The Unconventional Diaries: Two wild weeks in Cleveland and Philadelphia

Yahoo News enlisted participants at the Democratic and Republican national conventions — representing different viewpoints and roles — to file daily diary entries about their on-the-ground experiences in Philadelphia and Cleveland. Our diarists included an anti-Trump protest organizer, rival party operatives, a millennial vote director for an environmentalist group, and a host of delegates both disappointed by and thrilled with their respective nominees.

These diarists were your eyes and ears at two of the most unconventional political gatherings in generations, offering a front-row seat on the convention floor, behind-the-scenes access to key political meetings, and a vivid picture of what conventions are really like, both inside and outside the arena.

Read below for some of the best diaries from each day of the two conventions.

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Sunday, July 17

View the full diaries from that day.

I remember when Stand Together Against Trump started. It was a Monday morning and Trump announced that he was doing a pre-Ohio primary rally at the I-X Center in Cleveland later that week. I got an email from my friend Nate that said, “We have to do something when he comes to town.” And from there we organized, and I think we had 15-20 physicians and residents outside wearing shirts saying, “Muslim Doctors Save Lives.” And Nate and I felt compelled to go inside and interrupt the speech and chant, “Stop the bigotry.”

We thought Trump was done, he would fizzle out, Republicans would nominate Cruz or Kasich and we would go back to our normal lives. And that didn’t happen. The Indiana primary happened, and he was all of a sudden the nominee. And it hit a lot of people like a wall, this thing we didn’t think could happen, that an overtly racist person would be a major party’s nominee for president. It just stopped us in our tracks.

We always thought: Well, we’ll start organizing and we would join a bigger group, a national organization that is well and well organized. We’d have our group of doctors and join something bigger. But no one else had anything for the Thursday night when Trump accepts the nomination. And then, over the past few weeks, we’ve gotten emails from groups that are saying, “We want to join you and come be a part of this.” And so it has expanded beyond a group of just doctors and nurses to a whole host of young professionals, a whole bunch of individuals around the country who are looking for something. It has been wonderful, but I’ve also been busy!

We’re not here to yell at Trump delegates or supporters. We think they should have their space to project their views. No one is going to be convinced by a yelling match. We are having daily peace and nonviolence trainings, and those will be focused on taking people — many of whom are first-time protesters — and preparing them for the chaos of a convention, of a busy city, of a hectic situation and to make sure they know how to react and make sure it is a peaceful event. That’s a fundamental thought of what we believe but also what we think is most effective. We think Trump wins when there is violence. We think he wins when there is dislike and hatred and anger. He is really very good at driving narratives when people don’t like each other. We think the message can be that we don’t dislike any one person but that we have different values. Our values are that we respect all people, regardless of their religion, regardless of where they came from, whether they are man or woman. And we think if we keep the discussion this week on that area, on a positive projection of values, we think we win. We think if it descends into hatred, Trump probably wins the week. It’s also strategic; it’s how we see the election evolving.

Right now, we’re expecting the turnout to be high hundreds, low thousands for Thursday. Those [people] are mainly out of town. The rest is how many people in Cleveland, in Ohio, in the Midwest turn on their TVs Thursday morning and realize, “Trump is accepting the nomination tonight.” And how many of those people get in the car, come to downtown and wear a yellow shirt to join us — that will determine if the rally gets 1,000 people or 5,000 or more. I hope a lot of people come out, but a lot will depend on the first couple of days of the convention.

We’re excited. We have a lot of people coming in from across the country in the next few days. We have people staying at our house. All the Stand Together Against Trump leadership is opening our doors. It is an exciting thing to have people coming together around a positive message at this moment. We really see it as a moment. Nothing like this in our lives has happened before in terms of presidential politics. We’ve never seen a candidate as dependent on rebranding himself at the convention. He has to rebrand himself or he can’t win. And we think this is a moment where we can quote Trump back to himself at an inconvenient time for him, and remind people we’re better than this. We have a friend driving in from Chicago, we have a friend flying in from North Carolina, we have friends coming in from the East Coast, and to have them all come together is exciting. We’re stoked.

