I had the honor of representing Milford at yesterday's Massachusetts State Democratic Party Convention at the Paul Tsongas Arena in Lowell, MA. I got there about 8:10 AM because I wanted to attend the breakfast event being put on by Dan Wolf at 8:30, prior to the 10 AM check-in time. After announcing his campaign at Blue Mass Group 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 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!