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Day 3

7/28/2016

Today we had Bernie at breakfast with an appetizer of Martin O’Malley. Yes both Bernie and Jane looked tired but no less energized and he finally talked with us without the same speech that I have heard 4 times. Now he is talking about the future and Our Movement to elect local and state candidates to enable the opportunities for all of us. In his 70’s, he is in it for the long haul. All of us from Northern New England congratulated him, his passion, his leadership. Now it is our turn. I hope I can convince my fellow Berners that this is an endurance run. We have all worked so hard since February and before. In the spring, a Bernie nomination seemed very possible. The fact that the DNC rigged the process makes this battle harder. I am hoping for a resurgence in that spirit of hope in the Spring of 2016. ‘Keep on keepin’ on’

My caucus was ‘Small Business’ today and there was not a lot of new information here but again enjoyed the sounds and smells of downtown Philadelphia. The new giant downtown Convention Center adjoins the old produce market, packed with booths of meat, dairy, fruit, vegetables and bakery. Walking around downtown, I saw the contrasting megamalls replicated in many locations. Not a good urban plan to ignore the street and create a center city fortress of generic commercialism.

The convention was again an entertainment show but there was content in the finale. Joe Biden fired us up with his middle class message, calling out the Donald for the fraud that he is. The VP candidate was tolerable but not exciting, flavored vanilla. I am getting pretty tired of the words ‘stronger together’ but maybe I am just tired.

Then, the President emerged, a man who makes all the other candidates seem puny. What power there is in seeing 10,000 fired up Democrats appreciating and already missing our first black president. Barack was at his finest and everyone in the hall went wild. I got dozens of Facebook posts from friends who said how much they will miss this fine president. Honestly, my enthusiasm level dropped in the final minutes when Hillary came on the stage to hug the president.

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day 2

7/28/2016

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Our morning hotel regional breakfast meeting had Howard Dean and Jeanne Shaheen as our speakers. Dean was enthusiastic, funny and praising his own efforts at LGBT rights. The important event of the morning was our vote for presidential candidate. We checked off our Maine tally for the later state by state floor vote. Maine has 17 for Bernie and 8 for Hillary. With Superdelegates, our vote is 18 to 12.

The bus to downtown was much better than Monday. Hispanic caucus lunch was massive in the crystal tea room of the old Wanamaker building. There are hundreds of Latino delegates dressed to the nueve and a highly elegant lunch. I was able to see some of the real Philadelphia although delegates and democratic hangerson are everywhere. The streets are filled with hawkers selling buttons, dolls, Trump wigs. Democracy demonstrations in the squares with many fations represented. Police are everywhere. I saw my first mounted policewoman with a headscarf. Our country is more and more diverse in everyway.

The most excellent metro ride beat the shuttle bus by far. Fast, comfortable, not even crowded to the Wells Fargo. Opening proceedings and the real business of the Convention, the rollcall vote. This allowed all of those Bernie delegates to have their voices heard (would have been better on Monday, but a break in tradition- horrors). The show of rollcall with each state articulating a corny advertisement of their states highlights was a display for the media. It was surprising to see the changed votes when superdelegates were added. New Hampshire, which voted heavily in favor of Bernie ended up with a tie vote. There was some jostling in Maine as to who would announce our vote on worldwide media. Phil Bartlett, Maine’s party chair did the honors. And the rollcall highlight was Americans Abroad vote of Bernie’s brother, crying as he registered his vote with a salute to his FDR era parents. Bernie and Jane also teared. Hundreds of Bernie delegates started their grieving and tears flowed as the reality hit home. Then the show began, entertainment entertainment. Democracy is not a spectator sport but it does seem to be a media show.

