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Police presence seems minimal in Philadelphia. Talking with Lt. Stanford a spokesperson for the Philly P.D., tells me his police department has four times as many police officers as Cleveland, 6200 total, and “we are used to these demonstrations”  he tells me as the remaining few hundred marchers stream into a park behind us. It was a march of several thousand demanding action on the climate change.

Best march chants: “Tell me what democracy looks like? This is what democracy looks like” “Hillary Fracks” Hey, hey, ho, ho corporate greed has got to go” “Hell no DNC we won’t vote for Hillary”

I run into Democracy Now’s, Amy Goodman near Philadelphia’s city hall after the first of the two large marches. She’s talking to her editor and working on a storyline about the first march. She tells me the feeling here is much less oppressive than Cleveland in terms of police vs. the freedom to protest. Cleveland had police from 21 agencies throughout the US including the California Highway Patrol! Hundreds of police continually patrolled the downtown in groups of 5-15. If there is that kind of presence here, it certainly is not visible.

I talk to two men in “Make America Great Again” hats, they are the only Trump supporters I encounter. They are standing near FDR Park outside of where the convention will be, it’s the finish line for one of the demonstrations. They are a father and son and I recount several criticisms of their candidate—misogyny, racism, and of war hero, McCain. How do you respond? The son says, “If Trump says something stupid I won’t agree with him, but he hasn’t said anything stupid to my mind.” Jesse, who is 17 and will turn 18 in September, says most of his friends are Bernie supporters.

DNC Day 1—Monday
Breakfast with California delegation and Santa Cruz Bernie delegate, Shawn Orgel-Olson and alternate delegate- former SC supervisor, Gary Patton. At over 500, it’s by far the largest delegation so all the nation’s political personalities want to speak to talk to California…but on this morning Sec. of State, Alex Padilla probably wishes he was somewhere else. Chants erupt of “count our ballots, count our ballots,” effectively drowning out Padilla who in turn begins to shout even louder. It happens to Rep. Barbara Lee and S.F. Mayor Ed Lee too when they talk it up about Hillary. In the minds of the couple hundred Bernie delegates present, Hillary has not yet been voted on by delegates, so endorsing her now is insulting according to several delegates I spoke to. Patton says, “What burns the butts of these delegates is that the people talking to us want to pretend Clinton is already the party nominee, but it’s not official.” Orgel-Olson, who actually ran Bernie’s winning SC campaign adds, “She hasn’t been seated, we are still his delegates.” Later in the day, Bernie himself is booed in a closed door meeting by his own delegates for endorsing Hillary Clinton. Are things getting crazier, or is it just the democratic process unfolding?!

The night on the big stage is THE Dem left-of-center night: Ben Jealous former NAACP Director, Rep. Raul Grijalva and Al Franken, followed by the all-star politicos, Sen. Corey Booker, Flotus Michelle Obama, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and Presidential nominee Bernie Sanders. The night is choreographed flawlessly. Bernie is heartily cheered by Hillary supporters. I run into SC supervisor Zach Friend. He’s not a delegate but a “whip.” He’s got a yellow reflective jacket on that all whips wear. I ask him to explain what he does.  He says the DNC contacted him to volunteer for this job and his main tasks are to attend to delegates on the floor, “advise them on rules…we’ve had medical issues, I’m a conduit to assist both (Bernie and Hillary) sides,” he said.

DNC Day 2—Tuesday
I see writer, Norman Solomon around noon in the lobby Starbucks at the Marriott where all Democratic delegates are staying. He’s heading up an effort called “Bernie Delegates Network,” and tells me two-thirds of Bernie delegates have signed on. “For a politician Bernie is the greatest politician in my lifetime,” Solomon says, “but there are limits that come with the territory.” He says he’s organizing some of the dissent taking place, but at the end of the day “defeating Trump is crucial.”

It’s been one hundred degrees for three days in a row and it’s “roll call” day on the floor of the convention and the Bernie people are out in force shouting and chanting for their candidate. The floor of yet another corporate-sponsored arena (Bernie supporters are critical too of the corporate-sponsored breakfasts, parties, and general party swag given out and it has to impact some long-time Dems on how business is conducted.), is wall to wall people and very difficult for anyone to move around. A delegate using a wheelchair is escorted by three DNC assistants and just runs into people, and they move out of the way opening a path for others. Just then, a few minutes after Gov. Jerry Brown announces California’s delegates vote for Hillary Clinton he is confronted by a protester in a black t-shirt with the word,”Exile” printed on. He yells at Brown to appeal the vote and says he must do a recount as Padilla failed to count over a million ballots in the state. Brown looks at the man, cups his ear and then turns away. The man continues to shout. Jerry is surrounded by a who’s who in California politicians: Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Lee, Maxine Waters, former Gov. Gray Davis, Sen. Barbara Boxer…Brown had ten minutes to file an appeal, but it was not to happen on this day as the governor hurries toward an exit surrounded by an entourage.

