My phone rang at 7:15 a.m. Saturday – it was Tony O’Donnell asking if I was going to the South Carolina breakfast.

Ugh, was my initial thought, as it was so early.

Then he told me Karl Rove would be there – ugh, again, as I am not a fan of the man who nearly took the skin off of my candidate eight years ago.

Still, I got myself ready and headed to the breakfast. Rove arrived and a line formed for those seeking pictures with “the architect.”

He told stories of how he first entered politics and traveled to South Carolina to meet up with the then unknown Lee Atwater, whom some describe as a near-brilliant political operative. Atwater, who died in 1991, was a GOP consultant and trusted adviser to President Ronald Reagan, was RNC chairman. Rove described how they moved through South Carolina doing door-knocking and literature drops – the real grunt, core work of any campaign. I reminisce about my good friend from Texas, Koreen Hughes, and the fun we had as she taught me how to work like that during my first run for the Maryland General Assembly.

Rove also told the story of Bud Day. Day was a POW with Senator McCain who escaped the prison compound. The North Vietnamese were so embarrassed that Day broke free that when they recaptured him his punishment was to be tortured by breaking his arm so severely that his wrist bone was popped out at the elbow. They then yanked it back and positioned it so it would never heal correctly, putting Day in constant pain. It was Senator McCain who gathered bamboo to make a splint. But first he had to break Bud Day’s arm again. Yikes. And he did. He broke his comrade’s arm and then placed the bamboo splints so that Day was no longer in that excruciating pain. McCain, of course, spent 2 years in solitary confinement for that compassionate, courageous act.

Okay. So maybe it wasn’t all bad to get up early for Karl Rove.

But here’s the best part - Fred Davis, the creative mind behind McCain’s TV ads was there. He was the inspiration of the morning. He entertained us with clips from ads past and those upcoming. I would have been disappointed had I decided to blow off the breakfast, slept in and then learned Mr. Davis was also a speaker.

After getting settled in at our new hotel in St. Paul, chatting with staff from the Maryland State Party - April Rose and Justin Ready - Don Murphy, O’Donnell and I headed to the Padelford Landing for an old-fashioned ride down the mighty Mississippi. It was an enjoyable afternoon. The weather is near perfect. Low humidity and hot sun. The ride down the Mississippi was very relaxing. Thursday, the entire delegation will take the ride and be treated to a luncheon.

-- Carmen Amedori

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It’s Friday, and Delegates from across the country are arriving in Minneapolis for the festivities that will begin Sept. 1 in St. Paul.

They are greeted by the news that Sen. McCain has chosen a conservative woman as his running mate.

Gov. Sarah Palin has energized this campaign. I have a smile on my face that just cannot be erased. As the working mother of two daughters, I can relate to what it is to multi-task, balancing children, family, career and commitment to all.

I am impressed with the VP pick for her personal and political accomplishments. I think she must be able to use both hands, perhaps simultaneously, and have eyes in the back of her head, like me, my mom, my grand mom and most of the moms I know who are working hard to make ends meet while raising a family.

As we walk to the Conservative Leadership luncheon, delegation Chair Don Murphy and I are recognized by campaigners and political operatives from across the country. It is a nice feeling to know folks we worked with during the primaries remember us.

Once there, the chatter is about Palin’s background as a hockey player, a broadcast journalist and her high school nickname of Sarah Barracuda. The consensus is Gov. Palin is a strong contender. She has 13 years of government experience under her belt.

Sara Palin has taken on the government. She has reformed Alaska in many ways, including being fiscally responsible by lowering taxes and going after the big oil companies. Her tenacity has served Alaska constituents well, and, as Gov. Palin has said, she will do no less for the citizens of the United States.

This week has been so filled with the committee work that I hadn’t even noticed the cute emblems in the hotel lobbies which illuminate the RNC seal lighting the way.

So now it is off to St. Paul where the party begins. It is time to repack my suitcase and shuttle to the new hotel. Some state delegations are staying in Minneapolis. While I dread the repacking, it comes with the solace that the new hotel is only 5 blocks from the Xcel Energy Center. Come Monday, all the members of Maryland’s Delegation will be there. It seems fitting that our convention will be in the Energy Center – we are so ready to rock.

