I made it down to the convention floor this afternoon in search of the Old Dominion contingent, who occupy some of the sweetest seats in the house (along with Illinois), smack dab in front of center stage. Hmm… I wonder if this has anything to do with Virginia being a major swing state and source of a certain keynote speaker.
Some background about traveling down to the floor: press credentials give you access to the surrounding seating only. Reporters must trade in their press passes for a rotating floor pass, which they may keep for an hour (or sometimes only half an hour). If you don’t get the floor credential back in time, you’re in trouble. When I returned mine, a woman began chastising me for being late until she realized I was not the delinquent writer for the Washington Post she had in mind.
In the Virginia section I tracked down a delegate from Albemarle County. Judy (below), from Ivy, is a strong Obama supporter who said she never was for Hillary, adding that this seems to surprise some people since she falls into the stereotypical demographic of Clinton supporters.
When I asked Judy what she thought of Michelle Obama’s speech, she ebulliently exclaimed "She NAILED IT!" She said Michelle came off as "real" and "a dynamo filled with passion." I should also note that Judy lit up with almost as much excitement when she realized that I was from C-VILLE Weekly. Almost.
Another delegate explained to me that all of them were issued the Mark Warner t-shirt you see above.