G.I. delegates: Democratic convention energetic

It's the first time at a national convention for Grand Island delegates Lisa Hannah and Judy Vohland.

"You can just feel the energy," Hannah said.

She was mesmerized by U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, who spoke Tuesday night.

"She came out with this whole message of unity that was needed from her," Hannah said. "I think it was fantastic."

Hannah is a Clinton delegate, but is already committed to  casting a vote for Barack Obama following Wednesday night's roll call vote.

Hannah said a first vote will be held in which delegates will vote for their committed candidates. But a second vote will follow, in which Clinton has released her delegates to vote for Obama.

Hannah has no problem with that.

"The process worked," she said. "(Clinton) was my choice, but based on the rules we follow, Obama is the party's nominee and I'm going to support that."

Vohland is an Obama delegate and said both he and Clinton are very similar on positions. She personally had been "sitting on the fence" between the two candidates until she heard Obama speak at a Girls Club event in Omaha.

"Then when they got to the campaign, Obama just managed his campaign better," she said.

Vohland praised Obama's wife, Michelle, for the speech she delivered Monday night.

"I thought it was very good -- and in person she looked fantastic," Vohland said. "She's a bright, intelligent woman in her own right."

Besides the moving speeches at the convention, the national gathering has had other intrigues.

Hannah had the ultimate experience Monday night. She shook hands with former President Jimmy Carter.

He and First Lady Rosalynn Carter walked up the aisle between the Nebraska and Georgia delegations and stopped to visit.

"I remember when you came to my hometown when I was 10 years old," Hannah told the president referring to his visit to Grand Island after the 1980 tornadoes struck.

"That makes me sound old," Carter told Hannah as he extended what Hannah called a "very firm handshake."

Vohland has enjoyed watching and meeting all the people at the convention --including protesters, women in "outrageous hats" and some men from Missouri wearing placards that read "Rednecks for Obama."

Hannah said Tuesday night was also special because the Nebraska delegation is sitting in the center of the convention hall near television cameras. It's a vantage point that affords a view of virtually the entire convention floor and gallery.

"We could see President Clinton (watching Hillary Clinton's speak,)" she said. "We could turn around and you could see tears in his eyes as she spoke.

"The energy in this hall is just incredible.”