Obama’s speech last night…

Apparently over 84,000 people were at Invesco Field last night, and about 38 million people watched the speech on television.

I definitely thought it was a good speech, just not amazing. There weren’t really any great one-liners to stick in your head following the speech. It wasn’t like his speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. When comparing the two speeches, even Obama himself said that, “there’s a special moment there that we can’t recapture.”

What are your thoughts about the speech? Was it really Obama at his best?

Melissa Etheridge at the DNC last night.

In the Pepsi Center.

I’m currently sitting in the blogger seating area of the Pepsi Center. Majority Whip Jim Clyburn is now speaking. It’s 5:42 and I’m getting more and more excited for the prime time speeches.

Update 6:15: Harry Reid Is talking. The Convention has officially transitioned into the “Securing America’s Future” theme.

Update 6:48: One of my favorite Senators, Jack Reed, is delivering a speech right now. The crowd isn’t paying attention. At all. I’m trying to hear over their talking.

Update 7:08: Former President Bill Clinton just took the stage and the audience went absolutely wild. He got an equally grand reaction when he, in no uncertain terms, endorsed Barack Obama. President Clinton’s speech is absolutely amazing so far. One of his recent lines: “Barack Obama is ready to be President of the United States.”

“People have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power.”

This is the speech that every Democrat should be giving!!! It’s tough, hopeful, and extremely well-delivered simultaneously.

More Flickr photos and a write-up of Biden’s speech will follow.

Hillary nominates Obama at the DNC

When it looked certain that Barack Obama was going to be nominated President of the United States, the state of New Mexico yielded to the state of Illinois who had passed earlier in the roll-call vote. Illinois, knowing that Obama was close to being put over the top, then yielded the floor to the state of New York. In a surprise twist, Hillary Clinton came out, suspended the roll-call vote, and ended the process.

The crowd went wild, people in the audience were in tears, and Barack Obama became the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.

Busy day in the Big Tent.

I’ve been in the Big Tent since the early morning hours and the time has just flown by due to the madness that has been happening around me. Markos Moulitsas, founder of the super-influential Dailykos.com, spontaneously started signing free copies of his book - Taking On the System: Rules for Radical Change in a Digital Era - for his many admirers in the Big Tent. I was lucky enough to come into acquisition of one of these books and thoroughly enjoyed the brief conversation that I had with him.

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer then made a surprise appearance and was immediately surrounded by bloggers and photographers who were, like myself, quite impressed with his convention speech last night.

Lastly, I would like thank Internationally-famous swiftboater, T. Boone Pickens, for sponsoring today’s lunch in the Big Tent from “Wahoo’s Fish Tacos!”

John McCain at the DNC

While I was walking into the Pepsi Center tonight, Mitt Romney was walking out. He was walking so fast, and unfortunately I was unable to get a picture. It was unusual to see what could have been the Republican nominee at the Democratic Convention. It was as if Hillary Clinton were to make an appearance at the Republican Convention next week. There are easy ways to explain unpredictable events such as this. Mitt Romney must have been a guest on one of the network news shows.

Romney was at the DNC to provide John McCain’s side of the story. A side of the story that was already being told all night by the numerous Democrats and the few Republicans that spoke.

What we’ve learned tonight from the Democrats is that a President McCain would not be good for the economy, healthcare, women, minorities, and America. What I wanted to hear more about is why John McCain won’t be good for future generations, and young people specifically.

I guess it can also be said that all of those issues I mentioned above do have a direct influence on America’s young people. A strong economy for the future depends on what we are doing right now to plan for it. And a strong America today can lead the way for a stronger America tomorrow.

Warner’s keynote speech: A Liveblog.

Gov. Warner’s speech has begun. He says that the most important contest of our time is the race for the future. He’s now using his personal success story to illustrate the American Dream.

Gov. Warner is being more fierce than I expected him to be. I’m impressed so far! Warner’s playing to the Virginia crowd big time, while simultaneously making points on a national scale. Very effective stuff. He’s reminding me why he left office with a 70% approval rating.

He just wrapped up. A wonderful speech! Go, Governor Warner!

Madness in front of MSNBC’s Hardball

On Tuesday, during a taping of MSNBC’s Hardball, 9/11 Truthers were shouting, “Do your job!” After their mini riot, Code Pink showed up. They began singing a song about bringing the soldiers home. During a commercial break, David Shuster tried to quiet down the crowd, and for the most part it worked. We didn’t want to risk getting sprayed with teargas, so we left.

