On the DNC floor

The two local Democratic challengers for Congress, Debbie Cook and Steve Young, have spent their week at the Democratic National Convention in Denver talking, listening and fundraising.

Cook, who is contesting Rep. Dana Rohrabacher’s 46th District seat, says the atmosphere is intense.

“There’s a lot of excitement and anticipation here,” Cook said.

She watched Hillary Clinton’s speech Tuesday night at a viewing party at the convention center, and she thought it was terrific, “very poised and classy.”

Cook even gave a speech of her own to the California Nurses Assn., where she talked about the problems with the health-care system and recommended fixes, such as instituting a single-payer system.

“Our health-care system is not worth reviving. There’s nothing worth reviving there. Once you turn somebody’s health into something that’s a for-profit commodity, it’s just not right,” Cook said.

Young went to the convention as a delegate set to vote for Barack Obama. The most moving speech he had seen by Wednesday evening was given by Obama’s wife.

“Michelle Obama introduced her husband to the convention as no one else could. It was great to meet him in that way. I now have a sense of what he thinks is important,” Young said.

For Cook, one of the most exciting parts of the convention was seeing all of the people gathered in the 16th Street Mall, a giant outdoor walkway.

“The entire length is just packed with people 24 hours a day, and there are protests and rallies all the time. It’s kind of like the Promenade in Santa Monica,” she said.

The convention has been broadcast on television almost continuously since it began Monday. Still, viewers don’t get a complete picture of the scene from watching it on the tube, Young said.

“Maybe the real issue is not what is happening in the convention, but what the viewers at home get to see on television. The observations are inconsistent with what I am seeing and hearing on the convention floor,” Young said.