Saying Good-bye

I missed the last card vote where they passed  the cowboy hats to collect the votes.  I've never been much of a tweeter but I couldn't stop checking the #lwv2014 twitter feed throughout the convention.  Twitter was the only thing that made leaving early easier.  Our session started at 8:30 and I had to leave at 9:45 to catch my plane.

I didn't make it to the 7:30am session, again.  Note to self, don't expect you'll make the 7:30 session if you stay up until 2:00am!  For the first plenary session on Saturday we in the IL delegation didn't realize that we needed to pick up our own sign and find a place on the floor for our delegation to sit.  After that we assisned someone to get there early enough!  Yesterday was no exception, we had pretty good seats.  I noticed that the buzz of energy had dampened a bit probably due to a combination of exhaustion and staying up late the night before.

I had just gotten my coffee when I saw Elisabeth talking to a few delegates.  After telling her that it was a fantastic convention I asked to have my picture taken with her.  Unfortunately the woman who took the picture has no sense of what it means to have a picture in focus before taking it!  Here is the pic, such as it is.

I then picked up my coffee and said that I had to get up there to the session.  She said, "I do too!"  Oh yeah it doesn't start until she opens the session.  I know that I must sound like a star struck groupie in all of my reflections but I've been captivated by the whole convention; the people, the process, the issues, and so much more.

Up on the floor Eleanor Revelle and I snuck up on the podium and took this picture:

We were the only two delegates from Evanston and had been passing in the night all weekend.  She sat most often with her fellow former national board members.  I did get to sit next to her yesterday and asked her some procedural questions.  I was concerned that we weren't going to get through our business by 12:30.  She said that somehow we always finish.

I left in the middle of a debate where people kept motioning to amend the motion and then amend the amendment.  It was all so confusing!  One person tweeted, "I am beginning to worry that the "Happy" song is mocking us at this point." (The song we were dancing to the day before.) This is where twitter became so helpful.  I followed the rest of the convention until I got on the plane.  The card vote was used when they voted on the motion for a living wage.  A motion needs to win by 2/3 in order to pass.  It was defeated, the vote was: yes votes 257, no votes 214.  No wonder the chair couldn't tell by a voice or standing vote if the motion had passed!  Apparently the problem was not the spirit of the motion but the wording of the motion.

I'm home now and writing this post in a coffee shop on Central St.  In looking over my posts and all of my notes I can see why my brain feels stretched!  I'm looking forward to meeting with the Evanston board next month to share the nitty gritty of what I've learned and what ideas I have for us moving forward.  I think that the defeat of Eric Cantor yesterday illustrates the importance of every vote and the reality that the people can use their voice and their vote to effect change.

Thank you for reading my blog.  I have enjoyed writing and reflecting everyday.  Look for me again next year during our state convention.  I'll leave you with this picture.  Our foremothers fought for suffrage with every fiber of their being.  My hope is that through the work of the League we can give everyone the chance, the opportunity, and the right to vote!