Locals ready to taste history at Democratic convention

Jack Howard of Virginia Beach has been tuned in to political conventions since he was 12 years old. A self-described history buff originally from Mississippi, Howard gets juiced about the drama and unexpectedness of all of the action.

So to attend next week's Democratic National Convention in Denver as one of Hampton Roads' delegates, to cast a vote for the first black presidential nominee of a major party, and to watch U.S. Sen. Barack Obama accept the nomination on the 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech - it's like his whole life has been building up to next week.

"This is the Super Bowl for me," said Howard, the Hampton Roads regional bureau chief for the Virginia Department of Minority Business Enterprise.

Howard is among several Hampton Roads delegates who will be attending their first national convention next week.

They are expecting more than political action. This will be an event, they say.

In the week before Denver, many of the local delegates have been sifting through dozens of invitations to parties and gatherings that could put them in the same building as rapper Kanye West and filmmaker Spike Lee.

Others have spent hours on conference calls readying them for scores of caucus meetings.

Some delegates prepping for Denver were thrown for a loop by Obama's surprise Thursday visit to Chesapeake.

"It's a busy time," said Dominic Melito, head of the Virginia Beach Education Association, who will also be heading to Denver as a delegate.

With school revving up, Melito spent this week getting things squared away at work. He's also been collecting all of his event invitations in one folder.

Chesapeake City Councilwoman Ella Ward has been laying clothes out all week in preparation for Denver. Six pairs of shoes lined a room in her Western Branch home. Six pantsuits hung nearby.

Things were already hectic when Ward, who is head of the Chesapeake Democratic Committee, got pulled in to help organize Obama's visit to Oscar Smith High School.

"It wasn't in my wildest dreams that he would get here before the convention," Ward said.

The convention won't be cheap for delegates, who say they are paying their own way. Ward said flight and hotel costs alone for her and her husband could be $2,000.

Internet blogger Vivian Paige, also a delegate, will be bringing her BlackBerry Pearl cell phone, Lifebook laptop computer, and a hi-def video camera. She expects the convention to be busy. "I'll blog one way or another," she said.

Paige, who backed candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, said she was getting excited about the convention. Still, "this has been tough for a Hillary supporter," she said.

"I'm trusting the process."

Howard will be a whip for the Obama delegation, which could put him in high-level meetings with the Illinois senator's campaign. He'll also be trying to keep things organized for the delegation.

"I will be on the move," he said. "I might need my roller skates when I get out there, because things will be happening fast and furious."

Howard will be keeping a journal he has titled "Flying Westward Into History."

Like some of the other delegates, he's looking forward most to Obama's speech as he accepts the nomination.

"It's going to be a hair-raising experience," Howard said. "This is something they'll be writing about 200 years from now."

Mike Saewitz, (757) 222-5207, mike.saewitz@pilotonline.com