2008 Washington Delegates Party—Or Play Hooky to Catch Up on Sleep
posted by on August 27 at 12:04 PM
Yesterday after the convention activities wrapped, I hopped the shuttle bus to the Hyatt Regency Tech Center, the hotel where the Washington state delegates are staying (along with the Oregon and Arizona delegations). It’s 12 miles south of downtown, and it takes at least forty-five minutes to get from the convention to the shuttle departure stop, wait in line, hop the shuttle, and stop at two other hotels before arriving at the Hyatt. But that’s better than light rail, which can take over an hour at night.
The entire Tech Center complex is packed with hotels of all shapes and varieties—it’s this eerie island of temporary residences about a ten minute walk from the nearest light rail stop. The way Denver went about building these southern line rail lines was not especially smart. The rail line runs along the freeway, which I’m sure was convenient in terms of grade and eminent domain. But that’s the industrial side of town, with little preexisting commercial activity. Every stop is accompanied by a huge parking lot, and there has been very little development close-in to the stations. The system is pretty navigable by light rail+bike (you can take your bike on the train when it’s not too busy), but woe to the pedestrians.
Yesterday was the official party for the Washington delegates, and the state party decided to hold it offsite, at a bar called the Tavern Tech Center. Amgen and Microsoft plastered their propaganda everywhere.
The party was fairly swank, with free drinks, Kobe beef sliders, bruschetta, etc. State Party chair Dwight Pelz was there, rules committee member and superdelgate David McDonald made an appearance, and the governor was supposed to show up sometime after the Death Cab for Cutie show she was introducing all the way across town. (I couldn’t stay late at all—I had to leave at 11:30 in order to get back to the place we’ve been staying before 1 am.) Dave Meinert stopped in for a minute. He complained about Qwest’s sponsorship of the convention, especially considering the telecom lobbying on FISA. (Note to Meinert: Qwest, which is based in Denver, was actually one of the only telecom companies to refuse to spy on its customers without a warrant.) But there were surprisingly few delegates in attendance. I don’t blame them—getting to the delegate breakfasts by 7 am is a major chore.
Instead, the party was packed with uncredentialed hangers-on. I spent most of my time regaling assorted PCOs and donors with tales from the convention floor. (Not that I was on the floor—my pass gets me into the press risers above the floor.) I have a hard time understanding why people would pay so much money to come to Denver on the off chance that they might win Washington’s extra convention credentials in the morning lotteries. It can’t be that exciting.
The only gripe I heard that seemed relatively legitimate came from College Democrats representative Amelia Phillips, from Lake Forest Park. A political science major at the University of Oregon, Amelia told me she couldn’t understand why the party didn’t want to get them more involved: “I’m pretty disappointed by the way the College Dems have been treated, considering the supposed importance of the youth vote this year.” Amelia is only allowed in to the afternoon events at the Convention Center (like the LGBT caucus meeting headlined by Gavin Newsom that I’m totally missing right now). I asked her what the DNC could do to make their experience better. “Access,” she shot back.
Then I embarked on my hour and a half trip (via light rail and cab) back to bed. But first, I saw a bunny in the Hyatt parking lot.
Feral? Wild? Anyway, cute bunny.
Rabbits in cities are released pets or their descendants, and probably carry disease.
And -- pet peeve alert -- "Kobe beef" is illegal in the US. What you had was undoubtedly Wagyu beef, which is the same breed of cattle as Kobe but raised here, under conditions that don't resemble those of Kobe beef at all.
Yes, this does prove I'm a pedantic dork. I can handle it.
That bunny isn't 'cute,' it has straight ears and it isn't morbidly obese.
I've really enjoyed the Slog coverage of the Denver convention. It's been the most palatable party convention coverage I've ever been exposed to.
An hour-and-a-half on public transportation to get to your hotel? Is the Stranger too poor for a cab the whole way or just ideologically bound to light rail?
I went to Boston and it was a fun time experiencing the convention and offsite activities. it helps if you love politics because there is so many things to do during a convention.
