State delegates gather on the floor prior to the start of the official proceedings.

It may seem that everything in politics is organized from the top down, but there is is a glorious and sometimes unpredictable element in the mix – the people who participate in the process.

As our little group drove home from the convention late last night I asked everyone to describe their experience in one sentence. One individual replied, “What the hell just happened?” We all laughed. But we understood.

Having attended the state Democratic conventions in 1996 and 2000 I was fully aware of and prepared for the process and progress of the day’s events. It’s always going to be a very long day. This time around I wore several hats – as a voting state delegate (in the 4th Congressional District), as a participant on the Resolutions Committee, and as a blogger covering the event.  

In the past I have jokingly described the grass roots messiness of a state convention as a cross between a circus and a zoo. You really must add to that description that the freshly painted circus train is hurtling down the rickety tracks at top speed, you’re trying to avert your eyes (but, good lord, you can’t help but look), and whatever happens next, you’re going to have to sit there and watch that paint dry for a few hours…

State delegate and volunteer Jane Van Sant registers another 4th Congressional District state delegate.

Then there are the people. The put upon congressional district chairs who are responsible for getting their charges checked in with the proper paperwork and the proper credentials. The earnest junior (and very young) staffers. The statewide candidates. The party staff people. The professional political aides. The endless sea of party activists who have come to the convention as state delegates. Everywhere everybody engages in conversation. You greet old friends and are introduced to new ones. Conversations trial off when in that mass of humanity someone else walks by and grabs your arm to start a new conversation. The individuals running for those precious at-large national delegate slots buttonholing other state delegates and making their case with their words and a flyer or card pressed into the hand of the ones who will have a say.

Those running for at large positions (segregated by gender) have the opportunity to make their case in a one minute (and sometimes less) speech to the floor. As I listened to the seemingly endless assembly line of speeches I was struck by the diversity of the individuals and their stories. What is it that brought them here to this place and inspired them to stand up for the candidate they believe in? They told us. Their one minute stories were as diverse as their ages, economic status, ethnicity, and hopes for the future.

That is what Democracy sounds like.