Later, Bill Clinton gives a very personal biography of the former first lady while Meryl Streep is her usual charming self, and singer, Alicia Keys performs to much applause.

RNC Day 3, Wednesday
What is fun and amazing about coming to a political convention is that you can actually get face time with people you usually only see from afar. Conversations with some of my heroes like Minnesota’s Keith Ellison–the only Muslim in congress and an important spokesperson for progressives nationwide. He seems to be the only person who knows how to talk to Bernie supporters about supporting Hillary without insulting them. Georgia Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights era hero who recently held a sit-in on the floor of Congress to force gun control legislation, in which “every single member of the California delegation participated,” tells me that voting for a Green Party or Libertarian Party candidate is “throwing your vote away…” Rep. Maxine Waters from Los Angeles is her usual friendly and thoughtful self. She became embroiled a few years ago, if folks remember, in Gary Webb’s series in the SJ Mercury News about the CIA selling drugs to finance their far-flung international operations. I also got to talk to Howard Dean the former governor, presidential candidate, and DNC chair who now actually makes fun of his famous Iowa “scream” by screaming a lot, and then waiting for the delay until people get it and then everyone laughs.

If Hillary wins, Ellison sees even more progressive moves that might be made like same day voter registration and declaring election day a national holiday he says. Sen. Al Franken a fellow Minnesotan speaks after Ellison and is as funny as he ever was on Saturday Night Live, and even says the show was much more fun, and should be, than being a U.S. Senator.  All of these super progressives only have praise Bernie and his supporters.

Bernie Sanders himself comes to address the CA delegates. He is again booed when he says “we” must support Hillary Clinton. When the catcalls subside he tells the group, “In my view it’s easy to boo, but it’s harder to look your kids in the face when they are living under a Donald Trump presidency.” There are only cheers as he leaves, but no interviews…he’s now surrounded by an entourage, perhaps there are 11 or 12 in all, including some family members. He takes no questions and is rushed out a side door into a waiting elevator.

The night was full of political adventure too…In the late afternoon, perhaps one of the biggest convention moments for Bernie supporters was the shout-down of our former Congressmember, CIA chief and Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta. After recounting the capture and killing of Osama Bin Laden in his speech, the Oregon delegation started a chant of “No more war.” It caught on and eventually filled the arena. Panetta paused, started up, and then paused again, a bit flummoxed as were Hillary delegates too who began to applaud loudly to try and drown out the chanting. Panetta started again, and the “no more war” chant started anew, but this time louder. The Hillary delegates began what many thought was a Republican-owned incantation, “USA, USA,” and they were coached on by each area whip. It was an odd, but stunning moment…would’ve likely been cheered on by many Santa Cruz peace activists too if they were present.

A huge storm hits that night during the convention and people are afraid to stay in the press tent because it’s swaying with each gust of wind. No one can exit though without getting soaked as torrential rain pours down and there is a fifty-foot zone to run across if you want to head back into the arena. People line up by the tent exits waiting for the rain to ease up. Inside the Wells Fargo Arena most attendees are oblivious to the storm outside.

Next week…The storm inside, and what did Bernie really accomplish in running for President?

“What has happened here in Philadelphia this week? The political party headed by President Barack Obama has handed off political leadership to Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has been officially presented to the Party as its new leader, and whose personal qualities have been extolled, and whose political leadership and political abilities have been celebrated.

POSITION AND PERSPECTIVE
The Virginia delegation, and the New York delegation were seated right down in front of the podium because when the chairs were set up, Party organizers already knew who the candidates would be. Convention organizers knew that Hillary Rodham Clinton from New York would be the Presidential nominee, and that Tim Kaine from Virginia would be the Vice Presidential nominee. Except….they didn’t really know that, officially.

If you are sensing a kind of “theme” here, in my Convention commentaries, you are probably accurately picking up on my genuine distress that the Democratic Party did not deal very well with the fact that the decision about who the nominee would be was not, officially, settled at the time the chairs were set up. And it wasn’t even settled on the first day of the Convention, either, since the roll call vote didn’t happen until Tuesday.

My personal comments must be understood as the comments of someone who was elected and sent to Philadelphia by voters in California’s 20th Congressional District precisely to advocate, in every way I could, for the selection of Bernie Sanders as the Democratic Party’s nominee for President. Because I was privileged to be an Alternate Delegate, I was able to see, firsthand, that the Democratic Party apparatus was operated to favor those within the Party whom the Party Establishment had predetermined should take power, and to disfavor those supporting a different option; in other words, to disfavor Bernie Sanders and all of his delegates.

