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Convention Coverage: Red and Blue, With a Hint of Green
Abdon
Moriarty Pallasch reports from the Democratic and Republican conventions.
Ireland was in the background at this year’s Democratic and Republican
National Conventions, but it was there.
On the eve of the Democratic Convention in Denver, Senator Barack Obama
appeared in Springfield, Illinois, to introduce his candidate for vice
president, Senator Joe Biden of Delaware.
Biden has long been an outspoken advocate for Irish-American issues and
Obama has struggled to win over Irish-American voters, so part of the
calculus that went into the choice of Biden was the hope that Biden can
bring voters in places like his home town of Scranton, Pennsylvania into
Obama’s column. Between them, they mentioned “Scranton” five times and
“Catholic” three times during the speech.
“He was the son of a single mom, who struggled to support herself and her
kids and raised him to believe in America,” Biden said about Obama. “I was
different. I was an Irish Catholic kid from Scranton.”
When he got to the convention and gave his speech on Wednesday night, Biden
pointed to his mother, Catherine Eugene Finnegan Biden, sitting in the
audience. Some conservative bloggers criticized Biden for referring to her
as a great “American” in Denver when in the past he has complimented his
mother – of Derry heritage – with being “quintessentially Irish.”
“Biden 08 plagiarizes from Biden 06 – transforms his mother from Irish to
American,” one anti-Obama website railed.
Returning to his hometown of Scranton the Monday after the convention, Biden
recounted that when he grew up there, “To be Irish was to be Catholic was to
be Democrat.”
Back
at the convention, Senator Edward Kennedy, recovering from cancer treatment,
made a surprise appearance and was greeted with a tumultuous ovation.
“I have come here tonight to stand with you to change America, to restore
its future, to rise to our best ideals and to elect Barack Obama to the
presidency of the United States,” Kennedy said to a standing crowd.
“Together we have known success and seen setbacks ... but we have never lost
our belief that we are all called to a better country and a newer world,” he
said. “I pledge to you that I will be there next January on the floor of the
Senate.”
His brief speech marked only the second time he has been seen in public
since undergoing surgery for a brain tumor on June 2. His appearance came at
his own insistence, a source close to the Kennedys said.
The 76-year-old senator compared Obama to his brother, the late president.
“We are told that Barack Obama believes too much in an America of high
principle and bold endeavors,” Ted said. “But when John F. Kennedy thought
of going to the moon, he didn’t say, ‘It’s too far to get there – we
shouldn’t even try.’
“Our
people answered his call and rose to the challenge, and today an American
flag still marks the surface of the moon.”
He added: “This November, the torch will be passed again to a new generation
of Americans. So, with Barack Obama and for you and for me, our country will
be committed to his cause. The work begins anew. The hope rises again. And
the dream lives on.”
“[Ted Kennedy has] been a powerful force around the world for human rights
and human dignity, for refugees and the dispossessed; he helped end
apartheid in South Africa and bring peace in Northern Ireland,” his niece,
Caroline Kennedy, told delegates.
On Monday night of the convention, Senator Dick Durbin and U.S. Rep. Rahm
Emanuel held a party at Fado’s Irish pub which filled a city block.
Maryland’s bodhrán-playing Governor Martin O’Malley repeated the feat on
Wednesday night at the convention. O’Malley grabbed a guitar and Virginia
Governor Tim Kaine, a runner-up to Biden in the Veep-stakes, joined him on
harmonica.
In Minnesota’s Twin Cities at the Republican National Convention,
Irish-American Republicans and Carribean-American Republicans held a joint
celebration at the Minneapolis City Hall where the corned beef overwhelmed
the jerk chicken. Former Taoiseach (Prime Minister) John Bruton; Irish
Ambassador Michael Collins; former Reagan cabinet secretary and ambassador
to Ireland Margaret Heckler; Irish-American Republicans Director Grant Lally;
and others were on hand to push the Irish agenda.
Republican
nominee John McCain backed a plank in the Party platform supporting a
special envoy to Northern Ireland.
A video shown at the convention touted the Irish roots of aspiring first
lady Cindy McCain. Republican National Committee members held court at the
Liffey Pub across the street from the Excel Center in St. Paul where the
convention was being held. The Illinois delegation, led by State Rep. Jim
Durkin and Republican National Committeeman Patrick Brady, plotted ways to
bring John McCain on a fact-finding tour of Ireland should he win.
Abdon
Moriarty Pallasch reports from the Democratic and Republican conventions.
Back
at the convention, Senator Edward Kennedy, recovering from cancer treatment,
made a surprise appearance and was greeted with a tumultuous ovation.
“Our
people answered his call and rose to the challenge, and today an American
flag still marks the surface of the moon.”
Republican
nominee John McCain backed a plank in the Party platform supporting a
special envoy to Northern Ireland.