This was a get-together that was a long time coming. After the two candidates, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, had slugged it out for what seemed like an eternity, the primary season ended this week.

Looking back, this whole unlikely primary battle had matched the Kid from Left Field against the former First Lady and heir to the crown of Clinton. What made it oh-so-historical was the way the Kid who should have been out of the picture by Super Tuesday stayed in the contest with Hillary, and in the end, the Impossible trumped the Inevitable. As stories go, it doesn't get much more exciting than that.

Locally, there was some drama with the challenge by Obama supporters over the way state delegates were counted at the El Paso County convention. Behind the scenes, party stalwarts battled it out in emails and snail mail; Sebastian Martinez, long-time Clinton supporter and co-parliamentarian at the convention, pointed out violations of party rules in a letter, and in response, unsigned counter-letters attacked him.

The Road to Austin

Three buses ferried El Paso's Democrats to the Austin Convention. The Tejanos (a Hillary Clinton group) ran one, the Mexican-American Democrats (MAD, largely Obama-oriented) ran another and there was a "Democratic Party" bus, also largely pro-Hillary. On the MAD bus, there was the incident of the Police Stop somewhere outside Van Horn. One wag selected, "It must have been a Republican cop who needed to meet his quota." After some talk with the driver, the officer, who peeked into the bus to assure himself the vehicle was not running aliens into the nation's interior, allowed the bus to proceed.

Friday morning found the bus passengers, 80 of them on a full-up bus, wiping sleep out of their eyes and marveling at a rainfall that covered the glass on the bus and caused the roadway to slick up. The rain also made the arriving crowd wonder whether to believe their eyes. After all, the gray and threatening skies seemed a world away from the hot and windy night they'd left behind in El Paso.

After checking in at Embassy Suites, a 15-minute ride to the Convention Center, we hustled to the center downtown where the Convention had begun the night before. "Hustled" means a bunch of dingy Democrats waited in line while their bus buddies showered up and got dressed and ready for the bus. Luggage and other items were stowed in rooms that had been left vacant -- actual room assignments would wait till later (which happened, for most of the tired passengers, to take place after midnight). But all that happened later ...

The convention Center. If you've never flown into a major airport -- DFW, O'Hare, Kennedy in New York -- you may not know what it's like to walk down a hall teeming with a sea of faces. And all types of people were represented here -- short and tall, thin and not-so-thin, old and young, and all the colors of humanity. I saw:

-- A World War II Vet in hat advertising this fact, slumping but finding his way.

-- A gray mustachioed Bill Cosby look-alike in a blue Obama tee-shirt and shorts, looking very dapper.

-- A middle-aged lady with large buttons covering her black vest and wearing a straw hat laced with buttons and topped off with
a reclining felt Democrat donkey.

-- Three women unfurling a large banner naming their organization inside the convention hall, and someone taking their picture.

-- The self-sufficient man in a wheelchair, expertly guiding himself out a door where crowds converged. He was sucking on a tube and holding his bag of credentials on his left foot.

-- A woman in a black suit with a very high Afro walking proudly to her destination.

-- Tee shirts with a wealth of inscriptions: The Only Truth that Stands Before Us is Obama! Waco (heart) Obama. All manner of shirts featuring Obama, Hillary and assorted politicos from around the state.

-- Rosa Caballero, Obama delegate from El Paso. Her original and slightly-off-center way of wearing small American flags at 45 degree angles in a red beret got her picture on the front page of Friday's El Paso Times.

-- An older woman, flanked by two female friends, walks haltingly as her shirt says it all: "400 Executions is a Disgrace."

What They Had to Say

Carmen Duarte, former head of the local Democratic Party, was decked out in a sequined and sparkly American flag jacket. "All my family was going to Las Vegas, but I told them I'm coming here," she said. On the Hillary-Obama question, she said, "I'm a Democrat. I will support the party's choice."

A youngish-looking senior citizen sporting a white Western hat, crisp Western shirt and blue jeans. He had a distinguished-looking white moustache and spoke with a real Texas drawl. He identified himself as Charles Rother, native of Lavaca, Texas, "home of Shiner Beer." Lavaca, he explained, was near Goliad out Victoria way.

It was his second convention. "There's a lot of support here for him," he confessed, when asked his thoughts on Obama (he was a Hillary supporter). He repeated a familiar quotation, with a smile: "I don't belong to any organized party -- I'm a Democrat."

A delegate who did not want to give his name discussed his fear for Barack Obama, what the future might hold: "Now that he's a candidate, he's gonna probably need more secret service protection. I mean, every nut job in the country is gonna be gunning for him. He's the first serious black candidate ever. And they can't stand that. This is someone poised to take us to the next level. He's poised to take us where everyone has to listen. Not just us."

Jose Rodriguez, El Paso's County Attorney, at the Caucus of the 29th Senatorial District, noted the three rooms made into one to accommodate the nearly 350 people, delegates and alternates. "I remember in 'O4 when the delegation filled the front part," he said, pointing at a small portion of the room. "And now, there's three large sections."

Outside the caucus room, Clinton supporter Ken Sutherland, who was at the center of the El Paso delegate dispute, had a hard time accepting the idea of switching gears and moving from Hillary to Obama.

"We have common ground on some issues," he said. But, if there is to be a switch from one candidate to another, it's "a big conversion."

"We better be heart and soul committed to it," Sutherland said.

