Margaret Somer clapped a hand to her chest to describe her feelings about being selected a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC.  

It's a dream come true for the lifelong activist and director of the Small Business Development Center at Salem State University. 

She and Ralph Edwards of Swampscott are among 81 members of the delegation from Massachusetts who will nominate President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden for a second term and approve the Democratic Party platform.

For all the excitement of entering convention history annals as a delegate, she is eager to exercise her community organizing through Obama For America training sessions, she said in an interview before leaving for North Carolina.

That's impressive considering her resume as activist and grassroots foot soldier covers 44 years.

Margaret has worked on Democratic campaigns in every presidential race going back to 1968. The then Boston University anthropology major knocked on doors for Eugene McCarthy.

McCarthy, an idealist who opposed the Vietnam War, shocked the nation with his strong showing against President Lyndon Johnson in the Granite State's first in the nation primary.

Margaret opposed the Vietnam War. Was active in the grape boycott and the lettuce boycott.

She advocated for racial justice and equal rights for women.

When Geraldine Ferraro became the first woman named a vice presidential running mate for a major political party in 1984, by Walter Mondale, Margaret was walking on a cloud, she said.

Margaret's excitement persists, only now it is reserved for President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

"These are my heroes," she said.

But Margaret's time in North Carolina won't be all about cheering for the Democratic ticket.

This will be her third time back in North Carolina since 2004. 

She has a friend in North Carolina and has campaigned door-to-door during visits to the state in each of the last two presidential campaigns. In 2004 she knocked on doors for John Kerry and in 2008 for Barack Obama.

She is again campaigning door-to-door in North Carolina for President Obama in 2012.

And she will be casting one of the votes to officially nominate the president as he seeks a second term.

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