"Pictures from KC convention"

Dinazina has the pictures and some words in response to the Seattle Times account.

Maria Cantwell's grand entrance was accompanied by an 8-piece marching drum corps and plenty of cheerleaders. (I was about to write "trumpeted" but there were no non-percussive instruments.) That may have masked the fact that (my guess) at least a quarter of those described in the P-I (I believe it was The Times-Howie) article as the "party faithful" were not fans of hers. Those delegates & party members held Wilson signs, talked at length with Wilson, applauded Cantwell only politely or not at all, or remained seated when others rose in ovation. A few even called out critical remarks during the extended introduction by her "close friend" from NARAL.

She did give a rousing speech with a strong, confident voice. To her credit, she acknowledged upfront that the party is a big tent with differing points of view: "So I wish Mark Wilson luck, but not too much." Yes, the so-called "Year of Transition" for Iraq that bugs David so much was mentioned, but mostly she spoke about reproductive rights, education, and energy policy, if I recall.

I thought Mark's (that's Mark Wilson-Howie) presentation was the smoothest I've seen him. He had only 3 minutes to speak, and had timed it perfectly. He started out thanking the party for receiving "even an outsider like myself" graciously, and giving him the privilege of speaking to the delegates. A little about his own family and background as a Marine and Veteran for Peace, then on to issues. He said that if you want a bi-partisan politician, vote for Cantwell, because he intends to be an obstructionist to the Bush agenda.

The other candidate for WA Senator was Hong Tran. She made good points, but sounded a little nervous and went over the 3- minute time limit. She was about to be cut off abruptly, but many audience members called out "let her finish!"-from Washblog.