Local Dems get set for historic convention

Kullen to travel to Denver

Friday, Aug. 22, 2008

By the time Del. Sue Kullen (D-Calvert), former St. Mary’s Commissioner President Julie Randall and Charles County Central Committee Chairwoman Virginia Benedict arrive in the Mile High City this weekend, Obama is expected to announce his running mate and kick his campaign for the White House against presumptive Republican nominee John S. McCain III into high gear.

Obama, who is slated to speak on Thursday before more than 70,000 people at Invesco Field, will become the first African-American to win a major party nomination for president. He captured enough delegates to claim the nomination during a protracted primary that saw him duel with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who will address the party faithful on Tuesday night.

‘‘Everything about Obama is history-making, so the acceptance speech is going to be very exciting,” said Kullen, who is attending her first party convention. Obama’s acceptance speech falls on the 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous ‘‘I Have A Dream” speech in Washington, D.C. Clinton’s address comes exactly 88 years after the Nineteenth Amendment, which granted women the right to vote, became law.

Maryland’s 99-member delegation will likely play a small role in convention proceedings, although Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) and U.S. Reps. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md., 5th) and Christopher Van Hollen (D-Md., 8th) have been tapped for speaking roles during the four-day affair.

Kullen and Randall are both pledged Obama delegates.

And while the highlights of the four-day affair are the prime-time speeches, Kullen is eager to attend a health care forum with Clinton and House Speaker Nancy S. Pelosi (D-Calif.) and attend a women’s rally — a so-called ‘‘Chickfest” — hosted by EMILY’s List, a national women’s advocacy group that promotes women candidates for elected office.

Obama is a heavy favorite to win Maryland, where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a roughly 2-to-1 margin. That has party leaders encouraging Marylanders to help campaign in the key swing states of Virginia and Pennsylvania, but Kullen also wants to see Southern Maryland fall in the blue column.

‘‘There’s some work to do in our backyard,” she said. ‘‘It’s a conservative part of the state, but among Democrats, I think folks are really excited about his campaign. I can’t correctly estimate how much folks are wanting change.”

And she told local Obama supporters that she’d bring back some goodies to help in that crusade. ‘‘Because Maryland’s really not a state in play, we don’t have a lot of bumper stickers and signs, so I promised the group that I’d take everything in sight that wasn’t nailed down,” Kullen joked.