At 3 p.m. Friday, Rodriguez and other notables such as U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes and El Paso Mayor John Cook were in the caucus, and the wait went on -- and on -- for alternates to be advanced to full delegate status ("We're waiting to be levitated," cracks alternate Michael Correll). The talk, the mulling and milling about the room, the noise level -- the Paul Simon title ran through my head: "It's all happening at the Zoo."

Rodriguez expressed hope on viewing the active, involved roomful of politicos: "It's great to see such a diverse crowd, such a young crowd. It bodes well for El Paso because El Paso is present at the State Convention that affects El Paso. These people decide who will represent us at State and at the national level ... Without us participating, we don't have a say in the process."

Standing outside the 3 p.m. caucus of the 29th Senatorial District, a man we later identified as Hans Sassenfeld shared his feelings about what he’d heard in the caucuses he'd visited. "Some of these talks I've been to -- it had me in tears," he said. "It renews your faith in America."

Inside the caucus room, once the uproar subsided, Chairman Danny Anchondo presided over a meeting that was cut short due to the opening of the Convention on the main floor. Before things were suspended, the crowd heard a heartfelt speech from candidate to the Texas House, Joe Moody. That race, we heard, was one of the most closely watched races in the state of Texas this year. (It was Pat Haggerty's seat until Dee Margo dethroned him in March). We also decided that, when the floor opened to nominations for the offices we were to vote on, candidates running for office here would have to support the presidential candidate the party chose. Thus: Hillary candidates would have to support Obama in the Fall.

This particular rule later produced some controversy: Blanche Darley seemed to answer in an indistinct way when she was asked if she would abide by this rule which caused nearly half the house to demand she answer the question.

When things resumed in the early evening, the real political muscle got to be flexed. People were allowed to run for the Rules Committee, At Large delegates to the National Convention in Denver, etc. Among those elected were Lina Ortega as the Elector, Yoli Clay as SDEC person. The three Obama delegates to represent El Paso in Denver will be Don Williams, Lilly Ruiz, and Isela Castanon Williams, along with Pledged Elected Official (PLEO) at large state Rep. Norma Chavez. The Clinton delegates will be PLEO at large state Rep. Paul Moreno, Ramona "Monchie" Torres, Aaron Paz, and Blanche Darley.

Proceedings came to a close about 10:30 and most delegates were glad to be done with the work they'd stayed late to finish up.

Inside the Convention

On the Convention floor, there's always some reason to be distracted. If it's not someone passing through the crowd with a petition, it's delegates walking through the aisles carrying signs supporting this or that candidate. Highlights of the Convention:

-- Kirk Watson delivering an inspired Keynote Address, then later leading the Convention as the Chairman. He presented a solid, fair-minded kind of leadership.

-- Chelsea Clinton, an announced "special treat," come to the Convention to "deliver a message of unity" from her mother to take back the White House and to support Senator Obama. "She gives a big Texas size thank you to everyone," she said.

-- The show of unity by the Texas House members who, one after another, came to the microphone either to ask for support for Obama or to ask delegates to elect the five House members needed to give Democrats a majority.

-- Gov. Jim Kaine of Virginia, the first governor to go over for Obama, asking for Hillary supporters to be good Democrats and take up the cause. "You can be the key to changing America," he said, adding that the delegates also could turn Texas blue.

Saturday Convention Highlights

When we arrived there, the morning session at the Convention was taken up with delegates watching on a big screen as Hillary Clinton delivered what is usually considered the Concession Speech. In this case, it created intrigue since she never announced she'd be giving up her pledged delegates. The "feed" on the speech broke down, and Chairman Watson returned to the business at hand. He introduced Congressman Lloyd Doggett, an Austin veteran pol who proceeded to hand it to Bush. "W," he said, stood for Worst-ever and for Whopper, which Scott McLellan taught us about in his recent book on the "Bush Chicanery Administration," (Doggett's words again.)

San Antonio politician Charlie Gonzalez provided a ditty on the coming election:

United we can,
Divided, McCain.

Candidates for judge across Texas were presented in an amusing short movie done in a Western style. There was a video tribute to two famous Texas lady Democrats who passed on since the last convention: Lady Bird Johnson and Ann Richards.

Probably the day's most stirring presentation involved a video on Mario Gallegos, a member of the Texas legislature, and his fight to defeat the Republican-sponsored I.D. Bill. Against his doctor's orders, Gallegos led the charge and emerged victorious. Once he took the stage "in the flesh," he gave the delegates an example of politics in action. "The time of Democrats fighting against Democrats is over," he said. He also made a vow that seemed to be a definite call to action.

"I will work just as hard for Barack Obama and make sure he becomes our next president," he said, comparing his future work with the work he's already done for Hillary Clinton. It was an impassioned plea for party unity and, given the obvious character of Gallegos, it was hard to dismiss. One hopes that many of the delegates in the hall can begin the process of healing and getting ready to support a candidate different from the one they've been supporting.

The afternoon was mostly given over to votes on rules of the party, resolutions and the party platform for the Denver Convention. As we were about to leave the building in the late afternoon, even before some of the resolutions had been fully hammered out, we spotted a sign on a table in the Exhibit Hall where they sold merchandise such as political tee shirts, lighted American flag pins, buttons and a world of novelties.

"See y'all in Denver," the sign said. Whether this Convention left people feeling unified or not, Denver waited up the road.