I guess you could say I know conventions. Been in and out of them all my life... for various reasons, purposes and employers ;) Of all the cities I've been to, I can't think of a city that has more to offer to convention-goers than our lovely District. Sure, New York City is great, but there's so much to do and see here, and I won't bore you with a list of things, because you learn about them in every Government or Pol Sci class you take. Or Art History... or Zoology... you get the idea. Last weekend I was lucky enough to be invited to the College Democrats of America 2005 National Convention. I was like, all right, so I have to sit there and watch all those politicans put on shows and try to get our votes, for two days straight.. then I realized that I had nothing better to do than just go and watch the show, and avoid the heat wave that invades DC every summer.

My decision was a good one. We had several esteemed speakers- the former Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairperson, Terry McAuliffe (such a politican, that one!), USAction president William McNary (I had to pinch myself and look around to make sure I wasn't attending a Southern Baptist convention), current DNC chairperson and former presidential candidate, oh- and the Governor of Vermont, Howard Dean (no, he didn't appear to be anything like a lunatic, and his speech was fun), and last but not least, former First Lady and current Senator, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Interestingly enough, I think the speech that impacted me the most was the speech by William McNary- the one I was looking forward to the least. He got thunderous standing ovations at every pause in his speech, and while he was fiery towards Republicans, he was an effective speaker.

Senator Clinton applauding us while LaToia Jones, the executive director of CDA, looks on approvingly

College students are a tough group. We either believe fervently in something, or don't believe in it at all. We're all or nothing- we either get straight A's or give up and get mediocre grades. We either give a candidate most of our votes or abandon them completely. After all, it was in front of a group of college students that Dean reportedly became a raving, frothing lunatic- but really, that whole thing was blown out of proportion. It's like taking a photo of a kid chasing and yelling at an ice cream truck out of context. You're likely to think the kid is undergoing some kind of excruciating pain when, in fact, he's just throwing an tantrum, a little out of breath. But yeah, I understand if you wouldn't vote for that kid for President.. but Dean's got something, and you can't see it on television. He has that kind of personality that makes him instantly likable, and that's why he's the DNC chairperson, much to the enjoyment of several senior Republicans. But none of these Republicans showed up at the convention to persuade the students to convert to the Elephant Party.

Dean welcoming the throng as he enters the Washington Court Hotel Grand Ballroom

We're obviously College Democrats- our slogans proudly displayed at the convention were "Be a Smart Ass, Vote Democrat", and "Hillary! Hillary! Hillary!", and there was a severe shortage of retro Marc Jacobs-designed baby tees with Hillary's mug slapped on 'em. Now that I look back on it, though, I really would have welcomed Republicans there, me being a bipartisan and diplomatic person. Gallaudet does that to you. We have a College Democrats chapter at Gallaudet, and last time I checked, there were still a few Republicans roving around campus. People accept you for who you are- not because you're Democrat or Republican, but just because you're an individual attending the same college they are. That should be universal. Sure, we like to joke around party lines, but we'd rather party together than discuss divisions of politics.

Dean doing his thing

On Saturday, I attended the CDA officer elections as the sole delegate of Gallaudet, and our lovely District was presented with our first official "state" status in the elections, which meant we could put in a number of votes proportionally equal to the number of chapters in DC. Yay. So, when the turn came for the State Federation Leader of the District of Columbia to announce our first vote, he started out by bellowing "The Great State of the District of Columbia gives 22 votes to..."

Yeah, so we're not as big as Pennyslvania with their 71 delegates. But hey, we're a pretty great place. We have lots of landmarks. Lots of monuments. Lots of museums. Lots of colleges. Lots of Democrats. Lots of Republicans. Lots of independents- let's not forget about them- and we have lots of love. Summer in DC is always good, and convention-goers know this. Maybe we're hot, and humid, and sweaty, and sing "America the Beautiful" off-key, but at least we have a lot of rabid college students that can show you a good time.