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Day 0 Day 1

7/28/2016

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What incredible opening night party on Sunday night at the Philly Museum with full run of exhibits, Food tables everywhere from nachos to sushi to gelato and music blasting. The forecourt with a huge tent and the immense Rocky Balboa steps open to the city skyline beyond. Every once in awhile a statue look alike would come to life revealing a completely believable costume job. The changing colored light disply transformed the venue constantly. After finding some of the Maine Delegation, we danced to the white-robed funk-soul band dominating the outside party. Near midnight, the band started chanting ‘Hillary’ to the music. The audience joined in but gradually the majority of audience transformed the chant to ‘Bernie’. The power of the Revolution again revealed its strength. The shuttle bus to our airport had trouble even leaving the neighborhood as the busdriver circled the area looking for the route. 45 minutes later, the exhausted passengers realized the driver was again lost looking for our hotel beyond the airport. Several of us took charge, opening our phone navigation apps. 3 people stood next to the bus driver yelling conflicting dirctions until we were finally saved by a former Philly native who actually knew the correct route.

Monday we checked into our first 7 am breakfast of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. After 5 hours of sleep, we were already groggy at Day #1. Division tension was in the air as buttons, Tshirts, and hats made our allegiances known. Logistics were explained with the biggest hurdle being the 2 separate venues for the Convention. Caucuses, meetings, affinity groups preconvention are all at the Pennsylvania Convention Hall, an immense new complex in downtown Philly. The actual proceedings are at the Wells Fargo Center, near the sports arenas, 7 miles away near the airport. Shuttle bus was definitely better than the night before but stepping off the bus was a shock. 105 degree humid heat was nothing like I have ever experienced in New England. The oven was on high. Luckily, it was only 2 blocks to get inside the air-condition Convention Center where Bernie had called an afternoon meeting. Security was handled by both the TSA and Homeland Security and was as intense as Airport Security, but we could keep our shoes on. Thousands of Bernie delegates were shoulder to shoulder trying to enter the auditorium. Nurses were handing out Robin Hood hats (‘tax the rich, support the poor’) Excitement was heavy when Bernie stepped to the podium. Unfortunately, he delivered essentially the same speech as at the Portsmouth endorsement the week before. He encouraged us all to work for Hillary and there was some booing. Berners were not ready to give up their redeemer. And there was anger over the Wikileaks scandal, revealing the bias by the Dem National Committee which Berners had suspected from the beginning of the campaign. Exit from the hall was confusing with no clear direction for the convention opening, hours away. Unwilling to wait in the oppressive heat for a shuttle bus, Troy Jackson, Bob Saucier and I hopped in a taxi to get to Wells Fargo which was even hotter than outside. Cabs can’t get anywhere near the Convention, so we walked some more, took an employee shuttle and then security with dogs, scanners and the pocket dump.

Music, pledge, fanfares, and then the Dem leadership’s first mistake. Hillary Rodham Clinton was mentioned in the opening prayer instantly starting thousands of boos from the crowd. Of course people were shocked to hear boos to a prayer, and the Berners kept booing for the next hours whenever HRC’s name was mentioned without an official roll call being complete. Although incredibly orchestrated, there was no forethought by the organizers that ‘it is not over until it is over’ A simple schedule change with a vote before the continual hammering of Hillary’s name and accompanying boos could have changed the climate of opening day. Instead, it took Michelle Obama to make this change. No one dared boo this champion and she delivered her incredible vision of America, our children and our future. This gave the Berners more to think about than just booing.

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We have arrived

7/24/2016

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Yesterday I packed for Philadelphia after carefully reading the weather report, the schedule, and the prohibited items from Homeland Security. Collapsing water bottle, hat, shorts, substitute backpack if Homeland doesn’t allow mine into the Convention site.

Communication prep: backup of laptop, recommended apps for convention are :
Slack, which establishes a hierarchy of communication so that one uncorrupted message is distribute in case of imminent votes on the floor.
Firechat is really interesting in that a network is established without internet or phone signal, but through Bluetooth, device to device. The more devices, the more powerful the network. Firechat has been used in social revolutions where authorities have turned off the internet. This could be invaluable in case our convention internet is either overloaded or intentionally disabled.

Bob Saucier (Representative and Bernie member of Credentials Committee) showed up at my house Saturday night for an early morning drive to Philly. After a short night’s sleep, Troy Jackson (Bernie superdelegate with a new van) and Chris Babbidge (Representative and Hillary delegate) arrived at 5am for the journey to Philly.

The van ride was a nonstop debate of Maine politics, platform, rules and Democratic prospects for 2017.
Crossing the George Washington Bridge was a milestone.

