Day Two of the DNC wrap-up

Wrap-up on day two of the DNC:

Made it a goal to miss most of the early proceedings this evening. My ass was deadened by six straight hours of sitting last night. Fortunately, I had other blogging errands this afternoon, and then had to stand in a very long line (see previous post).

Gov. Schweitzer of Montana is one spell-binder of a speaker. He knows his energy issues. I'm still not convinced of his coal-to-gas plan, and the whole sequestration thing. We're dealing with the same issues in Wyoming. Big issues. I'm counting on wiser heads to make sense of this stuff for me.

Sen. Clinton has never been a slouch in the speech department. Not on par with husband Bill, but she also gives shorter speeches. "Unity" was the theme and it should be. The Clinton delegates in our group seemed satisfied with her call for togetherness. Tomorrow comes the voting.

And now I have to get out of here before they sweep me up with all the discarded signs.

Bush & McCain: separated at birth

Great quote from Hillary Clinton:

"It's fitting that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities."

That got a big laugh. Nice line.

This is dedicated to the one I love

To my wife, Chris:

I am in a stadium full of people cheering for your candidate, Hillary Clinton. To judge by the thousands of waving red, white and blue signs, there must be more Hill delegates than those for Barack. I wish you could be here, as I know you would be cheering the loudest. And you can cheer loudly, if the hundreds of baseball, football and basketball games we've seen together is any indication (I'm still having trouble hearing out of that left ear).

Hillary is gracious in defeat and supportive of Sen. Obama. I know it's taken awhile to deal with your disappointment. You're the feminist in the family and you've taught me a lot about being one, too. You're a member of Hillary's Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuits, although I haven't seen you in too many pantsuits (you're more a bluejeans kind of feminist).

You're here in spirit. No doubt you have a few tears watching Hillary deliver her speech.

We'll vote together in November for a Democrat that can lead us out of the morass that the Republicans got us into. We've always pulled in the same direction -- peace and justice for all -- and I hope that all Democrats can do the same.

Schweitzer: Energy sense from Montana

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer devoted most of his prime-time speech tonight to issues of energy independence.

Here's a great line: "We can't drill our way to energy independence, even if we drilled in all McCain's backyards, even the ones he doesn't know he has."

He also said that McCain wants more of the same Bush/Cheney non-energy policy. "McCain voted 25 times against renewable energy, biofuels, solar energy and even wind power. McCain took more than $1 million in contributions from energy companies. Now he wants to give those same energy companies $4 billion in tax breaks."

Do we need four more years of the same? NO!!!

Dems (most of us anyway) wait in long lines

Some Democrats are more equal that others.

Me and thousands of my most personal friends in the Democratic Party were standing in line to get into the Pepsi Center. It was cordial, with more schmoozing that pushing and shoving. And a lot of texting on cell phones. Dems love to text.

But the minutes turned into a half hour and then an hour. Rumblings could he heard.

And then some people began to butt into line. You know how it was in second grade. "Don't butt." "No cutting." And most of your fellow second-graders listened.

And then some power brokers showed up with their handlers and began shoving into line. Several of us yelled "No cutting." One of them was me. A big dude in a while polo shirt stood up on the flank of the line and repeated, "Thanks for waiting in line.," He had a deep voice and I would have listened. But I wasn't trying to shove in line. I was awaiting like the rest of my fellow proles.

A group of well-dressed Dems of my age group stood with the cops, waiting to butt into line. They wore tenuous looks, as if our shouting was not music to their ears. But they eventually found a way to scoot into the line.

"Thanks for waiting in line" I met him later and he said he worked on veteran's affairs for the New York delegation. I don't doubt it. His first name was Clete. Way to go!

Thanks for waiting in line, indeed.

The DNC better take this situation in hand. Tomorrow evening is the voting. And to have a bunch of delegates miss their votes is not going to go down easy, not even with the line cutting contingent.

Get it now: Obama in a bottle!

Obama in a bottle. This vendor was parked along the 16th Street Mall today selling "Obama in a Bottle" water jugs for $15. An Obama figurine and a flag drift in the bottles. To demonstrate his wares, he had a six foot bottle on the back of the truck. Not too many people were buying. Click on photo for larger image.

Ted Kennedy rouses DNC crowd

His voice wavered a few times, but I think it was more from emotion that from the rigors of cancer treatments.

Ted Kennedy was introduced by Caroline Kennedy, followed by a film of the Senator sailing with his kids and grandkids.

Wish they hadn't closed out the speech with that old Top 40 nugget, "Still the One," which was bad when it first appeared, and hasn't improved with age.

Michelle Obama coming up after we boogie to "Celebrate," by Kool and the Gang, sung by the in-house band.

Nancy Pelosi at the DNC podium

Many of you viewers at home just saw Nancy Pelosi speak at the DNC. So, I won't go into the details, but just give you my impressions.

She's a good speaker. She looks good, although my view was partially blocked by the Torch Ginger blooming right in front of me.

There have been some harsh words in the blogosphere recently about Pelosi and her Congressional Democratic colleagues. Why didn't you end the war in Iraq? Why did you renew FISA? Why didn't you tell your Republican colleagues to stick their mindless obstructionism where the sun don't shine?

It's been frustrating for all of us who got jazzed up in 2006 and gave the Dems the majority in the House and a tie in the Senate. The margins we gave are not enough.

What about next time? No more excuses?

Next time, bring tumbleweeds for DNC decor

Note to self: Next convention, bring some Russian Thistle, sagebrush and Indian Paintbrush plants to decorate the delegation sign and official blogger post. Got the idea from the Hawaiian delegation sitting right in front of us. They brought three-foot-tall cuttings of Heliconia and Torch Ginger which they wrapped around their placard. It's pretty, but the greenery and orangery and reddery is now blocking my view of Howard Dean and Nancy Pelosi at the podium.
We wouldn't have that problem with the very spare limbs of thistle. At the first sign of the breeze (or a good burst of AC air), the Russian Thistle would go tumbling along and become tumbleweeds.