@1: Is this new? I hade Japanese Kobe beef at the Met a few months ago....
It's sad you couldn't find a WA Young Dem to talk to, perhaps because there are so few. Amelia has a point; check out the youth data for the WA Dems delegate selection rules. Only three percent of delegates, yet 11.5 percent of Washingtonians are between 17-24.
With the Republican brand being what it is (and with a candidate older than my grandfather) the Dems have an historic opportunity not just to bring out the youth vote, but to bring them into the party. At state convention I felt as though there was a real split between between people that wanted to get young people as involved as possible, and others who were a bit skeptical of young voters. I feel the latter attitude is winning out.
So while I do have a bit of an axe to grind, the data itself is telling. Ideally, affirmative action goals in the party should mandate that WA delegates should reflect our state's population.
From the WA State Delegate Selection Plan, page 40:
Youth (Ages 17 to 24)
(a) Percent in Democratic Electorate and Number of Delegates: 3% /3 Delegates. (Assigned based on factors below)
(b) Percent in Census: 11.5%
@1 Whaa? Released pets? That's a wild rabbit.
@1 Fnarf, actually importation of Japanese Waygu(Kobe) beef is now legal again, as of December 12, 2005. It was originally banned due to the BSE(Mad Cow) scare around 9/11.
You always could get Kobe beef, Fnarf, there are exemptions to most laws written for restaurants in specific "cultural" locations.
Sigh.
Light rail not better than a bus?????
Stop the presses! Will annie be used by the evil anti-rail pro everything bad crowd?
Will we see annie's name next to slimy Sims and that hack McDonald in their next ad?
OhNooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
@9: I didn't know that, thanks. I stand corrected.
Will, when the law I referenced was in effect, there were no exemptions in "specific cultural areas". You're full of shit. In fact, a restaurateur in Los Angeles was arrested and paid a hefty fine for illegally importing and serving it. The FDA doesn't fuck around.
I'll still wager the beef Annie ate was American-bred Wagyu, or maybe even Japanese Wagyu, but not true Kobe from Kobe.
Fnarf, you know that the Japanese from the west coast who were put in concentration camps in WWII got sent to Colorado, right? And when released, they either had no property or business to return to, or were too shamed by the experience to go back home. So they settled in Denver. Which means there is a large and traditional Japanese community there.
Just a data point. I don't even know what Kobe beef is. Carry on.
The presence of Japanese-Americans in Denver doesn't really say much about whether burgers at the DNC are genuine "Kobe beef" or not, though, does it? Kobe beef sells for about $200 a pound. Think about that for a minute.
(Well, all I need to know about Kobe beef is that it is 100% pure MURDER)
@12 I'd say you'd be right about the Waygu not really being Kobe, it's pretty hard to come by if you aren't paying $70 for a steak. I'm not sure what the labeling rules are for true Kobe, but something tells me a lot of marketing was going on that was not on the up and up. For instance, at Safeco Field in the Terrace Club section they used to sell what they called Kobe beef burgers a couple of years ago, and now what they sell up there they are calling Angus beef burgers, and they seem pretty much the same as before. But who'd know, since they cook the shit out of them anyway in that section. For my money the Kidd Valley burgers are the goto food at Safeco, but I digress.
Bunny has the eye of Satan.
Another thing to keep in mind, regarding the youth involvement, there is a split between the College Dems and the Young Dems. The Young Dems are the official youth arm of the Democratic party—call it silly/terrible, whatever, that's the way it is. If this gal was aligned with the College Dems instead of the Young Dems, that would only further complicate her efforts to get inside sanctioned events.
If you're that happy about seeing wild bunnys, come hang out in Renton some time. I see them all the time around Lind Avenue north of Ikea and up on Renton Hill.
@12 - it's not in the law. It's in the override law, which is about importation of cultural artifacts and goods.
You think A B C D when the world is A N B12 except D14.
@20, Kobe beef was never a "cultural artifact", and you are completely full of shit. Are your eyes brown by any chance?
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