State Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, was living in the moment Monday – while dreading it was about to end.
He stood before the California delegation, delivering a thundering speech for the party to unify behind presumptive nominee Barack Obama. "We are one! We are one! We are one!" he shouted.
Then Florez rushed off to catch a plane, because things are far from unified back in the Capitol in California.
Despite admonitions from outgoing Senate leader Don Perata that all Democrats must stay home to work through the state budget stalemate, Florez and fellow state Sen. Alex Padilla and Assembly members John Laird, Lori Saldaña and Mike Davis made it to Denver for the state delegation's opening breakfast.
Florez was returning in time for this week's floor sessions but wasn't happy about it.
"I wish deeply in my heart I could stay and personally witness the most historic convention in my lifetime," he said.
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina seized a new role Monday as the recruiter-in-chief for disaffected supporters of Hillary Clinton.
Fiorina, a Republican, was master of ceremonies at a curious Denver press event held under the GOP's new anti-Barack Obama banner for the Democratic Convention in this mile-high city – "Not Ready '08 – A Mile High, An Inch Deep."
The rumored 2010 California gubernatorial candidate announced a national advertising campaign by the John McCain camp to woo Clinton's backers. It was a sharp departure from long-standing GOP tactics depicting the New York senator and former first lady as a loathsome symbol for liberal Democrats.
But Fiorina said Clinton won McCain's heart as a bipartisan worker in the Senate, adding that McCain now hopes to do the same with her backers.
There's a new hero in town for the California delegation. And it isn't just because state Controller John Chiang has secured one of those afternoon, not-ready-for-prime-time speaking gigs at the convention.
Chiang was greeted with a huge ovation at the delegation's Monday morning gathering – all because he refused Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's order to pay state workers $6.55 an hour during the state budget stalemate. California Democratic Chairman Art Torres introduced him as a "profile in courage."
Chiang, who will speak to the Democratic convention today at 3:30 p.m. California time, talked about Barack Obama and the urgency "for a big and powerful change." But his applause lines came when he spoke of keeping change in the pockets of California state workers.
Chiang said he was cutting regular checks – not $6.55 an hour – because "it's about bringing dignity, decency and respect to … people in crisis."
That brought delegates, including scores of state union members, out of their seats with applause.
Call Peter Hecht, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5539.
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