A long day

The First Full Day 

Tuesday was a remarkable day.  I arrived at about 2:20 PM and the convention was already underway.  The first few hours was procedural with committee reports.  There was some controversy when a rule change was proposed.  The Ron Paul contingent went crazy.

I have an Alternate Delegate badge and we have an assigned location.  They are very nice seats to the right of the stage.

Early in the schedule Congressman Dan Benishek from the 1st District in Michigan had a chance to make some remarks.  His district is one of the top 5 targets for the Democrats in 2012.

Speaker of the House John Boehner of Ohio got a very warm welcome.

You may notice the great camera angle on that shot.  Well...that is a story in itself.  I was sitting in the Alternate section and just before the roll call of states our MRP Executive Director Kim Jorns comes up the stairs and points to me.  I followed her down to the floor where I stopped on the last step and got myself into the official convention picture. (not sure when we will get to see that)  Then our National Committeeman Saul Anuzis came over and motioned to the security guard "He's with me" and they took me over to our delegation seats.  I grabbed an open seat in the 2nd row...where I stayed for what seemed like 2 hours.

I later learned that we had a delegate missing and when they could not find an alternate from that congressional district to fill the spot...I got picked! 

Here you can see Governor Rick Snyder as he gets ready to announce our votes during the roll call of states. His daughter is standing next to him.  Behind and to the left is John Rakolta Jr. (CEO of Walbridge and an Alternate from our 11th Congressional District).  To the right of the Governor's daughter is Ronna Romney McDainel (Mitt's Niece and I am her Alternate from the 11th Congressional District) and our National Committeewoman Holly Hughes.