I'm sitting on the convention floor right now in the Illinois delegation. Nancy Pelosi has just asked for seconds on adoption of the platform. We're still in the prelims and most of the big name delegates have not shown up though I saw Dan Hynes, Linda Chapa Lavia (wearing a Cubs jersey) and Sheila Simon is currently sitting behind me.
It is pretty exhilarating to be on the floor even though there isn't anything going on really. I can only imagine what it will be like later when the big name speakers are giving the high profile speeches.
One interesting little comment is that since Illinois is, of course, front and center they're having a little problem with the seating. Apparently Illinois always does assigned seating and they've got Mayor Daley, Gov. Blagojevich, Mike Madigan, Dick Durbin, and all the big names in the front row. Usually these are the best seats in the house, but this year they're like the first row in a movie theater. Or maybe a better simile is that of a concert because there's plenty of fans standing at the base of the stage making those front row seats really bad... They're trying to redo the seating behind me right now...
Well, we're trading off the floor pass and my time is up. I'll attach some pictures to this post later tonight.
I forgot to mention the states surrounding us... Virginia is directly behind Illinois, to the right is Colorado and Michigan, and to the left is Florida and a smattering of smaller states (electorally) including Delaware, Nevada, North Dakota, New Hampshire, Montana, Alaska, with New York behind them.