As told to Andrew Bahl/Yahoo News

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Monday, July 18

View the full diaries from that day.

Tonight was great! It was just fantastic, with one high-energy speaker after another.

In particular, I hope the networks showed the parts on the Benghazi attack, because they showed that it was just a disgrace for Hillary Clinton. It was pretty sad, the mother was saying how she was lied to. How anybody in their right mind can condone that, I just don’t know. It was very sad.

But then you have Rudy Giuliani and, man, he was so energized, he was off the wall. If he showed that kind of energy when he was running for president eight years ago, he would have won.

Everybody was great. We saw lots of excitement. Darryl Glenn, the gentleman running for Senate in Colorado, is a great, great person and gave a fantastic speech. And I know Pastor Mark Burns, who did the benediction earlier in the program. I once took him to my house in between Trump rallies in South Carolina to let him get cleaned up. It’s funny because there was a Lutheran minister there and he told me about Burns: “Man, he’s a hard act to follow.” I hope to meet up with him at some point during the RNC.

To have Donald Trump there only boosted the excitement further. His wife was a great speaker. And Indiana Gov. Mike Pence was here on the floor with Bob Dole and a few other people, which was interesting, and they sat watching the high-excitement night.

It’s very noisy on the floor, and the seats are really close together. Once you’re seated, it’s like a military maneuver to get people out of the middle. I wish we had more room down there, because it’s a long day, and it would be nice to be able to move around a little bit more.

Despite what some people were saying, there was no chaos on the floor. It was much ado about nothing. I think the media was looking to make something out of nothing. I know I got some emails from TV stations, wondering: “What is going on?” — and there was nothing going on. It wasn’t serious and had no support. It was a few disgruntled people, which was sad. In a way, it was good, because it sparked dialogue. But really it is sour grapes to be disruptive because your guy didn’t win.

Looking forward, we have our breakfast in the morning with speakers, including Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. We also have some events in the afternoon. The best part is, my wife is getting in tomorrow, as she’ll keep me out of trouble. She’s a really die-hard person and she’s no one to mess with. The day of the election in South Carolina, she was up all day and was really dedicated. It’ll be good having her here.

As told to Andrew Bahl/Yahoo News

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Tuesday, July 19

View the full diaries from that day.

It has been a long day, but it’s been an exciting day. The count’s over, and everybody’s relaxed. Donald Trump’s nomination is a sure thing. And with Mike Pence as our vice presidential nominee, it’s a done deal. I’m excited. I’m definitely not ready to go home yet.

The Rules Committee might be over, but this week isn’t slowing down. On Tuesday morning, Gregg Harper, a congressman from my home state of Mississippi, held a wonderful brunch at Brickstone here in Cleveland. They had gospel singers at the restaurant, which was great, because I was feeling a little guilty because I didn’t go to church on Sunday. I got religion Tuesday with the music, so that was good.

After brunch, I took a short nap (one of those power naps), and talked to my husband and daughter. Then I realized I had to be at the convention center at 5:30 p.m. So I jumped up, put my clothes on and ran downstairs. Because of the protesters, I was almost an hour late getting here! It took an hour to get there from the time we left the hotel. We didn’t get to the convention center until it was two minutes until 6 p.m. Unfortunately, I had missed the vote, but Mississippi cast all its votes for Donald Trump.

Monday was also a crazy day in Cleveland. That morning, the women of the Rules Committee kicked off the convention with a brunch with two survivors of the Benghazi attack. They spoke at the brunch and then later at the convention. After brunch, the committee met again and then went down to the floor to present the rules.

Some delegates tried to make it a full vote instead of a simple voice vote. It was kind of nerve-racking for a little while, but our rules all passed. The people fighting it are just sore losers — that’s all they are. They need to get a life. They lost. I was sitting in front of the delegates from Louisiana, and they were still fighting the rules, and all I could think was, “Oh gosh, don’t you have something else to do?” They all have to let it go. It was a mess. But after that, things improved.

