kiefer by video-satellite, but still

kiefer is apparently confirmed to introduce his own mama at convention this weekend, sadly not in the flesh But Still. that's not why i'm wound up though. i just told a friend it is the Buzz - disturbing though it may be - that makes me simultaneously loathe and love political gatherings like a federal convention. this buzz is the pale, far less hip cousin of the election campaign - federal, that is (provincial or municipal election buzzes are the distant relatives you only see at an occasional wedding or a familiy reunion that you attend under duress, kicking and screaming and swearing you are only going to stay for one game of pictionary, then you're fucking outta there).

we are busy beavers here in the belle province, scrambling around to tidy up the place before the guests from the RoC drops in. over 700 of them will board a special ndp train in montreal on thursday night. it never occured to me how cool and crazy this thing would become. imagine an Entire Train filled with hundreds of giddy new democrats. unless the policy geeks take over and start reading aloud from the resolutions package, that train might actually turn out to be a pretty good time.

i'll miss it - opting, of course, to head up to quebec city early to join my quebec ndp colleagues in forming what might be the leanest welcoming committee ever, but here's hoping. it's just one of the things we're up to this weekend. and our humble welcome wagon will morph into one of the largest quebec caucuses in ndp history. 120 or so of us will test our diplomacy skills in attempting to convey to our pan-can colleagues that we are indeed a project worth getting behind. at least that's what i've been pep talking us to do. but let's face it - we all know you just can't 'teach' people about the importance of quebec, politically speaking. i'm no longer an idealist on this point: people either get it or they don't, and very few can fake the middle ground. so perhaps our most important objective this weekend is to successfully shepherd the Declaration de Sherbrooke through its resolutions block, then to the floor. confession: i don't want it to pass thanks to successful vote-getting by the politically agile. it sorta feels like a referendum, in a way, and if the chair has to resort to roll call when the cards go up, we'll have lost... regardless.

hey, do you suppose it's the potential debate on national unity that drew these numbers? aw shucks, really you guys? we didn't know you cared. for real though, i can't get over that this is the 2nd largest non-leadership convention in party history (at least that's what i heard). i have to admit that as the quebec section, we're pretty stoked that 1500 delegates have decided to show up in our backyard. god only knows what hell might break out on plenary floor - we all know what kind of pain a few crazed policy wonks can inflict - but i can confirm we are hosting a soiree quebecoise at a local watering hole on friday night and so at least 200 thirsty delegates can hide out there for awhile.

i've been swamped with comms stuff, coordinating our little promo handbill that tells delegates a few things they might not know about the ndp in quebec; updating the website; prepping the media advisory; and planning for my gig as agente de presse for this guy. i'm already pooped and i haven't even left my home office yet.

but Woo F-ing Hoo i gots the convention fever in me and that means sleep doesn't feel particularly necessary, nor does sustained attention to Other Work for longer than 30 minutes at a time. i'm not saying i'm proud of this affliction, but i have come to terms with it.