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Local Delegates Part of History

By Frank Morris

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-751145.mp3

Denver, CO – Hard core Democrats from Kansas and Missouri are gearing up this morning for the final night of what many of them view as a historic nominating convention. Frank Morris reports from Denver.

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Kansas delegates were changing their votes right up until the last minute yesterday evening. Not that the outcome was ever really in doubt. When the roll call got to New York Senator Clinton stood up and suspended voting, making Senator Barrack Obama the first African American nominee for president from a major political party. That done, Andria Smickes, from St. Louis, says the path is cleared for Obama's speech tonight in Denver's pro football stadium.

Andira Smickes: We're making history, and of course I am extremely to hear his speech, to see the people yes I am excited. I never thought I'd see it in my lifetime. I can honestly say that.

Smickes has particular reason to be excited. She says she was the first African American female to run state-wide in Missouri that was just this year. She ran for state treasurer, and says it took some convincing to get people to accept that she fundamentally like them. She lost her primary. She says she thinks this election may help the country move past race.

I’ve been at KCUR almost 30 years, working partly for NPR and splitting my time between local and national reporting. I work to bring extra attention to people in the Midwest, my home state of Kansas and of course Kansas City. What I love about this job is having a license to talk to interesting people and then crafting radio stories around their voices. It’s a big responsibility to uphold the truth of those stories while condensing them for lots of other people listening to the radio, and I take it seriously. Email me at frank@kcur.org or find me on Twitter @FrankNewsman.
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