-- Carmen Amedori

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I came to Minneapolis a week before the GOP Convention in St. Paul to assist in forming the Republican platform.

It is very quiet on the south side of Minnesota’s largest city with 369,000 residents. The scenery is like downtown Baltimore, with tall, large office buildings.

Yet it is very quaint. Homey almost. Kinda like Carroll County in the years of old.

Not many cars on the road, very few people are walking around on this sunny afternoon. Almost total silence, as I sit outside the hotel and enjoy a little bite to eat before the first gathering of the Resolutions Committee.

Breaking the quiet after almost two and a half hours into my arrival there is a squealing – a siren in the distance. An ambulance rushes by.

As I enter the revolving door of the hotel, there is a sign “No Guns are Permitted on the Premises.” Revelation: Minnesota is a right-to-carry state. The only policemen I see are in the Minneapolis Convention Center.

I am told there are about 50 murders a year in this city of peacefulness; so unlike Baltimore. I wonder: Does the right to carry a concealed firearm have anything to do with the low crime rate ?

By the third day, everything is on schedule; we worked Monday through Wednesday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., crafting the platform which articulates the philosophies and positions of the Party of Lincoln.

It was rewritten from top to bottom, going from 40,000 words to about half the size, with the hope that being so concise would convey a clearer understanding of what being a Republican means, and would encourage folks to register and vote Republican.

Our co-chairs, Congressman Kevin McCarthy, (R-CA) and Sen. Richard Burr (R-SC) were very patient in allowing each of the 106 members to debate and amend the document that will be the basis for Senator John S. McCain to accept his nomination as the next president of the United States.

Maryland House Republican Leader Tony O’Donnell and I had front row assignments in the full committee, which was televised live by C-SPAN. It was truly an honor to be a part of this historic process. It is a document that should be read by anyone who is interested in the governing principals of the GOP. I am proud to be a Republican, and an American, where I know I am free to have a voice in the process.

-- Carmen Amedori

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Carmen Amedori, 52, was born in the Govans neighborhood of Baltimore, and her family later moved to Reisterstown, where she spent her teen years.

Her political interest was sparked as a young woman. She recalls an episode in a classroom at Villa Julie college, where a professor recognized the name of one of the students: it was Jamie McGuirk, daughter of state Sen. Harry J. McGuirk.

A student leaned over to Amedori, and whispered: “I wish my dad was a senator.”

“Too late for that. I’ll have to be a senator,” Amedori responded.

She has been a Republican since the 1970s, a time when the party’s prospects were flagging due to Watergate and Nixon. She joined the party, she said, because it seemed like the underdog.

Amedori spent years as a paralegal, doing title abstracts and raising two girls with her first husband. But she had other interests: one day, driving past the Baltimore Sun, she said “I’m going to work there.” Within weeks, she had entered the world of journalism, at the Sun in Carroll County. She stayed in the profession for about three years.

Amedori’s political connections in Carroll County strengthened after her second marriage to Jerry Barnes, who would become the Carroll state’s attorney. She ran his campaign, and when he was elected in 1994, her involvement accelerated.

She got involved with local Republican groups, and was asked to serve on a panel that was reviewing the county charter in 1997. Unhappy with what the board produced, she resigned as chairman two weeks before the vote and campaigned against the changes. The charter amendments were defeated. A year later, she was elected to the House of Delegates. After Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. was elected in 2002, he put Amedori on the state parole commission, where she still serves.

Amedori supported McCain during the 2000 campaign, a decision that smacked of rebellion. Ellen R. Sauerbrey, the former gubernatorial candidate, was head of the George W. Bush campaign in Maryland, but had not tapped any residents of Republican stronghold Carroll County to run as convention delegates.

“She slighted Carroll County, and I was very upset,” Amedori said. Legislative colleague Don Murphy of Catonsville was touting McCain, so Amedori took a look, and decided to back the Arizona senator.

