Obama Labor Supporters Exit Convention Confident; Say Democrats Coalesced
By RICHARD STEIER
By the third night of the Democratic convention in Denver, after Hillary and Bill Clinton had given their blessings to Barack Obama, Joe Biden had fired up the crowd with a withering attack on President Bush and John McCain, and Mr. Obama made an unannounced appearance to close the festivities, Gregory Floyd said, "Everybody left the Pepsi Arena holding hands and singing 'Kumbaya.'''

GREGORY FLOYD: A corny-but-true unity.

Seriously.

Mr. Floyd, the president of Teamsters Local 237 and an alternate delegate for Mr. Obama, was speaking by phone the following afternoon, hours before the Democratic nominee for President delivered his acceptance speech. He was trying to sum up how the mood had changed from "apprehension" on the convention's opening day Aug. 26 to more-confident but slightly edgy following Ms. Clinton's rousing speech the following night, and then to "jubilation" once the former President seconded his wife's emotion and Senators Biden and Obama took to the stage together.

'A Spirited Mood'

"The chatter stopped about, 'Can this Democratic Party come together?''' said Mr. Floyd, who was attending his first presidential convention. "What you see on television cannot explain the spirited mood you find here."

NORMAN SEABROOK: Biden a plus for Obama.

Correction Officers' Benevolent Association President Norman Seabrook contended the optimism had begun to percolate even before Bill Clinton's speech, suggesting that once his wife had stepped forward so strongly on Mr. Obama's behalf, it was inevitable he would do the same so as not to harm her political future.

"People are very enthusiastic; everybody wants to get involved," he said the morning after Ms. Clinton's remarks. "It's a combination of Hillary's speech and Monday night and a realization of, 'Are you better off now than you were eight years ago?'''

'Biden's a Union Guy'

Mr. Seabrook in 2000 backed Gov. George W. Bush for President, but long ago answered his own question in the negative, staying neutral during the 2004 campaign and then delivering an early endorsement to Mr. Obama last September. While Ms. Clinton's speech prompted some Democrats and political pundits to say that it underscored why she should have been the Illinois Senator's running-mate, Mr. Seabrook contended that his choice of Mr. Biden — a Delaware Senator with strong roots in two blue-collar cities — for Vice President showed both independence and good judgment.

BARACK OBAMA: Convention broke his way.

"I think bringing Joe Biden was one of the most brilliant things he did, particularly because of his knowledge of foreign policy," the COBA leader said. "Joe Biden is a union guy — that guy has fought vigorously for unions and to put police officers and firefighters and correction officers and teachers in the position where they belong in this country."

State Sen. Diane Savino, who was at the convention as a Clinton delegate, took a more-measured view than the two union leaders. Four years ago, when she made the transition from vice president of Local 371 of District Council 37 to a legislator representing Staten Island and part of Brooklyn, she got a close look at two wrenching defeats when victory had seemed imminent. First, Local 371 President Charles Ensley in January 2004 narrowly lost a bid to be executive director of DC 37, then John Kerry's painful defeat by President Bush — after exit polls seemed to indicate he would win a close election — came on the same November night that she won her State Senate race.

DIANE SAVINO: Polls shouldn't be this close.

Concerned by Poll Numbers

And so the mood among die-hard Democrats was not enough to overcome the concerns she felt looking at national polls showing Mr. Obama virtually deadlocked with Sen. John McCain even as other polls showed a strong national preference for a generic Democratic over a generic Republican for President.

"That's a very real concern people have," Ms. Savino said. "They're looking at the poll numbers and wondering why they're so tight, given that the economy is where it is."

She said one advantage that Mr. McCain had was that, "With him, [voters] know what they're getting; they don't know that yet with Obama."

She said Michelle Obama had taken an important first step on her husband's behalf on the first night of the convention, offering the television audience a distinct contrast to the caricature that had been made of her remark earlier this year that Mr. Obama's success in the primaries had left her proud of her country "for the first time in my adult lifetime."

'Women Can Identify With Her'

"She was the person who needed to introduce herself," Senator Savino said. "She's a Harvard-educated lawyer, she's a mother, a brilliant, accomplished woman who wears many hats — like a lot of women. And I think she came across as someone women can identify with."

By the morning after Mr. Obama's rousing speech accepting the nomination, she sounded equally enthusiastic about the candidate himself.

"I was kind of worried about whether he would touch all the important points, but he did," Ms. Savino said. "He was able to make the connection to the working class and the middle class going back to his mother's own story in the '70s. He made the case for the change he will bring."

Mr. Floyd predicted the excitement generated by Mr. Obama in Denver would carry over to the general election and prove more tangible than last week's poll numbers. "We're going to have a lot of first-time voters who are under 30," he said. "I don't know if anybody's polling those individuals."

Mr. Seabrook said the election would swing based on whether the Obama campaign succeeding in shifting the media's focus away from peripheral issues and whether "people are ready for an African-American President."

"Let's stop making it about Barack Obama and whether he has [an American flag] lapel pin on, and about the policies that the Democratic nominee is bringing," he said.