On, Monday night, Jamiel Shaw Sr. talked about his son, who was shot by an illegal immigrant. You know, he was on the phone with his son right before he was killed. He heard the shot that killed his son. We have to secure our borders. If they commit a crime, they need to be deported — immediately. Just deport them, get them out of here. Hopefully we’ll soon have a wall, so they can’t come back.

But I think Rudy Giuliani stole the show that night. He got you on your feet more times than anybody else did. I was afraid he was going to have a stroke! It looked like he was going to have one if he didn’t calm down. He’s just such a great guy. I remember being in New York before he was mayor and walking down Broadway to get tickets. You know, you were scared to death to walk down the alley with the homeless begging. When I walked around there alone one time, I just pretended I was with this man. I just kept walking faster, and then he’d walk faster, and I’d walk faster. Then two years later, I go back, and it’s clean as a whistle. It’s wonderful. He’s a great guy.

I’m looking forward to the other speeches. Tomorrow, we start here at the arena at 7:20 p.m. I want to hear Scott Walker. I like him. Ted Cruz is going to be here, too. I’m anxious to hear what he has to say.

As told to Susanna Heller/Yahoo News

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Wednesday, July 20

View the full diaries from that day.

We’ve been all over, including inside the arena, over the last three days to do the hard work of keeping Republicans honest. They’re giving us a lot to work with. But one thing that has stood out to me is that it’s surprising to see a convention that is so sparsely attended.

Seeing speakers like Ben Carson on Tuesday night, for example, addressing an arena in which even lower levels are fairly empty, as they were, was something I’m not used to seeing at a convention. That really struck me.

But when everything that you’re hearing coming from the floor is anger, vitriol and rhetoric — that I think even their hardcore believers know isn’t actually true — then it’s not that surprising. It says a lot about how they’re not really trying to broaden their appeal. That’s been a big thing I’ve noticed.

It’s going to be a very different next week at the Democratic convention. Our goal is to give people something to vote for, not just something to vote against. Our candidate and our convention will be more about communicating an uplifting vision for America, and recognizing that we’re all in this together, that we’re stronger together. We think it’ll draw a very sharp contrast with the disorganization, chaos and ugliness we’re seeing here in Cleveland.

We’ve had an agreement with our counterparts at the RNC to allow each other access to debates and conventions. We’ve held three morning press conferences here at the RNC so far now. They’ve been very well-attended — lots of cameras, lots of reporters, and we’ve spent time in the arena and radio row making sure we’re setting the record straight.

On Monday, we had Iraq War veteran Ruben Gallego, now a congressman from Arizona. On Tuesday, we had Reps. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., and Tim Ryan, D-Ohio. Ryan talked about how all of Donald Trump’s products are made abroad — China, Bangladesh, you name it — rather than in Steubenville or Youngstown. Joe Crowley, being from Trump’s home borough of Queens, said it’s not just that Trump is not making things in Ohio — he’s not making them back home, either. Trump’s not opening up production facilities in Queens. He’s outsourcing.

So we’ve had a really cool set of perspectives that bring it all together — between the people who know him best in New York and the people who see the impact of what he doesn’t do — here in Ohio. And we’ve had very successful events for the last three days. We’re starting Thursday morning with Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn. And Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., will be joining DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and fanning out all across the convention sites to keep calling them out.

What we won’t get to do is see enough of Cleveland. It’s a beautiful city, but I don’t know that I’m going to have time to see enough before leaving, so I definitely want to come back.

As told to Hunter Walker/Yahoo News

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Thursday, July 21

View the full diaries from that day.

You don’t realize how many problems we have until someone lays it out. And Trump did that Thursday night. I thought he hit it out of the park.

It was a little long, but he didn’t leave one section out. It was nice to hear someone finally standing up for us. We’re at a point where we’re seeing some negative change, and that means the next generation may have a hard life. We need a cheerleader in chief, and he showed that tonight.

