DemCon 1

This is not to be confused with DefCon 1, which would probably find you in your secret underground bunker, loading weapons or something--not reading my blog. No, my friends, I attended my first Utah State Democratic Convention last weekend, and have taken the last few days to think about what exactly I wanted to report. Hopefully this will not be too mentally taxing for any of us.

Normally I'm not a person who likes to go to meetings where people stand up and clap every time a speaker completes a coherent sentence. For this reason, I wait until the day after the State of the Union address and accept the spin from NPR. So I took my crocheting with me, hoping that others would see my hands busy and my lap full, and not expect me to offer standing ovations every fifteen seconds. It worked pretty well, until the guy next to me began to suspect I was a Republican spy. Then I had to put the stuff away and stand up and cheer for a while to prove my loyalty.

The whole thing was pretty interesting, and I'm glad I went, even though I didn't get to use my delegate credentials for anything cool, like voting. No one in my voting district was running opposed. So I went to a couple of caucuses, pretended to be all enthralled, bought myself a sugar-free, low-fat yogurt and a muffin at the Extortionist Cafe for $4.50, and whipped out six baby booties during the general meeting. I also got bumper stickers for my car. (So far, so good. No keyings or stonings yet this week.)

My favorite part of the meeting was the keynote speaker, even Joey Cheek, the Olympic Gold Medalist who gave all his winnings away to charity. He was awesome! Nice kid, who had some surprisingly (for a professional athlete) profound things to say. I enjoyed it immensely.

I also got to meet Senor Cardgage, which was a treat, along with every other crazy on the Wasatch Front. Public meetings always attract them, so one expects to see people wandering around, muttering to themselves, but why do they always have to sit right next to me? Maybe they sense that they are looking at fifteen seconds of fame, because I'm the only one who will blog about them. That must be it.

The candidates, you ask? Oh, I don't know. I like Jim Matheson fine. He actually had a Republican citizen come to speak about and nominate him. One that isn't in his district. I guess that proved how loveable he is. I like his green bumper sticker, too. It goes well with my car.

I like Pete Ashdown very much. He's the sweetest, skinniest, most sincere, most down-to-earth guy. He reminds me of Howard Dean, minus the more liberal views that I couldn't quite get on board with Dean on. Honestly, I don't think he has a chance against Orrin Hatch. But I believe I will do everything in my power to help him try.

The other two candidates for Congress were very good, made some good points, and I liked them. The only one I really think has a chance to win (besides Matheson) is Christian Burridge, who is running against Chris Cannon. Whoa. Talk about charisma, marketing ability, showmanship, and presence! And isn't that what it's all about? I believe that if people are dissatisfied with Cannon (we'll see in the Primary next month), and if they have a chance to see/listen to Burridge, they'll be swayed. On the other hand, I'm not positive he had anything substantive to say. But his multimedia presentation brought tears to my eyes (against my will--much like LDS Church movies).

I left the convention feeling excited and confused. Excited because I knew I was in the right place. I really am a Democrat--not just someone who wants to swim upstream or try to look different. I heard a lot of stuff I agreed with. Confused because weren't the Republicans spouting pretty much the same rhetoric (from a different angle) at their convention across town? And can they both be right? All I know is, from what I heard on Saturday, from a bunch of people who seemed to know what they were talking about, if the Democrats were to come into power, in Utah and/or at the Federal level, this state/country would become a veritable utopia. All problems solved, no poverty, no hunger, no one without health care, and gas would be fifty cents a gallon. If that's really true, I can't figure out why it's taking everyone so long to get on board.

I also got to take TRAXX up and back, and it was much more enjoyable this time. I guess the bus-riding crazies sleep in on Saturday morning. Remind me to tell you about the hilarious Greek woman I got off the bus with on the return trip. It seems I attract Greek women, too, which is just fun, and I hope I can do a lot more of that.

Next week: PTACON 4. Get excited!!