Most of the news media will focus on Senator Kennedy and Michelle Obama's speeches. It goes without debate that they were both extremely moving. Personally, I was teary eyed during both and no doubt both are worthy of analysis. But one need not look past the front page of The New York Times or watch CNN for more than five minutes to hear about those. Instead, it was the events that may not garner press coverage that reaffirmed my faith that the Democratic Party is still focused on issues of importance to the middle and aspiring middle classes.

Sitting in the convention hall I was relieved to finally hear my issues, ordinary Americans issues, take a center stage. It was RepresentativeJose Serrano of the Bronx who pulled me back in, telling the Pepsi Center packed to capacity that the time has come for a “President that understands we must strengthen our economy from the bottom up.” Speaker after speaker stressed the need for policies to strengthen the middle class.

The presence of both Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers and Reg Weaver of the National Education Association showed that education was still high on the Democratic agenda. Union leaders represented a commitment to creating high paying jobs for Americans. I’m happy to say after day one of the Democratic National Convention, ordinary Americans never left the minds of the party. I’m excited to see how the week progresses.