“I wasn’t doing it totally to rock the boat,” she said. “The more I learned about him, the more I saw a lot of me in him.”

She attended the 2000 convention as an alternate delegate, and has supported McCain ever since. This year, she volunteered with the campaign, doing advance work for town hall meetings in Florida, and getting to meet the candidate and his family.

Throughout the primaries, “the more his numbers went up, the more excited I got,” she said.

-- written by David Nitkin

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This week has gone by in a whirlwind. There have been breakfast meetings, luncheons, caucus meetings, receptions, parties and speaker forums sponsored by many different groups as well as individual politicians. It has been a blast!

The Democratic National Convention has been an overwhelming success. We are once again united as one to serve the interest of many. Our leaders have shown themselves to be some of the most articulate, hardworking, well-organized and dedicated people in the world. I’m growing confident that in a few short months, I will once again be able to trust my government to fight for me.

I say once again because “they” have dropped the ball. They let services for our children and elderly be taken away. They let the safety and quality of our food be compromised. They let the price of gasoline escalate and threaten our economic security. They let the quality of our schools plummet and the cost of higher education soar out of reach for the average American.

Wait a minute. There is no “they.” Only me and we! No one should know that better. I am one of the 100 delegates who represented you, progressive Marylanders, this past week. I got to sit in a world-class stadium with 80,000 other Americans and listen to the next president of the United States tell us to take back our country! I experienced first-hand that golden moment in the afterglow of Barack’s acceptance speech when the air was fresh, the sky above us clear, confetti poured down, and spirits soared. It was as if we were all in a snow globe!

I now feel in my heart what I’ve always known in my head; America is our treasure! She embodies the hopes and dreams not only of us but of the entire world! We have only 65 days to ensure that we get her back! It becomes clearer and clearer every day that Barack Obama is the leader to get us where we need to go. Marylanders, we have worked very hard to support our candidate. We now must work even harder.

Mike and I have left Denver. We arrive in St. Louis to visit our daughter at college before returning to Maryland, and the campaign trail. As our shuttle-bus driver takes us to our rental car, he summarizes it all. Reacting to the personalized “Obama ‘08” button I am wearing he volunteers: “We’ve got to bring out every single voter to win in November. There are no second chances here!”

-- Cheryl Miller

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On Monday and Tuesday evening at the Pepsi Center, the seating section for the Maryland Delegation had been a beehive of activity, with visiting family members, Obama volunteers, current and former elected officials, and friends of all-of-the-above sprinkled in liberally with those of us who are actually voting delegates. Not so today, Wednesday August 27th, the day on which we delegates actually “earn our pay”. Today we choose a nominee. Today each individual delegate must vote, with the results to be reported in a state-by-state roll call. At breakfast, all of this has been to explained to us by our Maryland Democratic Party leaders. There will be no visitors seated amongst us as the official business of nominating Barack Obama unfolds on national TV.

There are too many things to do. Weeks ago, I had signed up for “Delegate Community Service Day”, and the busses will depart soon to take us to plant trees in a local park. No way I can fulfill this obligation and still get to the floor of the convention by “3 o-clock sharp” to be in place to cast my vote before Maryland’s name comes up in the rollcall. My husband Mike loves to garden. He will do my community service, I will go vote; problem solved.

Eventually I learn that I can cast my vote in writing, before leaving the hotel, instead of waiting until I arrive on the convention floor. On August 27, at precisely 12:32 p.m., I submit my vote for Obama. I know in my heart that I have just played a part in history, and that the man I am nominating will transform the Democratic Party and our beloved United States of America in wonderful ways. The emotional and historical significance of this moment is unlike anything I have ever felt in my life.

Every day, transportation is provided for all delegates from our hotel, the Renaissance Denver, to the actual convention at the Pepsi Center downtown. Today I find myself sitting next to delegate Deborah Breedlove from South Carolina. We share stories about our respective states and the significant events that played a part in our current success.

