South Pasadena teen works the DNC floors in North Carolina

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The California delegation to the Democratic National Convention represents several generations of party activists, from former Gov. Gray Davis to younger delegates first swept up with Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign.

One of the youngest is Harrison Cameron, 16, a South Pasadena high school junior working the hall as a volunteer page.

On Monday night, during the opening speeches by Nancy Pelosi and other party leaders, Cameron could be seen performing various errands and duties at Time Warner Cable Arena, wearing a reflective yellow vest over his suit and tie.

“I just help out with whatever needs help with,” he said, standing in the aisle as Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa worked the crowd nearby, shaking hands with delegates. “ We’re going to distribute some insane number of signs later: ‘We Love Michelle,’ ‘Forward’ and that kind of stuff. A lot of signs.”

He is the son of David Cameron, 60, a Teamster executive who travels the country working on behalf of 70,000 railway engineers and maintenance workers. It was his idea to bring his son to the event.

“He’s very interested in these kind of things,” the father said with a proud smile. “We were going to bring him to the inauguration, but we weren’t able to do that. I asked him if he would like to come to this and he said ‘Absolutely!’ I talked to all his teachers, got all his assignments, they were all excited for him to go. I think he’s having the time of his life.”

Harrison watched the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida on television last week, but was still surprised by the scale of the event, as well as the work that goes into putting it on. In Charlotte, he spends every morning helping with a breakfast for the California delegation, beginning at 7 a.m.

The student said he hopes to stay involved in politics when he gets older, though he’s not sure in what form. Until then, he says he will keep informed, slowly learning how the political world operates..

“I watch a lot of news, all that jazz,” he said. “I try to keep updated. I like how even if you know everything about one situation, everyone still thinks you’re wrong. Pretty cool.”

-- Steve Appleford, Times Community News