Montana delegates enjoy no-frills dorm life
The trash is overflowing in Room 1006.
An empty box of chocolate doughnuts sits in a makeshift wastebasket -- an empty 12-pack of Stella Artois beer. The bedsheets have not been changed in days, and dirty, wet towels are lying near the shower.
Welcome to dormitory living for the Montana delegation, where bathrooms are shared, room service is self-service, and towels look like dinner napkins to some of the huskier delegates.
''The beds are also a little small," said Ed Tinsley, of Helena, Montana's capital, who has to squeeze his burly frame into a narrow bed in Room 1006. ''But it's really not a bad deal."
Conventions are dominated by special-interest groups that court the affluent and powerful. But the small Montana delegation, mainly working-class folks, turned down the fancier hotels to bunk in West Village A, a dormitory at Northeastern University. It is a significant savings and creates an unusually collegiate lifestyle for these Democratic Party activists.
''We stay up late sharing, talking, giggling, and having a good time," said Kathleen Driscoll, of Hamilton, Mont. ''It's just really a close feeling here."
Driscoll, a single mother, is paying $77.50 a night to sleep on a hard twin bed in a spartan room with Betsy Scanlin. They were perfect strangers when they arrived Sunday, but are now close friends.
''I doubt I would have been able to come if they didn't find us quarters we could afford," Driscoll said.
The Montanans occupy the top three floors of the high-rise tower on Parker Street. The rooms offer views of the Museum of Fine Arts, Fenway Park, and a construction site next door.
Most of the 26 delegates passed on the few amenities available at an extra cost: televisions, $50; Internet access, $50; and coffeepots, $23.
Compare that with the Omni Parker House, home base for the New Jersey delegation, where the $200 price tag for a standard room includes a fitness center, housekeeping, cable TV, and concierge services. The New Jersey Democratic Party has paid the travel and hotel bills for several delegates who could not afford them, spokesman Adam Green said.
Montana's party cannot afford such largesse. Instead, delegate George Parisot sold political buttons to raise $150 so that delegate Mariya Peck, who was recently laid off, and her husband, Josh, could make the trip.
The Montanans are not complaining about their quarters. They are grateful for the convenient location and air-conditioned dorms with kitchenettes. Room 1006 has half a block of Muenster cheese, Samuel Adams beer, and containers of chewing tobacco chilling in the fridge.
Meanwhile, Montana Senator Max Baucus, who is on crutches after a motorcycle accident earlier this month, is staying with other congressional leaders at the more comfortable Boston Harbor Hotel.
But Bob Ream, chairman of the Montana Democratic Party, who in December joked that he would pitch a tent on Boston Common, has embraced dormitory life.
''I know one or two would have preferred to be in a hotel, but we've got four people under 21, several Native Americans who are not wealthy, and there's a real need for affordability," Ream said.
The Montanans' choice of living quarters won a vote of praise from former Massachusetts governor Michael S. Dukakis, who addressed the delegates Monday in a cramped room that passed as a breakfast hall at West Village A.
''It's a great atmosphere," said Dukakis, who is teaching a course on the convention and presidential campaign at Northeastern University.
''I told a friend staying at the airport to change the reservation to the dorms."
Jenn Abelson can be reached at abelson@globe.com.