In all fairness to the Party, the situation this year was extraordinary, as Bernie Sanders’ campaign was extraordinary. Normally, the Party actually does know, officially, who the Party’s nominee will be long before the Convention begins. The normal thing to do is to design the Convention as a “pageant of praise” for the nominee. But this year, things actually were different, in that almost 1,900 people came to the Convention, as I did, as delegates committed to a candidate different from the candidate favored by the Party Establishment, and with an expectation that there would be an actual vote of the delegates before the curtain went up on that “pageant of praise” thing. How the Party decided to deal with this unusual situation was revealing, and it was profoundly distressing to virtually all the Sanders delegates.

As I have indicated earlier, the Convention organizers should have put the roll call vote first. But the organizers didn’t do that. Therefore, as speaker after speaker on the first day kept referring to Hillary Clinton as “our candidate,” and as “the nominee,” the Convention organizers sent repeated messages to the Sanders Delegates that they were irrelevant and unwanted interlopers. Some of these Sanders Delegates “booed.”

On Day Two, after the roll call vote, which Hillary Clinton clearly won, the Chair of the Convention twisted the motion of Bernie Sanders, who asked the Convention to suspend the rules, and to direct that the votes be recorded, and then to “declare Hillary Clinton as the nominee.” Instead of presenting that motion to the Convention for unanimous approval, Convention Chair Marcia Fudge sought to transform Sanders’ generous gesture into a false claim that Hillary Clinton’s election was “by acclimation.” Many Sanders Delegates walked out.

On Day Three, the Party apparatus actually made a number of unsuccessful but noticeable efforts to drive the Sanders delegates out of the Convention entirely, to get rid of them and their disturbing presence, utilizing various techniques reported upon yesterday. On Day Four, Hillary spoke. Before giving my review of Hillary’s speech, let me make a few other, more or less random, comments.

NOT GOING GAGA
All California delegates got a free ticket to the “Camden Rising” concert, featuring Lenny Kravitz and Lady Gaga, which took place on Lundy Lawn yesterday, Thursday, July 28th, at 1:00 p.m. The weather was rainy, as you’ll see if you click the link above. I am not sure how many California delegates actually went, but I’m pretty sure virtually no Bernie Sanders Delegates attended. The weather was definitely not encouraging, and it wasn’t all that easy to get from downtown Philadelphia to the concert location (or, at least, it didn’t seem like it was going to be easy to those delegates who, like me, were not familiar with the territory). Those factors were discouraging to attendance, but most discouraging was the fear, based on what happened on Day Three of the Convention, that not being at the Convention early would mean that Sanders Delegates would be shut out. In fact, this fear turns out to have been legitimate. Click this link for a little video giving a real time report of a Bernie Delegate from the Convention Floor. Ultimately, those delegates with Floor privileges did get to sit down and participate.

RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY
ALL delegates (or a large percentage of them, at least) arrived at the Wells Fargo Center in a condition best described as “fully drenched.” A massive rainstorm hit at about 2:00 p.m., just as everyone was trying to get out to the Arena for the 4:00 o’clock drop of the gavel. No discrimination against Bernie Delegates is alleged. There are two routes to the Wells Fargo Center; you can go by bus, or you can go by subway. Either way, you’ll get wet if it’s raining. Once there, you have to walk about a half-mile outside. “Fully drenched” is perfectly descriptive.

THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE
A popular “chant” relied upon by Bernie Sanders Delegates on Days One and Two of the Convention was: “This is what democracy looks like.” Politics IS about debate, and differences, and dissension, and discussion. All that conflict and controversy, ultimately, leads up to a decision, but you don’t get to the decision stage in a democracy without going through the debate and disagreement stage, first. Efforts to make Sanders Delegates “sit down and shut up” led to that chant: “This is what democracy looks like!” Philadelphia, of course, is the perfect place to remember what democracy is supposed to be all about, and I have to confess that I, and I know other delegates, got teary eyed at times at the thought that this Convention, held just blocks from where the Constitutional Convention was held, might be coming at the ending of our democratic experiment. There is worry enough about that with thoughts of what might happen with the election of Donald Trump. But even the conduct of this convention was not, as you will have seen from my reports, very comforting for those who love democracy.