I hope it made an impression with people at home. It was a very presidential speech. If you lay it all out, people can see there are so many things that need correcting and it never happens in Washington, where there are so many broken promises. And we see inaction has led us down this track. And people don’t want four more years of the same inaction.

Trump understands trade. He understands monetary policy. We’ve never had anyone who is that experienced. Instead, we have a community organizer as president and a woman who wants to be president who thinks the government creates jobs.

Trump doesn’t lie. He tells it like it is. People like the plain talk. Everyone in the arena understood it. He said he was going to help people. He said he was going to help the coal miners, help the businessmen. He made it clear he wanted to build things because that’s what he does, build things. He knows how to get it done, and he showed it. It was a little long, but he hit every special niche or interest that delegates have.

During the day, before Trump’s acceptance speech, we had a reception with the Texas and North Carolina delegations. I made a point of asking around about the Cruz debacle from the night before. I was with the Texas delegation in the afternoon. People were split, but a lot of the folks I talked to were angry with him. Texas led the booing last night, and they made sure I knew it at the event today! Even the Cruz supporters said they wished he hadn’t done it. They were talking about how they wouldn’t support him and that he cut himself off from a future presidential run.

Before that, we had breakfast with Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. He was a really interesting guy. I had forgotten he had served in the Department of Homeland Security under George Bush. He was a really nice guy and had a great sense of what is going on in the country. But everyone was gearing up for Trump’s speech. It was a mostly quiet day.

After all the drama, I don’t see how you couldn’t vote for Trump. But overall, the convention experience was great. I don’t know where I’m going to be in four years, but I couldn’t have asked for more.

As told to Andrew Bahl/Yahoo News

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Sunday, July 24

View the full diaries from that day.

I was very happy to put my feet up on Sunday morning and not have to sit in a meeting. Even for someone who cares about the rules as much as I do, a meeting spanning from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. is long.

Despite all of this, I’m still smiling because I’m reminded how much I love seeing all the people who come to Democratic Party events, especially those who I don’t often see because they work all year for their home state parties. My husband likens the convention to a hybrid between a political event and a family reunion. These are the cousins you don’t see very often, but, boy, are you happy to see them when you do.

Gosh, there’s just such a good mix of people here in Philly. For example, there were some DNC staff members handing out copies of the resolution whom I worked with in the 1980s, when I was political director of the DNC.

For me, the 2016 Democratic National Convention started at 11 a.m. on Saturday when the Hillary Clinton supporters on the Rules Committee met for a pre-briefing. We were there until a few minutes before 9 p.m. on Saturday night. Large parts of it were spent waiting, because the representatives for Clinton’s campaign were trying to work out a compromise with Bernie Sanders’ supporters. We were able to reach a significant compromise, one I’m really pleased with.

The concerns that the Sanders’ campaign had about superdelegates turned out to be the same issue that other people, including myself, had with the caucus system. The caucus system, in too many cases, is inaccessible to many voters. We have language included in the rules that establishes a commission to look into addressing both issues. Out of 150 members of the Rules Committee, only five members voted against these rules.

Our dinner arrived during the third recess there, and there was one of those wonderful, democratic moments. We had one long table of sandwiches and salads. On the other table there was pizza. I must say, the pizza was very popular.

This week I’m looking forward to the opening session on Monday. I know I’ll be getting goosebumps. We take this common practice of the conventions every four years and add to it this historic drama, this moment of knowing that this week the climax will be nominating Hillary Clinton, the first woman candidate for a major political party. She’s going to win the election. It’s a wonderful combination.

The location of this convention makes it special, too. It’s crazy to think that in 1915, Pennsylvania was one of the states that voted down women’s suffrage. Here we are in 2016, and we’re going to nominate Hillary Clinton. When you look at how hard those women worked, you would never say women were “given” the vote in 1920. There was no “give” about it. They organized, they mobilized, they strategized and they did everything that we do for politics today. It’s just a wonderful example of how American democracy works and how you can make real change. And here we are.