Arriving at the Pepsi Center, we go through many security points before getting to Section 116 where the Maryland delegation has resided for the last 3 days. I can’t believe it! Just before leaving my room I applied my favorite perfume and put the bottle in my purse rather than leaving it in my room. It turns out to be the first casualty of the trip! OUCH!

Once seated on the floor of the convention hall, there is an intensity within the delegation that I have not felt on previous days. It’s all because we have to vote!! The roll call has begun; Alabama (60 votes; 48 Barack, 5 Hilary); Alaska (18 votes; 15 Barack, 3 Hillary).

Our Maryland delegates are not yet all accounted for. We were supposed to report in by 3:00 pm. It is already 3:45 and all votes have not been counted. The roll call proceeds; American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas… We get all the way to Kansas before our last delegate arrives. Only Kentucky and Louisiana stood between us and an awkward moment in the national spotlight.

We made it just in time! Maryland casts 100 votes; 94 for Barack, 6 for Hillary. Little do I realize that the real drama is only minutes away from unfolding. I have no idea of the coming display of unity that will result in Barack being nominated by acclamation!!

-- Cheryl Miller

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Each morning at 7:30 am our entire Maryland Delegation meets for breakfast and a formal program of events.

These state-by-state meetings represent the “convention-inside-the-convention,” and we’ve been encouraged to arrive especially early on Wednesday morning.

Promises of “a special guest” and free sports jerseys for the first 100 to arrive have been dangled as extra enticement.

I’m finally feeling jet lag, but by 7:20 a.m. I open my hotel door, and Mike and I emerge wearing matching orange Orioles T-shirts. The breakfast theme, we’ve been told is “Team Maryland,” and we should come decked out in apparel representing our favorite team.

As if on cue, Dan Clements, the whip of our Maryland Delegation, emerges from his hotel room directly across the hall from my own.

Dan is wearing street clothes, and comments how great it would be if he’d packed an Obama T-shirt to wear right now, because that, for sure, is the team we are all on.

My husband jumps in to say that we have a whole stack of T-shirts, and, hey, let's all go change into our Obama gear.

Dan agrees, picks a blue Obama '08 shirt from our private stash, and we disappear back into our respective rooms for a quick wardrobe change.

By 7:28 am the three of us roll into the "Team Maryland" breakfast meeting.

There is a marching band, part of the Denver Broncos drumline, playing on stage. The mood is electric and the dress in the room is eclectic. Everybody is fired up and ready to go. Everyone is euphoric.

After all, the night before Hillary Clinton has delivered the speech of a lifetime and everyone in the room is in love with Hillary for being in love with Barack Obama. We are feeling unified and energized.

Before breakfast ends, we have been treated to remarks of encouragement by each of the highest ranking elected officials from the state of Maryland. Our special guest is none other than Maryland’s own daughter, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Her serious and impassioned remarks challenge, inform and encourage us.

-- Cheryl Miller

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By 3 o’clock on Monday afternoon, all the security checkpoints were behind me.

Now, inside the Pepsi Center for the very first time, I took my seat in the section reserved for the Maryland delegation and began to take in the scene that swirled around me.

The main stage appeared to glitter at times, and by some magic of technology every sight and sound coming from the podium seemed to burst forth larger-than-life -- surrounding us like so many stars in a high-tech planetarium.

The Maryland delegation was seated so high up that initially it felt as if we were little more than observers of the “real action” down on the floor where the delegation banners of such battleground states as Virginia, New Mexico, and Iowa seemed to surround Obama’s own Illinois delegation.

However, as the evening progressed and the parade of fantastic speakers unfolded, the hubbub of the “maddening crowd” enveloped us quickly and often.

My eyes settled on the image of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, one of the earliest speakers of the evening. As I took in her inspiring words about the historical significance of the convention, I was also struck by the elegance of her attire, a white Nehru-collared pantsuit that was just perfect for the woman and the moment.

The sight of Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter at the podium filled me with nostalgia.

It is not unusual for former presidents to go on to make phenomenal contributions to the social and political causes they champion after leaving office. But in my book of heroes, no former president has done a better of job of this than Jimmy Carter. I was happy to be in the same room as him.