THIS IS WHAT AMERICA LOOKS LIKE
Let me highlight one of the most wonderful things that happened at the Democratic National Convention – and it happened multiple times, and was inspiring every time it happened. I assume that television viewers must have seen this happen, the way we in the Wells Fargo Center Arena saw it happen.  A number of times during the Convention, which was highly scripted, suddenly the activity on stage stopped, music came up, and the jumbo screens visible to Delegates and visitors began showing pictures of the crowd, generally as Delegates danced, or mugged for the camera, or hugged, or waved banners, or flags, or signs. People would look at the screen, and if their little area came on camera, they would recognize that, and go crazy. These interludes were high energy breaks in what were sometimes long and perhaps even “tedious” recitations of the greatness of the next President of the United States. There was a chant that captured the essence of this exercise in the recognition and celebration of the diversity of the Delegates and others in attendance: “This is what America looks like.” The diversity of the crowd in Philadelphia speaks volumes about the commitment of the Democratic Party to a politics of inclusion. Actually, the entire Convention program did that, too. It made me proud to be a Democrat! Anyone remember the diversity present in the Republican Party Convention? No? Me neither!!

A YELLING GENERAL
The most disturbing presenter on Thursday, from my point of view, was Retired Marine Corps General John Allen. His presentation on the stage, flanked and backed by many other unnamed military representatives, was obviously approved by Hillary Clinton, and the General yelled out every word he spoke, dramatizing the bellicosity that he promised Hillary Clinton would deliver. Hillary, he said, “knows how to use all instruments of American power,” and she will “defeat” evil, and “defeat” ISIS, while “protecting the Homeland.” On behalf of future Commander in Chief Clinton, Allen called out our “enemies,” and promised them, “you will fear us,” and “we will defeat you.” 

In other words, if Allen is right, we can look forward to a vastly increased reliance on our military in a self-satisfied effort to let everyone in the world know that if they oppose American desires, “we will defeat you.” I was sensitive to Joe Biden’s claim that “America owns the finish line.” As I reported yesterday, I didn’t like the implications inherent in that promise. But Biden’s statement was clearly nothing compared to Allen’s rant, which asserted that Hillary Clinton will get us to the finish line by an unrestrained willingness to use military force. Donald Trump may be scary. But to my mind, so is General John Allen, and if he truly speaks for Hillary, that’s scary, too. I well remember what Hillary Clinton said after the death of former dictator Muammar Qaddafi, who was killed in a revolt in Libya promoted and advanced by Hillary Clinton, as one of her personal projects as Secretary of State. Laughing with reporters as she first learned of Qaddafi’s death, she joked, “We came, we saw, he died.”  General Allen said of the upcoming election that this is “the opportunity” for America. Opportunity for what, I wonder and I worry?

HILLARY, HILLARY!
As readers will remember, I was not on the Convention Floor on Thursday night, since my Alternate Delegate status put my assigned seat up in the rafters. I didn’t experience what I understand was uncomfortable tension in the section of the Arena assigned to the California Delegation, since the initial efforts to lock Bernie Sanders Delegates out, ultimately unsuccessful, did carry over into tension between Clinton and Sanders Delegates as the evening drew to its conclusion.
The conclusion of the evening, of course, was the much-anticipated speech of Hillary Clinton (followed by the “balloon drop,” I guess I should say, which was also much-anticipated). Back in the hotel room, long after midnight, I heard from Alan Haffa, who was a Delegate, and who was on the Floor, that protests and chants took place among some (not all) of the California Sanders Delegates, even as Hillary Clinton made her speech. Bernie Sanders specifically asked his Delegates, in a text that I got, too, not to protest, and to be respectful. I couldn’t see that anything happened otherwise, but it seems that there was an “otherwise,” involving a few Sanders supporters.

From where I saw the speech, it was, simply, terrific, with only one footnote to that “terrific,” in my view. I feel certain that Hillary wants to convey that she is capable and willing to use military force, in the role of Commander of Chief of the United States Armed Forces. However, I have a continuing concern about Hillary Clinton’s willingness to try something besides military force, as the United States faces a world that many believe is defined by a struggle of decency against “evil,” and terrorism. Her speech was not completely reassuring to me on that point. Maybe that General really does speak for Hillary?

That concern expressed, I did think that Hillary Clinton’s speech was terrific, and incorporated a very forthright and much-appreciated effort to state her commitment to the progressive principles that the Bernie Sanders campaign insisted must be the foundation of the Democratic Party’s platform and program, going forward. I thought Hillary Clinton was inspiring, and called out to the best of America. I was comforted by my thought, as she made her speech,:”Yes!! Hillary Clinton will win the Presidency!” Particularly given the other choice, it is imperative that she does.

Those who care about the future of our politics (and indeed our nation), need to help make that happen.
That’s my bottom line takeaway from the Convention. And as for the “political revolution” ignited by the Sanders’ campaign? I am never giving up on that! And I’m hoping that the Sanders Delegates I met aren’t giving up, either!”

BEST OF VINTAGE STEVEN DeCINZO.

Deep Cover by Tim Eagan.