As the outside temperature hit 95, we dropped off Bob Saucier at the Credentials Committee meeting with 10 minutes to spare.
Saucier was a hero at Credentials, asking for reinstatement of Diane Denk even though she had been removed by the Maine Democratic Party to achieve gender balance. The Maine appeal was the only challenge to be successful, with a request within the time limit. Credentials vote was 156 to 0 and Saucier is Maine’s hero of the day.

Our hotel is the Wyndham Garden near the airport, not too elegant, but filled with delegates from Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. The delegate bus arrived about 5 and our first multistate meeting will be at 6. At 7, we all will go to the opening reception of the Convention at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Let the politics begin.

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Road to the National Convention

7/22/2016

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When asked by a friend to run for State Representative in 2012, I immediately said ‘no’ After thinking about for a few days, I said ‘why not?' What better way is there to effect change for the better than as a policy maker? I was elected by Kittery twice to the Statehouse. There has been a lot to learn. When Bernie Sanders became a candidate for President, I thought ‘here is a leader I can solidly support’ Then came the process. My wife, Wendy, is always reminding me how convoluted our process is.

1. CAUCUS In Maine, for presidential preference, we elect candidates to the State Convention at our local caucuses in March. The Kittery Democrats had several planning meetings for this gathering. Weren’t we surprised when quite a few high schoolers showed up to help. Inspired by Bernie, these people were invaluable. The caucus system is a relic of times past and Kittery had more people attending than any indoor space could accommodate in the town. Sanders was the favorite by nearly 2 to 1 at our caucus and I was elected as a delegate to the Maine State Convention.

2. STATE CONVENTION In May, over 5,000 Democrats from around Maine gathered for two days in Portland to elect delegates to the National Convention, approve our Platform and plan for the November election. I had gathered signatures to run for the convention in Philadelphia and a series of elections took place in our county caucuses. Chaos again prevailed, but I was elected as a ‘PLEO’ delegate (party leader or elected official). Announcement of winning delegates wasn’t until almost ten at night. For the past 2 months we have been preparing for the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia which starts Monday July 25.

York County delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Chris Babbidge, Diane Denk, Deane Rykerson.

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1966 to 2016

7/13/2016

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Progressive politics have always been more or lesson my mind since I attended my first march on Washington when I was 15. To those who lived through the 60’s, the tranquil world of white suburbia was blown apart by the violence, lies, and repression of the Vietnam War.

By the late 60's labor, racial, economic, and class issues were emerging as a movement for change. This is our group sitting in for the grape boycott in support of the United Farm Workers. The tremendous hope of the 1960's was dashed by the election of the crook Nixon and further buried in the Reagan era. We did not achieve our goals.

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Deane Rykerson

I grew up hiking, sailing, and rocknrolliing in the Hudson River Valley with a mother from Ecuador and a father from Dodge City, Kansas. A Regents scholarship helped me attend the State University at Stony Brook with a major in history. During college, I studied for a semester in Ireland and drove a New York City taxi.
After graduation, I spent several years working and traveling the world. I worked on a railroad track crew, then learned house and boat carpentry and was Bosun on the educational sailing vessel Clearwater. After moving to the Berkshires, I established a woodworking business and received a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for designing and operating a solar wood drying kiln.

Then off to Boston Architectural College and a Bachelor of Architecture. After seven years of night classes, I got my architectural license. I became active in the Boston Society of Architects, serving as Chair of the Committee on the Environment and Architects for Social Responsibility, After a Masters Degree degree at Harvard University, I started my firm, Rykerson Architecture.

Moving to Kittery Point, Maine in 2002, I designed a sustainable house and office where I presently work. My wife, Wendy Pomeroy, is a landscape designer and artist, and I have two grown son, a teenage daughter, and a grandson.
I was elected to the Maine State House of Representatives in 2012.

The 2016 National Democratic Convention

Day 3

day 2

Day 0 Day 1

We have arrived

Road to the National Convention

1966 to 2016

Deane Rykerson

Archives

Categories

The 2016 National Democratic Convention​

Day 3

day 2

Day 0 Day 1

We have arrived﻿

Road to the National Convention

1966 to 2016

Deane Rykerson

Archives

Categories

The 2016 National Democratic Convention

We have arrived