Contributed photo
Bartlett-Josie on the floor of the Chicago United Center at last week's Democratic National Convention.
Christine Bartlett-Josie’s phone is ringing again. Just as in 2008.
Women excited by the energy generated by last week’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago are calling Bartlett-Josie, a veteran Democrat consultant, to find out when they can catch one of the weekend car rides to canvass in politically purple New Hampshire or swing-state Pennsylvania for the party’s presidential ticket.
New Havener Bartlett-Josie was in Chicago last week, attending her fifth straight Democratic presidential nominating convention. She found it “electrifying,” “pure joy“ with “a feeling in the air” that a united, diverse party was ready to come from behind and win the general election.
It reminded her of her first convention in 2008 when Democrats were so excited about nominating Barack Obama that the final event had to be moved to Denver’s Mile High Stadium to accommodate the crowds.
That excitement continued afterwards when Bartlett-Josie returned to New Haven. She recalled Democrats organizing up to 10 or 12 carloads of volunteers each weekend. “People would hop in. We’d go to New Hampshire. We’d go to Pennsylvania. It will happen again.”
That didn’t happen after Democrats nominated Hillary Clinton at the 2016 convention, she recalled. “In terms of forces on the ground, they weren’t excited. There wasn’t this swell of support: ‘Go do things for Hillary.’“
Now some of the same women who contacted her about 2008 rides are inquiring about trips planned for this fall: They “are back full-heartedly. One is in her 80s — ‘Where are we going Christine?’” That’s making at least this New Haven convention delegate optimistic about the Kamala Harris-Tim Walz ticket’s chances against the GOP’s Donald Trump and J.D. Vance in what polls show to be a nail-bitingly close election.
Bartlett-Josie made those observations during a post-convention debriefing conversation Tuesday with this reporter (aka “me”) and host Babz Rawls-Ivy on WNHH FM’s “LoveBabz LoveTalk.” You can watch the full discussion below.