Convention committee

Ari Melber wrote a thoughtful piece in the Washington Independent in part responding to my blog post recapping the Democratic Convention. Ari had a valid critique of my final thoughts on the lack of youth at the podium addressing the convention:

There was, however, at least one major youth speaker on Thursday night at the stadium. Ray Rivera, 29, a Colorado state director for the Obama campaign, addressed the 80,000 person crowd — twice. He was promoting, naturally, a text message organizing program, which recruited 30,000 new numbers that night alone. There was a big map and everything. I followed up with Connery, but he was not impressed. He emailed from the Republican National Convention:

"I don’t count Ray Rivera’s time on the stage. He may be young, but his purpose on stage was not to represent youth at the convention, it was to list build for the campaign. He was not there as an advocate for young people on the many pressing issues we face, and even if he were, one slot in four nights would still be skimpy representation considering what young people have done for Democratic candidates since 2006."

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It looks like we'll have a public, complete, roll call later today:

Each state at tonight's session of the Democratic National Convention will announce the results of its delegate tally during a roll call that has been the source of much speculation and controversy this week.

Convention committee CEO Leah D. Daughtry said the roll call will take place as it has in previous conventions, despite speculations that a compromise between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton might result in a departure from the usual process.

"The roll call is guided by the rules of the party," Daughtry said at this morning's convention press briefing. "It will proceed just as the rules dictate. Every state and every delegate will have the opportunity to vote. Everyone will be represented. Everyone will have their votes counted."

The roll call will begin with each state announcing its delegate vote totals for the two Democratic candidates after a series nominating and seconding speeches for Clinton and Obama, Daughtry said. - Rocky Mountain News

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Cross-posted from West Michigan Rising

Rather than have separate welcoming parties for each delegation, as originally planned, the Convention Committee decided to bring us all together in one group at the Colorado Convention Center. The theme was "A Tribute to New Orleans", focusing on the numerous groups and agencies which have contributed to the recovery efforts on the Gulf Coast, and not coincidentally, revisiting one of the most miserable debacles of the Bush Administration - the greatest disaster in American history, which he initially ignored to go have a birthday cake with John McCain.

It was a wonderful party, with great Cajun and Creole food, and Cajun and New Orleans music. I didn't catch all the names of the bands, but Randy Newman sang his signature 'Louisiana'.

I met new friends, and met up with old, and saw the most amazing diversity of Democrats imaginable. Almost every culture and nationality that makes up the great American 'salad bowl' is represented among our delegates.

I'm not going to post pictures, as Jeff did that below, but here is a quick quiz - What is the theme of this election?

Answer:

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Convention committee makes right call in fuel controversy Rocky Mountain News Wednesday, July 30, 2008 Like motorists around the country, Coloradans foresee little relief from being hosed at the fuel pumps. But perhaps your average driver could get a bit of relief - like from 40.4 cents in state and federal taxes per gallon - by picking a more partisan occupation. Such a tax holiday seemed to be the arrangement in place for the Democratic National Convention Committee as it planned next mon

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Fifty-four Finalists will Serve as Ambassadors to State and Territorial Delegations in Contest
Organized by the DNCC, Post-News Educational Services and Qwest Communications

DENVER – Out of a sizeable pool of nearly 1,200 applicants, fifty-four middle and high school students from across Colorado were announced today as finalists in the “Write to Lead” youth essay contest. Finalists will serve as ambassadors to state and territorial delegations, while two Presidential Winners – one middle and one high school student – will attend the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.

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