(Originally posted in Greater Democracy)

I went to Boston as a blogger credentialed by the Democratic party. I went to New York as a blogger without credentials. I visited conferences, demonstrations, the conference hall, and what stands out is the chant, “This is what democracy looks like.”

So, I thought I would take a few minutes and think about what the conventions looked like to me, a self proclaimed partisan.

In Boston, there were some small demonstrations, but mostly there were conferences and teach-ins. People learned how to be more involved in the political processes.

In Boston, I heard Bill Clinton talking about John Kerry saying, “Send Me” and getting all the delegates to say “Send me”. I heard Obama talk about One America, with room for blacks and whites, gays and straights, red states and blue states. I heard people talk about Kerry’s great military service. I heard a youngest talking about how Dick Cheney needs a time out. I heard loving daughters talk about their father saved a hamster. I heard veterans talk about a brother in arms that acted heroically. I heard echoes of John F. Kennedy saying, “ask not what your country can do for you: Ask what you can do for your country”

In New York, I saw hundreds of thousands of people peacefully march protesting policies of a president they don’t believe in. I heard Guiliani say that one of the first things he thought about when New York was attacked was how glad he was that Bush was President, and New Yorkers saying that the first thing they thought about was the safety of their friends. I heard Schwarzenegger speak of his favorite Republican role model, Richard Nixon, and talk about ‘One America’, which included calling people who disagreed with the President’s policies ‘girlymen’. I heard Zell Miller call Kerry weak on defense after previously calling him strong on defense and a true American hero. I then heard Miller lose it and say that he wished he could challenge Chris Matthews to a duel. I heard Bush’s daughters talk about the family tradition of being ‘spirited’ but managing to avoid retribution for their misdeeds. I heard people confusing the land of opportunity with the land of opportunists.

Outside of the conventions, I heard demonstrators give Fox News a taste of their own medicine by chanting ‘Shut Up’ outside of Fox Headquarters. I heard demonstrators yell ‘Shame’ at police mistreating people. I heard people chanting ‘Whose streets? Our Streets!’. I heard people weep as they saw reminders of the soldiers that have died in Iraq; boots at Union Square or caskets in the large demonstration. I heard a judge find New York City in contempt of court for repeatedly ignoring his orders to release people illegally detained by the city, and fining the city $1000 per detainee.

I’m sure that other people had different views of what the conventions looked like, but that too is part of what democracy looks like. It may not always be pretty, we may not all agree, but it sure beats the alternative.