To be honest, I haven’t really sat down to look at who is speaking on what days. I know I have the list of them, but at this point, it’s still whirling around in my mind. I’m going to have to go back again and look at it.

It’s the convention as a whole that I’m looking forward to. I’m looking forward to the opening moments when we play the “The Star-Spangled Banner” and we see the flag. And you think to yourself: “We’re doing this again.” We’re the world’s oldest democracy, and every time we do it, it gets better.

Tomorrow at 4 p.m., I’m speaking at an event that is sponsored by the National Jewish Democratic Council and the Joint Action Committee for Political Affairs on honoring Jewish, Democratic women. I’m going to honor the wonderful Jewish congresswomen Barbara Boxer, Nita Lowey, Dianne Feinstein and Jan Schakowsky, among the number of terrific women who will be there. Then I’m going to talk about women’s history, paying particular attention to suffrage as I’m passionate about that. I’m going say since this week we will be nominating a woman for president for the first time, it’s appropriate to stop and think about the women who fought so hard for the right to vote.

I’m going to talk about Rose Schneiderman, a Polish immigrant who came to America when she was 7. She was forced to work in a factory when she was 13 after her father died. This woman wound up becoming a union organizer who fought for suffrage. She believed working women need the vote to protect themselves. She also made friends with this woman named Eleanor Roosevelt. It’s not only a great American story, but it also shows that we don’t always know whose courage made our lives possible.

I’m going to conclude my speech to the group by talking out what’s at stake in this election. Everything — our history, our values — is at stake in this election. We’re all immigrants or the descendants of immigrants. It has been scientifically proven that there were no Jews meeting Christopher Columbus. Just like Rose Schneiderman, we’re going to use our vote to protect ourselves. Just as Bella Abzug used her voice and her heart, we’re going to use our voices and our hearts in this election. It’s really important for women to know what we’ve done and what we can do again. It gets more important every year.

As told to Susanna Heller/Yahoo News

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Monday, July 25

View the full diaries from that day.

Tensions were already starting to mount Sunday night. Bernie supporters were chanting pro-Bernie, anti-Hillary sentiments on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It was tense. After things died down, I met up with some friends, and then ran into David Axelrod. That was pretty cool.

Monday was packed. I still see my role here as trying to build bridges and mend fences so that we can unify the party. These efforts started on a fairly positive note. Everything seemed to be cordial at our delegation breakfast this morning between the Bernie and Hillary supporters. Everything was fine.

I made a point a point of riding into town with another member of the Bernie delegation who, in the days leading up to the convention, had been kicking up a lot of trouble online. She and I had a really good dialogue on the drive in to Philadelphia. I respected her position on a lot of things, but told her she had to represent our position as well. I thought it was productive to listen to each other’s perspectives.

She and I also drove to the convention center together so that we could attend caucus meetings. I went to the Asian-American and Pacific Islanders caucus meeting, where I saw some people I knew and had the chance to talk to them.

After that, Sen. Sanders had a meeting at the convention center with his delegates. That was packed. Two others spoke before Sen. Sanders, but when he took the stage it was just like any of his other rallies. He was enthusiastic and gave an incredible speech as always. He cited all the great things we accomplished on this campaign. The most noteworthy thing was when he said we need to do whatever possible to beat Donald Trump. All the delegates cheered loudly at that. And then he said the way to do this is to vote for Hillary Clinton. At that point, he was met with a cascade of boos. The crowd still loves him, however. All the delegates still love him. They’re not upset or turning their backs on him.

I’m not sure if the tension between the supporters of Bernie and Hillary will be alleviated during the week. It will be interesting to see if the senator’s speech has an impact. It’s all up in the air at this point, but I’m optimistic. If you poll most of my fellow Bernie delegates, even though they boo loudly and speak out on the Internet, they would concede that they’re voting for Hillary Clinton in November. Sure, they’re less enthusiastic than I’d like them to be. But on an individual basis, they do admit to me that they plan on voting for Clinton. When you get people together in a crowd, the positive feeling is infectious.

