Convention notes

A few quick points about the convention:

-The speeches by the former PMs were great.

-Parties were fine, except that none except Iggy was rich enough for free-flowing booze. Because of that, I wasn't wasted any evening this weekend, which was disappointing.

-We all chant about a "party united" now, but I still think it will take a bit of time for us to get to that point. It's only natural that those of us who put a lot of time into the guy (or girl) we thought was the right one to lead the party will take a bit of time to react. I personally couldn't reach up the courage to do much cheering for Dion, or even do anything more than wear the scarf. So for those getting a little angry at Antonio, I would say give it some time. It will take us at least until after the holidays to stop thinking in "Iggy vs Dion" terms, or in terms of any candidate. Dion's done a great job reaching out (meeting with the candidates yesterday, giving Iggy the second question today), but it will take a bit of time for everyone to get back on the same train again. It's only natural after a leadership convention, especially one as close as this one.

-Coverage on TV is always something different from coverage from the floor. It felt weird, being my first real convention, not following politics with the running commentary. I kept thinking that during the pause in voting I would hear Peter Mansbridge in my head start analyzing what was just said. It was nice to get that isolation. That being said, I didn't manage to see Kennedy start his walk over to Dion, since there was mad panic and rush around everywhere already. I'd like to see some parts to see how it all looked on TV (especially Kennedy's speech from Friday, and a bit more from the convention floor on Saturday, as well as some of Kennedy's post-mortem speeches), so if anyone can get them on youtube, I'd love to see what it all looked like.

-I felt like I was in the stone age compared to everyone else, since I didn't have a cell phone. I almost felt like I should head out to a store and get one, just to get in on the rush. However, spending a couple hours a day text messaging can't be good for you, so it was nice to be a bit isolated.

-I really still don't want to get back to finishing my work today that I would have been doing last week.

-It was crazy on the convention floor, especially right after a candidate dropped off. For next time, I would say there should be a 10 minute grace period after a candidate drops off where nobody should be allowed to talk to the supporters from that camp. I know it was tough on me and many others when we just learned we weren't going to win, and the first thing anyone else has to say to us is, "Do you have any questions about Stephane Dion's policies?"

-In retrospect, I tended to always hang around the same few people (mostly the Calgary folk I knew). It would have been nice to actually meet a few others, including the blogging folk (who I already feel somewhat like I knew). Next time I'll have to make another effort to meet up with more people, chat with everyone, and get around a bit more. I don't do well at going up to random people (probably from the computer scientist in me).

-I also should probably have tried to get more pictures, especially of me with politicians. The only pictures of me with people are with Kennedy and Trudeau (at separate times), up in Dryden's suite. It would have been nice to finally meet up with Ignatieff, Rae, or Dion, since I've never really met up with them or even seen them talk up close. For me, it was just too tough to try to decide whether it was better to have my tambourine and placard or whether I should try to have my camera out in case if someone big came close.

-And again, it would have been nice to wander around time at some point. After it was done Saturday I did walk around Rue Ste. Catherine with others finding a restaurant, but otherwise, I didn't go anywhere in Montreal that wasn't between convention parties. I have already been there (having lived just off the island until I was 11), but about the only "Montreal" experience was ordering my breakfast in french ("Un muffin anglais").

That seems to be most of the points I have for now. It was a great time overall, filled with lots of excitement, me nearly coming to tears when I didn't hear Kennedy's name going on to the next ballot, and lots of stuff going on all the time. Can't wait for the next one ;)