August 28, 1968
by Janine Stephenson
At 1:30 a.m.
There's a huge demonstration going on right now in the hall. They are fighting over the platform. Hump and his friends are trying to get the platform voted on tonight. We are trying to get them to agree to have a platform of peace. But Ron says that the only way we can get them to agree to peace is through brute force. That's what he says, but he says he didn't say it. We absolutely cannot let them vote on the platform now. Absolutely not. No one at home is watching television.
Can you hear the booing? It's loud. So much so that when people come out of the hall, we can hear it echo and reverberate all the back where we are. Becca is wondering if there will be a riot inside the hall. If so, will anyone get killed? She's scared.
I am, too. But I'm tired of being afraid.
****
At 2:30 a.m.
We're back at the hotel. . It's too noisy to sleep. It feels like it's broad daylight outside, but it isn't. I can't see the people out there, but we can hear them. They chant and yell into bullhorns, or maybe that's the police. I hear cars beeping their horn. It feels like the world is focused on our hotel. That the crowd thinks that if only they can persuade us, then maybe we can stop the war. But they don't understand. We don't have the power to stop the war. We're not in control.
Becca keeps flicking the lights in response to the chanting. They want to interact with us. They want us to hear them. We do, but it isn't going to help.
****
Noon
I feel much better. As soon as my bed hit the pillow, I feel asleep. I woke up with the hot sun shining right into my face. Becca was already awake. She asked me if it was possible to get a tan through the window. I wonder...
Ron said that he went to bed around 4 a.m. After the session ended, he went into the hotel bar and gulped a few. He always wanted to do this politics game, but maybe he needs to do something else, like advertising. But then, you can't have a heart if you go into advertising so he isn't sure what he wants to do. Usually politics is as exciting as hell, but now it's just hell.
We'll have to stop the convention, if we want to stop the war.
Mrs. Stoutmiller came by again to say hello.
****
At 1 p.m.
Becca and I went down to the floor of the convention to be with Mrs. Stoutmiller. It seems that security is extra tight if you support the wrong person. Anyway, Becca and I hung out with Mrs. Stoutmiller for a while. It was sort of fun and exciting and sort of boring. It's hard to hear people talking down there and carrying on a conversation is close to impossible. It's like everyone is jammed into a place, such a tiny place, so they're agitated. If you brush up against someone by accident, they get upset. And if you're wearing the wrong button, they stay upset.
I'm the first in my family to be at a political convention, so I can't wait to call home to tell them. Becca wanted to wave to the television men, but I thought that was silly. Though we did get to see Chet Huntley. How exciting is that? It's hard to believe that people you see on television really exist, but sure enough, Chet Huntley does!
****
at 3:30 p.m.
They're voting on the platform. Craig and Becca are tracking the total. Ron is sitting quietly. He looks like he's going to cry. I feel so bad for him, and for all of us. Mrs. Stoutmiller came by. She's pursing her lips.
I feel sick to my stomach.