And the crowd has been really energetic so far. I’ve been to three of these now and there’s always a lot of energy at the beginning right after the gavel, and then it dies down until the prime time speeches start five hours later. The energy will continue to ebb and flow this week. It’s like this at all kinds of conventions on the state and national level.

Of all of the convention nights I’ve been to, Monday night was one of the most interesting and maybe the most memorable. There was a lot of heckling and booing. The emotions really went up and down. We gaveled in at 4:30 p.m., and the Bernie delegates had a lot of energy. They were feeling defiant and were still trying to fight despite their loss. As the night went on, people got the idea that it was ridiculous and getting out of hand — as Sarah Silverman pointed out. Cooler heads eventually prevailed.

I got the feeling walking out of the arena tonight that the Bernie delegates got their pent-up anger out of their system. I always got the sense that would happen at some point.

By the end of the night, it was a positive experience. I was afraid that I would see a lot of shouting matches between Bernie and Hillary delegates, but I didn’t see any face-to-face confrontations. There were a lot of Bernie delegates in tears at the end of his speech. One of my good friends, Zach Hawkins, the first vice chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, actually went up to an 18-year-old Bernie delegate who was crying, put his arm around him and encouraged him to not be disenchanted by the situation. It was a painful night for a lot of delegates, but I think this was the cathartic day that so many of them needed.

As told to Susanna Heller/Yahoo News

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Tuesday, July 26

View the full diaries from that day.

Monday was crazy but good. I’m still on West Coast time, so I didn’t wake up until 9:30 a.m., which was awesome.

I’m still excited from our Sunday rally, which was a huge confluence of people across the spectrum. We had Bernie and Hillary people. And it was a refreshing and a contrast with what we saw on the floor today. It is great not to see people arguing over superdelegate rules or kvetching over Lord-knows-what. As an organizer, I know Election Day is important. And then the day after Election Day is just as important. It’s great meeting with people who share that view.

Today had a lot of work getting prepped for the week ahead. I sat in our office at the Marriott for a couple hours answering work emails and making sure people have tickets to an event with the California delegates. But a big benefit was that I got to spend time with our organizing team in Pennsylvania, and it is great seeing them face-to-face. We were able to have real conversations.

The people in the convention hall are simply talking about doing stuff, whereas the people out here are the ones talking to voters. They talk strategy in the arena and outside is where the feet meet the ground and action is taken. And it’s cool to straddle both sides this week.

We had also an event at the arena, which went well. We’re talking to delegates and letting them know what we’re doing in California and across the country. We pushed people to make the platform stronger on the climate and environmental issues. I believe we are ultimately going to come together on Election Day — Hillary and Bernie people — and rally around the issues. It may sound hokey, but we believe it. And that’s our goal: to bring Bernie people on board and make them active as volunteers. And it’s working!

It’s funny, I was in the Twitter hospitality suite and I ran into a friend from high school who is now a reporter for the Daily Beast. It’s great to see familiar faces I haven’t seen in a long time and sitting down to talk.

I had no idea there was so much substantive stuff outside of the Wells Fargo Center, including various panels and workshops. I’m really excited for tomorrow. We’re going to a number of event with pollsters, activists and organizers who are all centered around activating the youth vote. Things are looking good. We’re getting ready to learn a lot tomorrow.

As told to Andrew Bahl/Yahoo News

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Wednesday, July 27

View the full diaries from that day.

Day 3 of the convention started off with the easy acclamation of Tim Kaine as the vice presidential nominee.

After concluding the official business of the day, we heard from speaker after speaker who praised Hillary’s record of leadership. We’ve known her for so long — Hillary has been in public life nearly as long as I’ve been alive. Her record is deep and expansive. The number of battles she has fought, and the many fights she has won, is easy to forget.

