Unalaska, AK – Unalaska Resident Jane Bye is at the DNC convention in Denver, Colorado. She says that the highlights of her trip included the speech by Michelle Obama. "She was awesome and inspiring, and there were a lot of tears in the hall with everyone relating to what she was saying, Bye said.
The convention began on Monday with a delegate breakfast at 7 am and lasted until 10 o'clock that evening.
Bye also got to see Senator Teddy Kennedy from Massachusetts and Caroline Kennedy at the convention. Other highlights included Wolf Blitzer, John King, and Katie Couric. Bye also got to see Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and others give their speeches at the convention.
A lot of people are asking us about the Ted Stevens race, ANWR, off shore drilling and others, said Bye. The Alaska delegation is all wearing matching kuspuks, traditional Yupik jackets with the state on the back, and everyone is complimenting us on those, so it's been a lot of fun to be with the Alaska delegation.
Bye is attending the delegation as an alternate. On the third tier, not on the floor, delegates come and get, circulate up and down, sit on the floor for a part of the time.
I don't do anything official unless a delegate is missing, I kind of have the best of both worlds because I get to experience everything, but I don't have a whole lot of responsibility and I can wander around and check things out, Bye said.
Bye said she doesn't anticipate having to step up and fill in for a vote.
The first night was the opening session and there were several speakers including Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi and other members of congress. There are meetings and caucuses going on. A panel that Bye sat in on and listened to was about alternative energy. In the place called the Big Tent Bye ran across all of the bloggers including the Daily Post and Ariana Huffington.
There was a little spa room Ariana Huffington set up to get healthy food, a massage, or you can do yoga, Bye said. So I went to do yoga for 20 minutes one day.
Bye is a social work by training, and she had the opportunity to meet and go to a social workers meeting for delegates. This evening, Bye will be in more meetings.
Social workers are here, and we got a chance to get together, discuss issues and network, Bye said.
Bye said that most people are excited about Barack Obama's choice of Biden as a running mate. She said that she hasn't seen Obama yet because he is out of state, but he did call in and was on the live-video feed after his wife Michelle Obama gave her speech. The convention ended Thursday night after Obama gave his acceptance speech.