to appear at all at the convention. I think this was absolutely the right decision. It might have been hard for her, but it was best for the party and for Hillary Clinton.

Monday morning, Debbie held a small reception. I had long ago planned to attend, but as this story unfolded, our presence there became even more important. So I went and got to see Debbie. I had the chance to thank her for all the work she’s done over the years — for the party and for so many candidates.

I knew she would step down because emotions were running so high. It’s best for her to get out of the way. There’s a point at which internal arguments can no longer distract from the big, national arguments we have to make. It’s nothing personal, but as a professional woman who has worked in politics, she did the right thing.

Protesters yell as Debbie Wasserman Schultz arrives for a Florida delegation breakfast on Monday in Philadelphia. (Photo: Matt Slocum/AP)
Protesters yell as Debbie Wasserman Schultz arrives for a Florida delegation breakfast on Monday in Philadelphia. (Photo: Matt Slocum/AP)

It’s crazy what a large role technology plays in all of this. I just kept thinking about how fortunate I am that there was no email when I worked at the DNC. Before email, people would say really stupid things to themselves at moments of great frustration — and it would just vanish. On the other hand, technology can be great, such as taking selfies with friends.

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, we did such a good job with the rules compromise with Sanders supporters that this DNC story has dominated the news cycle. It’s like, “Well maybe if we had one minority report, that would’ve been news.”

I am absolutely sure that agents of the Russian government were responsible for this hack. It is not a coincidence that they would do something with the intent of hurting Hillary, whom we know makes the Putin regime nervous. I think those agents would be even more likely to do something like this if it would also boost Donald Trump, who has famously bragged about his positive relationship with Putin.

We must remember that during the drafting of the Republican platform, the Trump campaign only got engaged once, and it was to work to take out language about Ukraine. The Trump campaign didn’t get engaged over language that denies the rights of gay people, even though they know that hurts their campaign with millennial voters. It also let very striking, pro-life language slide. However, when it came to the best interests of Vladimir Putin and standing up for the people of Ukraine, that’s when the Trump campaign became engaged and omitted language.

So many of my friends have told me what a great job my brother, former Rep. Barney Frank, did at the Rules Committee over the weekend. He got a tremendous amount of applause there. In fact, I saw the parliamentarian on Monday morning, and she talked to me for quite a while about his powerful performance.

I was not able to see Barney speak today, as I was at the convention center giving a speech myself. So did a couple of people yell at him during his speech? I think that Barney would say that, as a gay man who has been at the forefront of progressive politics for the last 30 years, starting in the Massachusetts legislature, he’s been yelled at before.

My speech about Jewish women was very successful. I was very pleased with the number of people who were there — some old friends and some new ones as well. There was a great turnout of people just talking about the values, determination and courage that Jewish women have shown over the years. It’s so important that we put it all together this year.

Monday was busy and Tuesday is off to an early start. At 8 a.m., we will have a breakfast for Jewish Women for Hillary, at which we will be launching our ambassador program. We are working to create a network of ambassadors within the Jewish community in Pennsylvania on behalf of Hillary. I’m one of the co-chairs of this group, so I’ll be presenting at this breakfast. Our group is also going to launch this initiative in Florida and Ohio. Later in the day, I’ll attend Rep. Barbara Lee’s reception honoring women candidates, and then I’ll probably head to the convention. Another busy day in Philly!

As told to Susanna Heller/Yahoo News


 
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