How are you doing there in Boston?
Maya Angelou was speaking from 7 to 8 and that was very inspiring.

Have you talked to Kucinich today?
His campaign manager Dot Mavers came to our meeting. He's writing his speech for tomorrow [Wednesday] night, from 7 to 8PM; she said he's got a seven minute speech.

Have they told him what to say or what not to say?
I'm not sure about that, but I know he was writing his speech this afternoon, and State Senator Dale Miller was there. And it turns out that Dennis read his speech to Dale and a few other people there to give him a critique.

What did they tell him?
That it was incredible. The speech will say that all Democrats are united behind Kerry.

Will Dennis speak out on the issue that he's been working on?
Yes, I believe he will try to convey to the Democrats as well as the third party voters that we will be working together for the next four years.

He probably wants to reach out to say more to the far left, but how's he going to do that when the Democratic leadership is trying to moderate everyone's speech, asking them to not do much Bush-bashing and instead reaching out to the swing voter?
Dennis will be there to remind everyone that the Democratic party is an umbrella and it reaches out to a diverse group of people. He'll remind people that there will be an open door in the Kerry White House, where you would have a bolted and welded door with the other administration. There's strict rules about who's allowed on the floor, and Kerry has encouraged us to come together on the floor and given Kucinich 20 additional passes to have more people on the floor. Already at this convention, Kerry is talking with Kucinich and making compromises to show that he is willing to work with progressive Democrats of America. We are coming together with Dean and Sharpton and other groups to form the PDA, the Progressive Democrats of Amerca. We've been on the floor conversing with other delegates.

How pleased is Dennis with the way the platform came out?
We were able to get some verbage in the platform calling for a decrease in troops; that wouldn't have been in there unless the Kucinich delegates got a 20% vote from the platform Committee.

Wasn't there wording about pulling out the troops, was it suggested?
Make no mistake, Dennis still stands stongly behind his platform. However, Dennis knows the art of compromise; he knows it's all about compromise. He also knows that you have to make peace. As in any relationship, or a marriage, you have to compromise for the greater good. Kerry called Dennis after he endorsed Kerry. He told Dennis he's going to make the White House the Department of Peace.

Not just a department, but make the whoe White House the department of peace?
Well, that's what he said. No word on the actual department yet, but he knows that the Department of Peace is Dennis' priority.

Have you been able to read your poetry at the convention?
I recited my poetry to a couple of people and they enjoyed it. I've given out my website which is http://cmc213.tripod.com/charlenecoates

What's been the hardest part of your job as a delegate?
The hardest part of my job was deciding how I'm going to cast my vote tomorrow.

How will you vote?
I am going to vote for John Kerry. We trust Dennis, I've trusted him since I was seven years old. John Kerry is the only nominee on the ballot. So you can vote for anyone you want to, so if I vote for Dennis, I would just vote "Present." Dennis could have tried to get signatures and get on the ballot, but he didn't. He knows that the people have spoken, and at this point in time, I feel that he did the right thing. There are delegates in the rest of the country who will vote for Kucinich but they are united for Kerry.

Do you think Kucinich's candidacy did reach out to the far-left and retain them in the Democratic party?
Absolutely. I think he's done that already. I think that the central Democrats agree with our platform. However, due to less than 1% of national media coverage he received, his message didn't get out. A lot of the media chose to be adolescent and poke fun at him. The New York Times survey recently showed that 8 out of 9 delegates oppose the war; hopefully we'll have four years to do something about it.

What about Nader? Has he been influenced at all by Dennis' candidacy?
Not that I'm aware of. Dennis and Nader have been friends and have worked together for 30 years. However, Dennis feels that it is time to unite and look forward to the next four years with hope, rather than with despair.

And now I'm working on a poem here, so maybe I'll send it to Cool Cleveland when I get back - after I get some sleep when I get home.

Interview by Thomas Mulready

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