August 21, 2008 10:27 PM
Lessons of 2004
Today we conclude the Rocky Mountain News' "Unconventional Wisdom" series with a notable but little known character of the 2004 Democratic National Convention offering advice for Sen. Barack Obama.
To follow the entire series, bookmark this link HERE. And keep checking back.
Part 10 of 10
Seamus Ahern, Boston 2000
The story by M.E. Sprengelmeyer is HERE.
The video by Judy DeHaas is HERE.
The transcript of the Jackson interview is HERE.
Portraits are by Chris Schneider.
Below is a bit of the back story on the making of the 2000 chapter.
* * *
When historians look back, what will they remember about the 2004 Democratic National Convention?
It might not be John Kerry, the Vietnam War veteran who marched to the stage and told the nation he was "reporting for duty."
It might be a little-known, Illinois legislator who exploded onto the national scene that week with a stirring keynote address.
Barack Obama introduced himself to the country as "a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too."
This was the original "audacity of hope" speech.
And it's a reminder of how it's important to watch the "no-name" participants at these big party gatherings to get clues about the next generation of leaders.
So as we close this "Unconventional Wisdom" series, we decided to look at another nobody, another "skinny kid with a funny name" who emerged from that convention as an important footnote in Sen. Obama's political rise.
Seamus Ahern wasn't in Boston on the night of that convention.
He was at a Marine base in California, just days away from being deployed to Iraq.
But when Obama invoked his name in that now-famous speech, it set off a chain of events that changed the course of the young man's life.
In coming months, as Ahern was in Iraq - facing mostly playful ribbing from superior officers for collaboration with "this liberal" - he and the newly-elected U.S. Senator became e-mail pen pals.
Long before Obama made his first visit to the war zone, and long before rival Sen. John McCain started questioning where Obama was getting his information about the war, he turned to the young Marine, Ahern, as his eyes and ears on the battlefield.
It's an interesting tale, and one we hope you'll agree provides some "Unconventional Wisdom."
Thank you for following the series, and I'd welcome your feedback.
And now, let the convention begin.
-- M.E. Sprengelmeyer
SprengelmeyerM@SHNS.com
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