For anyone who has been even remotely following American politics this year, this presidential race is an election like no other thus far. Generally, candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have been in the news almost constantly, but the weeks that all spotlights were focused on them were the weeks of the Republican and Democratic Conventions, during which the parties officially elect their candidates for president and vice-president.
This year, I had the pleasure of getting to attend the Democratic National Convention as a part of my participation in a two-week academic seminar run by The Washington Center out of Philadelphia. The 167 participants in the program came from 73 different colleges and universities, with majors not only in political science, but also in communications, business, economics, legal studies and even biology. Despite this variety among the students attending the seminar, one main fact was abundantly clear: to these students, politics matters.
The people I met during my two weeks, starting with my three suite-mates, are among the most informed and invested in our country’s politics that I have ever met, and all of them were as excited as I was to get a chance to witness the Democratic Convention firsthand. Over my two weeks in the program I got to know some of my fellow participants and to speak about their political values. While many were in fact avid Democrats, a fair number of them were registered independents, as well as previous Bernie Sanders supporters.
It seemed to be the general consensus among the majority of the participants that while Clinton is not their preferred candidate, Donald Trump is not seen as a viable option (admittedly, I tend to share this sentiment). Even with this hesitant support, however, the enthusiasm for getting to be inside the Wells Fargo Center during the convention overpowered all other emotion, and made for nearly 200 excited students.
The first steps taken into the Wells Fargo Center on the days of the convention were always overwhelming. The building was flooded with media personnel from newspapers, radio stations and television stations, delegates and their families from all fifty states as well as the U.S territories, speakers and musicians set to go onstage during the night, staffers for political figures and other honored guests.
The other members of the program and I were volunteers for the convention and would be gathered every day inside the building and stationed at various section entrances throughout the building to check credentials, so it was easy to suddenly encounter a local news anchor or state legislator. My assignments throughout the week mainly brought me into contact with the media, especially on the first day of the convention when my main job was to guard a portion of the hallway on the floor mainly used by television personnel.
My task on the first day was actually to prevent media personnel from entering a restricted hallway. While most people understood that they were not permitted to enter and turned away without a hassle, there were a few people that responded rather testily to my preventing them from coming through (Fox News in particular was not very happy).
Even though this position was a bit stressful, it was exciting to see media personnel such as Andrea Mitchell and Charlie Rose, and to get to speak with Gail King (even if my conversation with her was mainly my stating, “I’m sorry, but this is a restricted section, and the media is not permitted here. Thank you!” and her responding with obvious displeasure). Additionally, from my location on that first day, I was able to see Jill Biden and Nancy Pelosi walk by, which was rather cool. Although my first day put me in direct contact with the media, the main downside to this placement was the fact that I was unable to see or hear any of the speeches from my location. The second day of the convention followed in a similar pattern.
On my second day of the convention, I was placed checking credentials at one of the outer doors of the Wells Fargo Center that was mainly used by media personnel to carry equipment inside. Admittedly, this day was probably the least exciting of the four because, while I was able to catch a few quick glimpses of certain media figures (such as Jim Gardner and Rick Williams), I was unable to really converse with them, and was also unable to see or hear any of the speeches going on inside. The lack of excitement on this day was quickly negated, however, by my placement the following day of the convention.
On Wednesday, I was placed on the mezzanine level, where honored and special guests, as well as specialty press, were seated, and was able to view inside the arena. While I was technically located at the back of the stage (and was thus unable to see the video shown on the front screen), I was able to see the podium and speakers such as Vice President Biden and President Obama. The excitement in the crowd had been building throughout the night, but it was during President Obama’s speech that I truly noticed a change. I had spent most of my night checking the credentials of those entering the arena area to take a seat and stopping people from entering the area once all the seats were filled, but when the night reached “prime time,” the people waiting at the door in case a seat opened up were permitted to enter the hallway area (referred to as a VOM) and stand against the walls to listen to the speeches.
These people who stood along the VOM were kind and pleasant, and went out of their way to chat about their experience and their excitement to see the President speak. When Obama finally took the floor, their excitement and quiet respect for the man was palpable. This night was perhaps my favorite night of the convention not only because I got to hear the President speak, but also because of all the people I encountered. Many of these people, who had spent the past couple of hours kindly cajoling me to give them a seat inside (even though there were no seats available), thanked me for the work that I had done throughout the night. One young couple in particular came up to me and said “Thank you so much! Because of you we got to hear the President speak, which is a memory we’ll have forever!” Knowing that I had made a difference in these people’s nights made this night the most memorable.
For the final night of the convention, I had my best view yet. I was once again on the mezzanine level, but this time I had a full view of the stage and screen, so I was able to see everything that was going on. This night was the first night that I had a chance to work with older volunteers. The volunteers I was working with were an older couple who had been Hillary Clinton supporters for a number of years and who are actually fundraisers for Clinton’s campaign.
These two were by far the most dedicated Clinton supporters I met the entire week that I was at the convention, and their level of dedication became apparent when Hillary Clinton came out to speak and they spent the entirety of her speech alternating between crying uncontrollably and screaming “We won!” to each other, me and anyone else they could scream it to. While I was not nearly as emotional as they were over seeing and hearing Clinton speak, I did find it fascinating to be able to listen to her in person. To me, the real highlight of the night was actually after Clinton’s speech had finished and the balloons began to drop. The atmosphere of joy and unity in the room as the balloons and confetti began to fall was infectious, and it stayed with the crowd as everyone exited the stadium for the rest of the night.
The week of the Democratic Convention was a whirlwind. My days were filled with crowded subway rides, temperatures of 90 degrees and above and hurried snacking on anything left in the fridge, while the evenings contained crowded hallways, aching feet, late-night commutes home and four hours of sleep each night. However, the moments when I was able to see the impact of the convention on those in attendance and when I was able to see and hear for myself the fantastic speeches reminded me of the fact that I was truly witnessing history being made. While I have no idea what the result of this year’s presidential election will be, I know that I was able to witness a pivotal moment for the Democratic Party, and look forward to seeing what is to come.
