Gregoire reminisces on convention

Gov. Chris Gregoire and U.S. Sen. Joe Biden: Politicker PhotoDENVER - "Oh my God, mom, it's Joe Biden! Can I get a picture with him?"

That is what Michelle Gregoire told her mom, Chris, when she was at the governor's roundtable discussion Tuesday. The elder Gregoire had to remind her daughter that she was there on staff. But even professionals like Michelle,22, who is a field organizer for her mom this year, get starstruck at conventions.

Stories like that dominated Gregoire's speech to the delegation breakfast this morning. After retelling her undelivered nomination speech, Gregoire focused on the shared memories and emotions she felt with the delegation, who she had stood among for much of the past three days.

Gregoire, an Obama supporter since February, acknowledged that there was some anxiety earlier in the year about how things would go at this convention, full of a significant number of staunch Hillary Clinton supporters in addition to the majority Barack Obama delegates.

"That anxiety is gone today, ladies and gentlemen," Gregoire loudly announced. "We are ready for November"

She then reminisced about the week's highlights, saying that she and her fellow delegates had "danced and laughed their hearts out, prayed for 81st [National Guard] Brigade and every night we have cheered, and you know what, we have cried."

Gregoire told the story about how, on Wednesday, she described the moment when Hillary Clinton asked for acclimation on the floor and, "you know what, I burst into tears." She then called Clinton one of the greatest stateswomen she had met in her life.

And on a distinctly female note, Gregoire mentioned that she told Michelle Obama, after they discussed enjoying their time together-they spent almost all of Tuesday together at the same events-that, "I'm looking forward to a woman's pj party in the White House so we can really hang out."

Finally Gregoire turned to politics, calling the nation's health care situation a moral crisis that was wasting millions of dollars, and reminding the delegation to go home and make sure their neighbors, "after they vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden, they keep going all the way down that ticket."

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