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Baltimore's Presence Felt At Democratic National Convention

PHILADELPHIA (WJZ) -- Baltimore's presence was felt at the opening of the Democratic National Convention. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake took center stage to officially open the gathering in Philadelphia.

The honor was bestowed on Rawlings-Blake, who serves as secretary of the Democratic National Committee. The crowd loved her.

"It was an unbelievable feeling," said Rawlings-Blake.

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Rawlings-Blake, who did not seek re-election for mayor of Baltimore, is uncertain about her political future.

"I'm not thinking about anything in particular. I'm not ruling anything out," she said.

That would include making a comeback, as she did on the convention stage when she realized that in gaveling the convention to order, she forgot to bang the gavel.

"I don't know what happened, I can't say," said Rawlings-Blake. "At least somebody got a laugh out of it."

Gavel notwithstanding, political analyst Richard Vatz thinks she hit all the right notes.

"I thought that in that limited role she had, I thought she handled it perfectly," said Vatz.

But her performance as mayor during the Freddie Gray riots has potentially hurt her.

"Once she announced that she wasn't going to run for mayor again, I think that this kind of takes her out of serious consideration for certainly any elected position in Maryland. But she could get a position with the Democratic National Party," said Vatz.

The mayor says she is in no hurry to decide.

"I'm focused on being mayor til 12 noon on December 6, and there's plenty of time for me to figure out what's next," she said.

In addition to being secretary of the DNC, Mayor Rawlings-Blake is also president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Rawlings-Blake shares on-stage status with former governor Martin O'Malley, who addressed the convention twice prior to his run for president.

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