Not much wackiness or drama to be found

Editor's note: Chip Roberson of Sonoma is one of California's 241 elected Democratic delegates. He is pledged to vote for Barack Obama and making his first trip to a political convention. He will file dispatches for The Press Democrat throughout the convention.

Expectations and reality often don't match.

Expectations are usually based on limited information, and reality can be a full-on five-sense experience. My understanding of conventions had been based on the limited information I saw in the coverage by the major TV networks.

I thought I'd see many people walking around in funny hats and crazy vests as that is what I often saw on TV. The reality in the hall is there are very few people in such attire. However, these are the people who draw the attention of the cameras and capture the eye, but do they reflect the larger population?

As I sit here on the floor of the Pepsi Center, I don't see the crazy hat people. I see people I would find anywhere I might go in America. To me this group would be unremarkable almost anywhere in this country. For this newcomer, the unremarkable nature of the convention attendees was unexpected.

Another expectation was that there was going to be drama with the Hillary Clinton supporters.

As I watched the media and read the reports, I have heard much about the "rift" in the party. While I have seen buttons and signs for Hillary Clinton, I have not observed the level of intensity that I thought was reflected in the reports leading up to the convention.

I have met and talked to a few of Clinton's supporters who are still in mourning. As someone who invested so much into a candidate and observed a tight race where not winning was an option, I contemplated my future as a Barack Obama delegate at a Clinton nominating convention. I knew it would be hard -- very hard.

Still, the women to whom I've spoken are sad and even a little angry over the loss and the slights they felt their candidate endured.

However, just as the lone Republican speaker Monday night pledged that "country comes before party," these women are putting "party before candidate." Still that does not remove the disappointment they feel over having come so close to a truly historic achievement.

Among the array of Obama signs and buttons on the floor, the cameras and the eyes seem to be drawn to the spot where a Clinton sign appears. However, I'm not seeing real anger or rage, but a deep desire for a truly pioneering woman to be given the respect they believe she is due.

There is no doubt that Clinton achieved something truly remarkable by coming within striking distance of the party's nomination. To a generation or more of women who have worked extra hard only to be denied time and time again, this contest had symbolism of epic proportions.

My hope is that we can finally pay tribute to this courageous woman and the 18 million people who fought so hard to put a woman in the White House.Chip

Roberson