I had the honor of representing Milford at yesterday’s Massachusetts State Democratic Party Convention in Lowell. I got there about 8:10 AM because I wanted to attend the breakfast event being put on by Dan Wolf. After his post here at BMG last Wednesday, and especially after his thoughtful replies in that post, I was thinking that he’s a candidate worth taking a good look at.
So I found a private parking lot a couple of blocks from the Tsongas Arena and I pulled in there. I grabbed my delegate badge and affixed a few buttons to the lanyard (“Kate”, “You’ve been dispatched”) and started walking towards the arena. While waiting for traffic to clear at a corner, a car pulled up and two guys in suits jumped out – one of them was Matt Fenlon, whom I know from his work for Richie Neal in MA-02. He recognized me immediately and said “Hey John! I want to introduce you to my new boss – Dan Wolf!”
What a fantastic way to start my day at the convention! I walked the rest of the way to the arena with the two of them, talking with Dan about his reasons for running and his thoughts on the campaign thus far. I told them I’d see them at the breakfast and we parted ways short of the convention center, as Dan ran into a large crowd of supporters.
There was a huge crowd in the room set aside for the breakfast, with a line snaking out the door. While waiting, I chatted with some of Dan’s volunteers, several of whom I recognized from prior campaigns. I found several friends when I got inside, including Lynne from Left In Lowell. It wasn’t long before a volunteer took to the podium to get things rolling – after a few brief remarks, she introduced Dan’s daughter Zoey to the crowd:
Zoey then introduced her father:
In that speech, Dan did mention that he’ll talk forever if you let him, and that he frequently has to be “given the hook”. When he spoke later to the entire convention, he did need to get the hook – they turned up the music when he ran long!
Thanks for pushing the Dispatch! There aren’t many “You’ve been Dispatched” buttons. For those who aren’t subscribers to the Democratic Dispatch you’re missing a great e-newsletter. At least that’s what all my readers say. To subscribe send an e-mail to DDemDispatch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. It was great to see you in Lowell.
…was when he mentioned that his daughter was about the same age as Cape Air, yet one being a person and the other a corporation he has never confused the two!
than his speech on the floor. Thank you so much for posting it!
He needs to change over his OCPF account from non-depository (as required for a legislative race), where you only report a few times a year, to depository, which is required for statewide and large city candidates, where reports are required every two weeks. I’d like to see how much $$ he has been able to raise and who is supporting him. A little insomnia-inspired research: Don Berwick has been raising money hand over fist for months, lots of $500 contributions, mostly from the medical profession, for a balance of over 200K. Grossman (and Coakley) already have more than that. Wolf will have to come close to matching that to be viable.