ATLANTIC CITY – It looked different this morning: big, packed, dynamic, this Democratic State Committee Convention in a partions-kicked-down Avalon Ballroom at Harrah’s.

There was an insider energy, supplemented by the presence of Middlesex County.

Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-19) was scheduled to speak this morning and he had people in the room, among them Middlesex County Democratic Committee Chairman Kevin McCabe.

And there was former Governor James McGreevey and Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh.

State Committee Chairman John Currie held court near the front of the Seton Hall basketball Ball Court-sized room.

A newly reanimated Derrick Green gripped the podium.

“Races and religions all coming together because we all have faith in the Democratic Party,” said the controversial operative.