Anton Gunn is a first-time delegate to the Democratic National Convention from South Carolina, and he has never so much as watched a political convention on television before. Even Barack Obama's famous keynote address in 2004 didn't grab his attention (he sheepishly admits he still hasn't listened to it). In fact, until two years ago, when Gunn ran for a state house seat in Columbia and lost by 298 votes, he'd never been involved in electoral politics.
Obama's candidacy has brought a wave of new voters and volunteers into the Democratic Party, but even among them, Gunn, 35, stands out. In...