Area residents get front-seat view of Democratic history

DENVER - For a college student majoring in political science, it was quite the "get."

Samantha Kinstle, an Ohio Northern University student from Wapakoneta, drew a plum assignment this week: working security at the Pepsi Center. It most likely will mean she'll be within spitting distance of just about everyone who's anyone at the Democratic National Convention, which starts Monday.

Kinstle and the rest of the ONU student contingent already have been in Denver a week, attending lectures and workshops with some of the country's top political scientists and other Democratic notables. (Another group will attend the GOP convention.) Lima Democrat Beverly McCoy is also in Denver this week as a Barack Obama delegate from the 4th Congressional District.

They'll all have front row seats to the Democratic Party making history this week when it officially nominates Obama as its presidential candidate.

"I don't want to hear ‘presumptive' any more," McCoy said about her nominee.

The only other time McCoy attended a convention was 1984. Her commitment to the process this year began in January with a drive to Marion for caucusing and a speech about why she should be a delegate. Fellow Democrats voted for her, which punched her ticket to Denver, but only if Obama was the nominee.

After a hard primary, the convention is needed as much as ever to bring different factions of the party together, McCoy said.

"I had an uncle who worked in the coal mines and he used to attend worker conventions. I would ask why and he said, ‘To fire up the membership. You've got to get everyone on board,' " McCoy said. "This is the same thing. You get aware of the issues, have some fun, hug and kiss, and go to work together."

The ONU contingent is one of the largest among 400 students from around the country, political science professor Robert Alexander said. The university printed business cards to help the students network.

The group caught up with a CNN coverage bus. Asking for a peek inside, they discovered a production engineer was from Lima and the students were able to sit where Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain all had previously been interviewed.

"The group's already making a splash," Alexander said. "If you're a political science major, this is nirvana."