BOSTON – Big-time political draws such as Hillary Rodham Clinton and former President Jimmy Carter, plus current Hollywood darlings like Ben Affleck and Michael Moore, have wowed various state delegations at the traditional daily breakfasts of the Democratic National Convention.
But Maryland delegates have not attracted many of the convention’s big stars, nor have they enjoyed a prime location on the floor of the Fleet Center.
Coveted floor positions and the big-name speakers are typically reserved for delegates from battleground states where critical numbers of electoral votes are considered up for grabs in November.
Maryland, a long-time Democratic stronghold, carried 2000 Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore by a 17-point margin and has not backed a Republican presidential hopeful since George H.W. Bush in 1988.
The delegation has enjoyed a parade of Maryland-connected notables at its breakfasts, including Sen. Barbara Mikulski, Rep. Steny Hoyer, Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley, NAACP President Kweisi Mfume and Gore’s 2000 campaign manager Donna Brazile.
But former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, Sen. John Kerry’s one-time rival for this year’s nomination, was probably the best-known national figure at a Maryland breakfast this week.
A similar lack of status can be seen on the convention floor. Maryland’s delegates sit on the far left corner of the Fleet Center floor, the worst position of any delegation of its size.
Hotel assignments at national conventions also can reflect a state’s relative importance to the party.
The majority of Maryland’s 110-member delegation is staying at the Seaport Hotel, a 6-year-old high-rise with a sweeping view of both the city harbor and the hotel’s expansive parking lot. It is further than the downtown hotels that are housing delegations from states deemed more critical to party strategists.
But Gregory Pecoraro, a delegate from Westminster, said the lack of star status does not diminish the experience for the Maryland delegation. He said it was a “terrific” experience for delegates to see and hear the state’s own political luminaries up close.