[The 90’s raw: Eddie Tape #106 – Democratic camp]

Eddie Tape #106. Democratic camp. Becker at the 1992 Democratic National Convention, various interviews. Footage within a Clinton/Gore campaign strategy meeting.

00:00Copy video clip URL At the 1992 Democratic National Convention. Crowds of people at Madison Square Garden in New York City, setting up, testing sound levels. Kids and adults setting up to rehearse singing in chorus. A man is directing them, preparing them for a rehearsal. Various production crews setting up for the convention.

02:30Copy video clip URL Kids clap as New York City Mayor David Dinkins approaches and shakes hands. The kids sing Solidarity Forever.

04:30Copy video clip URL A woman introduces Ed Cleary, President of the AFL-CIO of New York State, to the kids and adults of the chorus. He talks friendly with everyone.

06:15Copy video clip URL Interview with Cleary who thinks this convention will mean a lot for labor unions. He adds that we shouldn’t have this kind of unemployment, with possibly 10 million people unemployed or underemployed. Bush tried and failed and now we need someone else.

08:35Copy video clip URL When asked about the impact of businesses splitting their money between Democrats and Republicans, Cleary says it’s a smart move for a business person to cover all his bets. When asked if money comes with strings, Cleary says everyone expects there are strings attached. He says more people recognize now the importance of a labor movement because they’ve witnessed what strong labor movements in Germany and France that people accept as a way of life. The U.S. only has 16 percent of its citizens in labor unions, while Germany has about 60 percent of its citizens in participating.

11:07Copy video clip URL Interview with kids in the chorus. They say they’re going to sing. They note they are from all over the world. One kids says Janet McCray from NBC wanted to bring kids here to sing. He says they’re going to sing America the Beautiful and Battle Hymn of the Republic.

12:30Copy video clip URL Interview with another of the kids, Cynthia, who says she’s here to sing. Another kid says this is the Democratic Convention but doesn’t know what the importance of it is. Another kid says it’s where all the people from the Democrats speak because they want votes. They want to be President. Another kid adds the candidates say they’re going to change stuff. Another kid adds that she’d like the candidates to make a better world and keep it clean. The kids think the main problems in society are drugs, racism, and homelessness.

15:20Copy video clip URL The production team testing audio levels during rehearsal of America the Beautiful.

16:55Copy video clip URL More interviews with kids. When asked what the President can do about America’s problems, they suggest he can stop pollution by shutting down factories and send people to jail when they do bad things. Another adds that some factories you can’t shut down because it’s based on power. Another says the President could make more speeches and notes that he’s been talking mostly about taxes. There’s a lot more to America besides taxes. He’s been saying, “Read my lips. No new taxes.”

20:05Copy video clip URL New York City Mayor Dinkins addresses a crowd outside and says that diversity of the Democratic party is its strength. He says some of our ancestors came on ships from Europe, some in slave ships, and some were already here to greet those ships. Regardless of what ship your ancestors were on, or if your ancestors were here to greet those ships, “we’re all in the same boat now.”

21:10Copy video clip URL The videographer, Eddie Becker, going through the crowd to the mayor. The mayor talks with journalists as he walks. He says he won’t run for Presidency. He wants to stay Mayor of New York City.

23:06Copy video clip URL Interview with Joe Brunning, a Pro-Choice Delegate from Minnesota, who says he loves Mayor Dinkins. He’s addressed race problems and other urban problems. He’s helped clean up New York City. In Minneapolis, two of the big problems are AIDS and homelessness. He thinks Perot will lose steam and Clinton will win the day. He doesn’t see that Bush will be re-elected.

24:08Copy video clip URL Exterior at night. Paul Simon performs on stage

24:25Copy video clip URL An adult group of double Dutch jumpers, called Hardcore Jumpers, dances outside to an energetic crowd. They bring up some audience members to participate and then perform masterfully.

32:56Copy video clip URL The troupe introduces themselves: Lynette, age 31, Deirdre, age 30, Robin Nelson, age 32, Sassi, age 37, Willie Sanford, age 40, Shirley AJ Mitchell, age 42. They tell the crowd there is no limit to the things you can do. The crowd engages the jumpers in conversation.

35:06Copy video clip URL Change of location. Interior of a hotel suite, a group of men and women in suits, convention coordinators, are in meeting planning a 5-day campaign bus trip for Bill Clinton and Al Gore. They discuss the agenda. In Utica, Ohio, they are planning an event with small town farmers, a pot luck dinner, feed the press, 20-30 farmers and small town folk. Then they move on to Columbus and focus on health care issues for women. Possibly a family medical leave event at a children’s hospital, discussing the difficulties families face. They discuss whether or not an agenda like this would sell well in Ohio.

42:09Copy video clip URL We go then south to Wilmington, Ohio. The buzzword there is public private cooperation, economic reinvestment jobs. The main business is a Federal Express-type company. Half the town is old and decrepit, the other half is brand new and shiny. They divide responsibilities for the Columbus event.

43:40Copy video clip URL A man announces that on he way to Louisville the tour will make an unannounced 45-minute fun stop at a State park, to keep the press happy, throw a football around, give them milk and cookies, t-shirts. When they get into Louisville they’ll have an hour-long town forum live television event. The next morning they can either attend a head start program or a teenage mom stay in school program, part of something called DuValle.

45:10Copy video clip URL Susan Thomases, Senior Strategist, explains that the DuValle education center came about when Louisville was changing its school system to achieve racial balance. One school was going to be closed down. The neighborhood remodeled it into a center for head start programs. She advises someone need to go there ahead of time to make sure it’s operating in July for their visit.

46:32Copy video clip URL A man continues saying that from there they travel to Evansville, Indiana and visit a small business incubator. Then head to southern Illinois. They’d like to go through Centralia, Illinois, put [Illinois Attorney General] Roland Buriss on board their bus with the Governor and collect 330 or 40 cards to follow our motorcade into Vandalia, a former capitol city, for a town meeting event on the lawn of the State Capitol. A man called David notes that Abraham Lincoln was a state representative there and one time, to avoid a quorum, hung out the State Capitol window. “We’re going to re-enact that.” Another man notes that recently the people of Vandalia collected 5,000 citizens at the Capitol building for a picture of them begging for jobs “and nothing’s happened since.” “They’re hurting.”

48:00Copy video clip URL The group suggests holding an ice cream social there because it sends  a good message. A man continues with the agenda, stating that from there they go to St. Louis and have a noontime rally. They realize someone needs to find an appropriate site. People offer suggestions of locations in the city. Their decision is based on where the voters are. They suggest trying to integrate voter registration at these events. They discuss where the best places are to have those voter registrations. They decide at the end of every speech voter registration should be mentioned.

55:23Copy video clip URL A man notes that they are using Thomases’ suggestion to call this trip The First Thousand Miles, and it really is 1,004 miles. There’s a lot of local press interest and they’ll be moving from place to place. They discuss various logistics of transporting all the people joining the trip. They discuss promotion that will be printed on the sides of the bus announcing Clinton/Gore and the First 1,000 Miles. Various discussion of ideas, everyone talks at once.

01:00:10Copy video clip URL The meeting starts wrapping up. Those in charge of bus details leave. They wrap up Gore’s schedule: going to Pittsburgh, leaving for Washington to do Meet the Press TV show. They discuss what his schedule will be between then and the conclusion of the bus trip in St. Louis. Someone’s beeper goes off.  Thomases suggests that the best route for him would be Minnesota,  to Wisconsin, to Iowa to St. Louis. The schedulers need to read the plan.

01:03:06Copy video clip URL END. Cuts in mid-sentence.

 

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