We heard from the rank-and-file Democratic members of Congress, as well as some heavy hitters from the world of politics, including former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, NARAL president Ilyse Hogue, Sen. Harry Reid and former Rep. Gabby Giffords. One by one, they all spoke about Hillary’s record of steady leadership. They spoke to why we need someone like Hillary — someone with her judgment and compassion — in the Oval Office. The sheer number of testimonials made, stories told and examples given stood in stark contrast to the Republican convention in Cleveland.

But of the myriad of speakers, the speeches that moved me the most were from the daughter of Dawn Hochsprung, the principal of Sandy Hook Elementary School, and Christine Leinonen, the mother of Christopher “Drew” Leinonen, who was killed in the Pulse attack in Orlando. The inability of this Congress to pass even the most common-sense gun safety regulations is one of the most unbelievable examples of partisan gridlock in Congress today. Like the Mothers of the Movement we heard from yesterday, these are women who shouldn’t have to be in front of us onstage. Yet with grace, resilience and strength, they are standing up and fighting for what is right.

Despite this, it is a fight Hillary and Tim Kaine haven’t been afraid to fight, and it is a fight we must win.

The convention also heard from Tim Kaine tonight. I’d heard a similar speech from him in Miami last week, so I was most interested to see how the delegates reacted to the senator. Just like in Miami, you could see the room won over as they heard his story, laughed at his jokes and joined in the refrain of saying “No” to Donald Trump. I have a feeling America will be surprised by his generous spirit, smart common-sense solutions to our shared challenges and strength of commitment to a strong and compassionate America.

Finally, Vice President Biden and President Obama brought the convention to their feet, time after time. In some ways, it was an early farewell — a look back at eight amazing years. We are in the final six months of their administration, yet, it feels like just yesterday we were watching him accept his own nomination in Denver. Both the vice president and president spoke about the Hillary they know and shared the many reasons why Donald Trump is unprepared and temperamentally unfit to hold the office of president of the United States.

The applause was raucous when President Obama finished speaking, and then crescendoed when Hillary unexpectedly joined him on stage. The stage is set for her big speech tomorrow. It’s been a long night, but I’m excited for what tomorrow will bring.

As written by Tracy Russo

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Thursday, July 28

View the full diaries from that day.

Thursday was an awesome day. The program was a nice summary of the week. It hit on all of the themes all week long. We heard about gun safety, leadership, temperament, honesty and compassion. We heard about Donald Trump’s fraudulent, mentally unstable threat as a presidential candidate. It all came together. One of the videos even compared to the bully in “A Christmas Story.” That was perfect.

Earlier in the day, we went to a fundraiser for Kamala Harris, the California attorney general who is running for Barbara Boxer’s Senate seat. I think she’s a star, and I always tell her that I look forward to her being the second woman president. I would be the first person on the plane to Iowa to campaign for her in the caucuses. It was nice having our families together. Then we went back to the hotel to rest, so we could make sure to get to the arena early.

The speakers were great. Chelsea was a magnificently poised young woman. We were proud to see her grow up in Arkansas, and she delivered tonight. She described her mother in personal terms and spoke from the heart. It was relatable, even though it wasn’t loud and dynamic.

I was so beyond proud to be standing on the front row, to see Hillary take the nomination to become the next president. It was an incredible moment. Her speech was perfect, the message fantastic. If you look at the snapshot polling, American people have liked what they’ve seen this week.

We also got a chance to party a bit. After the convention was over, we went to the Finance Committee event at the Kimmel Center downtown. It was a great time.

This week’s convention was fantastic. It had everything. You saw the best theatrical production, along with some of the world’s most significant policy makers, in one place. We saw the most perfect speakers — I cried and I laughed. I was compelled to think critically. It was the convention designed for the time in which we live. We live in a time in which millennials can’t concentrate, and they made sure the convention was entertaining. It was technologically innovative, but at the end of the day, it was deadly serious. And that’s what this election is. There were some brilliant young people who put this together. This is the best political convention that this country has ever seen.

As told to Andrew Bahl/Yahoo News

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