Here is the video:

Behind the Podium at the DNC

One perk of being a blogger at the DNC is the access to the upper stage behind the podium while the speeches are being made. During Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell’s speech I was able to take some photos and videos of the the delegates and the media. It’s an overwhelming experience as the crowd is chanting and cheering.

What to expect from Gov. Mark Warner…

Tonight, Gov. Mark Warner will deliver his keynote address to the Democratic National Convention. I will be watching anxiously, but it’s already being reported that his speech contains many elements that probably won’t go over very well with the very Liberal Democratic base (A.K.A 99% of the delegates in attendance). Even Warner himself thinks so:

Former Gov. Mark Warner plans to offer a lesson in Virginia-style bipartisanship to thousands of hardcore Democrats in his convention keynote speech Tuesday night.

“There may be parts of the speech that aren’t going to get a lot of applause,” Warner said Monday, “but I’ve got to say what I believe will get our country back on the right path.”

Someone suggested to me that he might be tamping down expectations. After all, the 2004 Democratic National Convention keynote speech is bound to be a pretty tough act to follow. I, however, am willing to take Gov. Warner’s statement at face value, having seen him speak at the Shad Planking, the Virginia State Democratic Convention, as well as at his first debate with Jim Gilmore. He’s not someone who makes any attempt to elate the Liberal wing of the Democratic Party. He may use the term “radical centrists” tonight to describe the coalition that we should attempt to build in Washington in order to break the partisan gridlock and “get things done.”

To an activist in the Democratic base, that sounds an awful lot like: “We need to water down our Party’s progressive ideals and principles to make them more palatable to our friends across the aisle. And by
‘friends across the aisle,’ of course, I mean the same people who have enabled and contributed to the erosion of America for the past 8 years. That’s the only way to pass legislation.”

If Governor Warner insists on pushing bi-partisanship in his speech, and doesn’t want to crash and burn with the audience, he has to approach it with an attitude similar to Joe Biden’s in his speech at the 2007 Iowa Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner when he said:

Ladies and Gentlemen, you know, it’s very much en vogue for us to all talk to you about the consensus we can generate to lead this country, But, I want to make it clear to you: I’m running for the Democratic nomination as a Democrat, and there are certain things I will - and we should not - compromise on with anyone at all.

I have nothing against people with moderate points of view. In fact, I recognize that any healthy political system requires that there be moderate voices. However, Governor Warner does need to make it absolutely clear to everyone watching the speech that, should the Democratic Party gain the White House and pad its Congressional majorities, its bold agenda for change in America will not be hijacked and stripped down by Republicans in the name of “compromise.” That’s politics as usual and it’s not the message of Barack Obama or the Democratic Party, nor is it what the American people are asking for.

Democratic Women’s Caucus Meeting

At the “Democratic Women’s Caucus” meeting, the numerous speakers heavily emphasized how women voters could be the ones to decide this election.

United States Senator from Michigan Debbie Stabenow spoke of equal pay for women.

Ann Richards daughter, Cecile Richards, gave a very moving speech about her mother and how proud she would be to campaign for Barack Obama today. Since the focus of the caucus was on women voters, Richards’ best line was, “Women voting for John McCain is like chickens voting for Colonel Sanders.”

Hillary supporters still in their for President attire roamed the aisles looking gloomy and upset. There is a lot of healing that needs to take place with these older Hillary supporters. The convention speeches have done a great job of honoring Hillary’s candidacy and at the same time emphasizing the importance of Barack Obama’s.

Fran Drescher’s speech covered women dealing with cancer, she is a cancer survivor herself. Her organization is called, “Cancer Schmancer.”

Convention Photos

David Sirota - Now with free time!

I ran into David Sirota in front of “The Big Tent,” and no, I did not ask him about the canceled interviews.

Live from the DNC Bloggers’ lounge: Michelle Obama speaks.

A room full of normally-chatty bloggers is currently in complete silence, watching the live feed of Michelle Obama’s speech on the wall monitors in the Bloggers’ Lounge. She is discussing her family values and sharing some powerful family stories. Hillary Clinton got a shout out, as did Joe Biden.

Update: Wonderful speech by Michelle Obama, but I found a typo in the printed copy of the speech that was passed out beforehand. A period was used instead of a comma. I demand accountability for this.

Update 2: Sen. Obama just spoke live via satellite. His remarks were light-hearted, and very charming. They included feedback from his two daughters and there was a lot of laughter. I suspect that Sen. Obama’s remarks on Thursday evening will strike a more serious chord.

Next Page »