Most of the Delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte have arrived and are wandering around downtown Charlotte in an effort to acclimate themselves to the events of the next three days.

Although it’s Labor Day in at the DNC, you won’t see a big union presence because North Carolina is a right-to-work state and the AFL-CIO reminds the Democrats of that fact every chance they get. A handful of big labor bosses will be in town but they won’t be spending big labor bucks on the convention.

The highlight of the day is the Carolina Fest being headlined by James Taylor.

My only other major convention experience was attending the 1996 Republican Convention in San Diego. If you can’t remember that far back, Sen. Bob Dole and former Secretary Jack Kemp were the party’s nominees. And in case you are wondering, they didn’t win but it was fun nonetheless.

I drove in and parked as close to downtown as I could this morning but still had to walk about 15 blocks to reach the convention center. I picked up my credentials (maybe I’ll write a separate post about that process) before finding the media center. All the big guys are here, Fox News, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Politico and the other usual suspects.

However, none will cover the conventions emphasis on faith and religion like The Christian Post. Here’s an example:

I attended the DNC’s Faith Council meeting this morning where Dr. Carroll Baltimore of the Progressive National Baptist Convention and DNC chairlady, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, addressed a group of approximately 150 people. Their primary themes centered on voter suppression and affordable healthcare; two issues that will no doubt be repeated throughout the week. Surprisingly, Rep. Todd Akin’s name or rape was not mentioned in the same breath but I would wager it will be before the end of the week.

What I did find interesting was a comment made by Rep. Wasserman-Schultz, when after describing how she was raised Jewish but in a “secular” home said, “Being Jewish is both a religion and a culture.”

As a Christian, my first thought was, “is this how I view my relationship with God?” Is it both a religion and culture to me? I can see how some Christians could in fact say the same. But some could not.

Both major party’s tout religion in different ways and both try to appeal to the most religious within their ranks while not alienating non-believers. One thing I will be looking for this week is how the Democrats showcase faith and religion at this convention. Rep. Wasserman-Schultz may have given me a preview.

I wonder if I will see more faiths represented in Charlotte than some of my colleagues saw at the GOP convention in Tampa?