Jessie Jackson, Jr. took the stage. He caused chills to run down my spine when he made reference to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. looking down on our assembly, being held “in the mile high city of Denver.” This is the first national political convention in history, the younger Jackson went on to assert, “that is being convened within sight of a mountaintop”. His potent symbolism was lost on no one.

In some corner of my mind I had wondered if six hours worth of speeches would eventually leave me with ebbing enthusiasm and engagement. Not to worry! The events of the evening were flying by. There were side conversations, new people to meet, old friends to chat with and an ever more compelling roster of speakers taking the podium at center stage.

I loved the testimonial to Ted Kennedy, and seeing him muster the strength needed for his moment. There was also Caroline Kennedy. Hours after my chance one-on-one elevator encounter with Caroline, I’m again one of the anonymous millions being warmed by her words as she graciously insists that Barack Obama deserves to be in the same company as her long-fallen, but never forgotten dad.

But then came THE moment of the evening. Placards bearing her name were quietly distributed. We all settled into our seats. Michele Obama was about to speak -- to us and to the world.

-- Cheryl Miller

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 3:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Shhh! Shhh! Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings is admonishing us to silence so that the formal program of speeches can begin in earnest on our first evening together in Denver as a Maryland Delegation.

Over many months as political activists in the Obama campaign, we have grown accustomed to Elijah’s able and inspiring leadership. As a result, the room quickly falls quiet.

With the speeches that ensue at this Sunday evening reception inside our hotel, our week-long work as delegates has finally begun. The room is full of familiar faces from the campaign trail. Our governor, Martin O’Malley, mounts the stage following words of praise from Congressman Cummings for his role in leading our state, and uniting our party. The governor’s words and his obvious enthusiam reinforce the message that Maryland is -- and must be -- united behind Obama.

He reminds us that hard work got us to this point, and will remain key in the days remaining before November 4th. He mentions the importance of winning even more Maryland congressional seats for Democrats, so “President” Obama will have a great Congress.

I swell with pride that we have donated office space to help Frank Kratovil in his quest to win the seat now held by moderate Republican Wayne Gilcrest.

After the first wave of speeches, the reception lapses into a fresh round of private conversations, warm greetings and picture taking.

The room is all abuzz. After a while, we are called back to attention, as various national political leaders have come to visit and are now ready to speak with our group. Steny Hoyer, the House Democratic leader, mounts the podium, greets us, and encourages us.

Former presidential candidate, Sen. John Kerry takes the stage, and from only 20 feet in front of me, shares lessons learned from his unsuccessful bid for president. The essence of his message hits home; victory in 2008, like in 2004 may come down to only a handful of votes in a handful of states …… our work as campaign volunteers to reach every voter is of utmost importance.

Monday morning and there is more excitement in the air. Each breath brings a new experience. My ride on the elevator results in a chance encounter with Caroline Kennedy. A true believer in Camelot, I am thrilled as she graciously shakes my hand as we descend to the lobby.

I learn something quite interesting from a podium speaker!

Did you know that Baltimore hosted the first democratic convention in 1832 and the five subsequent conventions ending in 1852 and then again in 1860, 1972 and 1912?

This morning’s breakfast speaker is former Colorado senator and presidential contender Gary Hart. His comments were riveting! Twenty-five years ago, he had written that “our sons and daughters would die needlessly in a series of desert wars” if we did not bite the bullet and start making inconvenient but necessary decisions on energy and the environment.

I leave the official breakfast meeting “fired up and ready to go.” One small problem, my hotel room was not the size I needed… so its back to the front desk to try to sort out one of life’s little problems.

(Written by Cheryl Miller)

Posted by David Nitkin at 4:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

We are flying into Denver on Sunday, and we have been somewhat fatigued.

Not only have we been packing to send our youngest daughter off to college, we're also recovering from a great event for Barack Obama at our home on Saturday, Aug. 9th.

