WORCESTER—It’s a story of a little David against a big Goliath—literally—and Robert Reich couldn’t be happier to be the small hero.

After garnering just over the 15 percent of delegates’ votes necessary to make it onto this fall’s primary ballot at Saturday’s Massachusetts Democratic State Convention, the Cambridge resident and former Harvard lecturer said that his victory was symbolic of something even greater—the victory of clean politics.

In fact, the current Brandeis professor turned Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate addressed cheering fans—including Harvard students and professors such as Malkin Professor of Public Policy Robert D. Putnam—on top of his signature block, saying that his Saturday victory was “just the beginning.”

“All I can say is they said it couldn’t be done,” he said over cheers and the sound of rustling trademark yellow and blue signs. “We did it without any deals, we did it the straight way, the grassroots way, the Reich way.”

There was celebration all around the convention, from grassroots activists to party establishment insiders.

State Treasurer Shannon P. O’Brien narrowly won the party endorsement over state Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham ’72 by garnering over 50 percent of the vote in the third round of balloting, giving her a strong edge in the three-month fight for primary votes.

Even Clean Elections candidate Warren Tolman had something to smile about, as he made it through to the primary by catching nearly 30 percent of the delegates in the second round of convention balloting.

Reich praised delegates for giving voters the opportunity to decide who would represent Democrats in the Sept. 7 primary.

And, indeed, with all the eligible candidates receiving at least a 15 percent portion of the delegates in a single round of voting, the choice of the party’s candidate was left entirely up to fall primary voters.

Nevertheless, Saturday was a day for delegates to cheer on individual candidates—and cheer they did.

Kilts and bagpipes, “Don’t let MITT happen” buttons, purple hats and mardi gras beads were all ways in which delegates expressed their support for their candidate of choice. Reich fans’ signs and cowbells were arguably the most prominent force on the convention floor, but O’brien begged to differ.

“You guys are lunatics, you know?” she told her supporters from the podium. “I have the best lunatics in the room.”

Taking Turns

As per convention rules, each candidate for governor was allowed to make a 20-minute presentation pitching their platform.

While most consisted of a combination of video and speeches, they differed drastically in tone and composition.