My husband and I, along with the entire Anne Arundel County for Obama volunteer group, sponsored a fundraiser to Elect Obama in our home. We had approximately 350 people in attendance that day in a three-part open house beginning at 9 a.m. and ending at 10 p.m.

There were great feelings of euphoria and exuberance as we greeted people that just eight short months ago were strangers -- some of whom we now call our friends.

But now it's off to Denver.

Each day in the mail, there is an invitation to yet another event. Americans For Democratic Action; Working Families WIN; Congressional Black Caucus Foundation; Emily's List -- just a small sampling of the invitations that are coming my way. All of this in addition to the many gala events sponsored by many local and national politicians.

There are the usual packing dilemmas, of course: flat comfortable shoes vs. sexy diva sling-backs, shawls for the very cold air-conditioning environments and sleeveless for the hot!

For all of my excitement about this social extravaganza, there are feelings of anxiety and discomfort that I just can't seem to shake about the Clinton roll call.

What does it mean to have a roll call at a national convention? How will this affect the party? Will it weaken the presumptive nominee and his chances for securing the presidency?

I know that it is intended to unite the party after a divisive primary fight and I pray that it will provide the necessary healing.

But what if it doesn't?

Just when I seem to be overwhelmed by all of the negative possibilities, my eyes go to the screen saver on the computer. It is one of the many pictures (below) taken of guests and volunteers at our fundraiser, many of whom were Hilary supporters during the primary season. I let out a deep sigh of relief! I just know that "everything is gonna be alright"!

(Written by Cheryl Miller)

Posted by David Nitkin at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

For Cheryl Miller, the Obama candidacy rekindled a passion buried long ago.

An Anne Arundel County native who studied political science in college, Miller, 55, said she became “disenchanted” with public service after working briefly with the U.S. Conference of Mayors after graduation.

“When we were in college, everybody wanted to save the world,” she said in a recent interview. “Then you graduate, and you start understanding how hard that is.”

Working on programs in Los Angeles, Miller became frustrated because “the people that I wanted to help the most were the hardest to get to.”

So she moved on, putting her career on hold after getting married and moving around the globe with her husband, an executive with Washington Gas, and two children. The family has lived in Connecticut, California and South Africa before settling in Annapolis.

She and her husband invested in commercial real estate, and she launched a small home-based event planning business.

Miller first became aware of Obama during the 2004 Democratic Convention, when he delivered the keynote speech. Watching from home, she was intrigued. Obama “ignited something that was dead in me,” she said.

But it was the words of a friend that triggered her intense involvement in the Obama campaign.
She was invited to a local fund-raiser event in fall 2007 by a host who told her: “I don’t know what is going to happen with this guy, but there is something special about him. We cannot allow him to look bad. We cannot allow him to go unsupported.”

It was before the Obama candidacy had taken off, and Hillary Clinton was riding high in polls. “The thinking was Hillary Clinton was going to have all this money,” Miller said. “He did not deserve to look embarassed.”

The words resonated, and after the fund-raising event, Miller dove in.

She and her husband turned space in a commercial building they own on Ritchie Highway into the Anne Arundel volunteer headquarters for the Obama campaign.

The space buzzed with activity, with weekly meetings, phone-banking and voter registration. It was also a forum for passionate discussions on race and other hot-button topics.

“People would ask questions they didn’t know how to ask,” she said. “We talked to each other about our feelings and our issues.” The Obama campaign, Miller said, has created “the truest diversity I have ever known.”

During major events, such as the Super Tuesday primaries, Miller would make food for the crowd. “We’re like a family,” she said.

The commitment of Miller and her husband drew the attention of Obama’s top supporters in Maryland.

Her name wasn’t on the ballot Feb. 12, when 46 of Maryland’s 99 Democratic convention delegates were selected by primary voters. She was chosen later as one of 15 “pledged at-large add-on delegates” at a state party meeting in May.

This will be Miller’s first convention, and she’s taking it seriously. She’s not going to Denver to wear funny hats and attend parties.

“I look at this as hard work,” she said. “I look at this as a huge responsibility.”

-- David Nitkin

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