Driftin' along with the tumblin' tumbleweeds.

Trauner in Casper & Cheyenne Tuesday

Just received this from the Gary Trauner campaign for Wyoming's lone U.S. House seat:

Gary Trauner, candidate for U.S. House of Representatives will hold a press conference tomorrow on Tuesday, August 26, at 9:30 a.m. at the Ghost Town gas station at 6680 W. Yellowstone Hwy. in Casper, then at 3 p.m. at the Trauner HQ in Cheyenne, at 211 W. 18th St.

The Cheyenne location will have a dial-in option for those around the state who cannot attend. DIAL IN: 712-451-6100 / PASSKEY: 721718#

Trauner will discuss his "American Energy for the American People" proposal and then take questions.


For further information contact Adam Ruff at 307.699.4956, or reply to this email.

Now -- finally -- Day One at the DNC

The proceedings began at 3 p.m. or so. I was still trying to get off the DNCC bus which shuttled me and one cohort from the Denver Tech Center hotel that houses the WYO delegation. The drive was slow going behind the bus caravan taking the circuitous route through downtown Denver. We had a police guard on our bus -- recent retiree from the Department of Corrections but also a trained cop. He said that the driver had to follow a designated route or else. Not sure what "or else" meant. But I did see a lot of well-armed cops and Homeland Security people along the route.

The good news was that once we got to the Pepsi Center vicinity, we breezed into the secured convention grounds. What took me at least 30 minutes yesterday took 7 today. best to take the bus, especially when we have our own security guard. By the way, I had to ask if he was a Democrat. He said he was not, but his brother in Casper, Wyoming is. Yet another Democrat discovered in Wyoming!

Once I got inside the P.C., I saw former comedian and now Minn. Congressional candidate Al Franken. He's a lot smaller in person.

Howard Dean is at the podium now. Thus far, he has not yelled out in an unseemly manner. But there's still plenty of time for that.

Earlier, we saw Dave Freudenthal and Montana's Brian Schweitzer (sp?) in a film about the rising Dems of the West. Much talk about energy, too, the traditional in-the-ground variety and the new kind that is powered by wind and solar.

More later...

Launch Minus-One: DNC in Denver

And it ain't even started yet....

Sunday began (as I mentioned earlier) with an antiwar demonstration at the Colorado Capitol. More media members were present that protestors. One TV guy lugging a big camera said into his cell: "I'm here at the Capitol Building with a couple-hundred demonstrators. What do you want me to do with them?"

Not sure what the person at the other end of the line said. But I do know what the counter-protesters wanted to do to: shut up. As the sign of the warniks said: "Want peace? Then shut up and let us do our job." If only we knew what that job was.

A FOX News contingent arrived at the demonstration. A trio of three young guys wearing scarves over their faces and dressed in democracynow.org T-shirts, shouted: "FOX News go home!" And then: "Fudge the main stream media." Only they didn't say "fudge." In other words, "shut up."

With so many urging others to shut up, it was refreshing to hear Cindy Sheehan say "they won't shut me up -- don't let them shut you up." "They" were the "corporate entities and corporate political parties" that apparently control both parties, including the Democrats. Disabled Vietnam Vet Ron Kovic spoke out. "Dr. King said that a time comes when silence is betrayal." He urged the crowd to march together peacefully (they did) and not to let "them" shut you up.

"We will not go quietly into this dark American night," Kovic said. "We will not bow, we will not scrape."

He roused the crowd with a shout: "The Whole World Watching!" Not sure if that was a chant at the 1968 Dem convention, or the SDS at Columbia, or maybe the 1972 Repub convention in Miami where Ron was roughed up. It also was featured on a 1970 album by Chicago.

I am having a devil of a time finding wireless spots for my laptop. This morning, I'm at the local public library using a public access computer. Yet another reason to love libraries. Earlier, I tried to connect at a mall Starbucks but after several frustrating tries, the barista told me that I had to buy an AT&T card for two hours of Internet access. In a pinch, I would do that. But free computers are always better -- and more dependable.

Attended a breakfast meeting with the WYO delegation this morning. Everyone received their credentials and many briefings. The gavel goes down at 3 p.m. at the Pepsi Center where I'll be hooked up with an ethernet connection and won't have to search the skies for an AT&T satellite. Besides, we already know that the Pepsi Center has no wireless due to "security concerns."

See you at Monday's convention session...

Nevada Wobblies at antiwar demonstration

Marching through Denver

Lefty vs. Righty on Denver streets

Denver hosted two competing demonstrations this morning.

On the Capitol steps, Cindy Sheehan, Ron Kovic, Eldridge Cleaver's widow and various others took the U.S. to task for wrongs in Iraq, Palestine, Vietnam, throughout the U.S.A, and Across the Universe.

Two blocks away, an array of opposing demonstrators urged us to support the troops by holding up signs that said things like: "Want peace? Then shut up and let us do our job." The image on the sign was of a GI is full battle dress. Another sign showed a finger-pointing Uncle Sam saying "Osama wants you... to oppose the war on terror."

When it came time for the antiwar crowd to march to the Pepsi Center, a phalanx of cops lined up in front of the war promoters. A few harsh words were exchanged but nothing that could provoke a fight between peaceniks and warniks.

More later, along with some photos.

Bring us the head of Dick Cheney

The well-dressed Veep

Stayed tuned for convention blogging

Dear Readers:

I'm leaving for the Democratic National Convention in Denver in a few hours. I'm leaving early to make some time to visit with family before the action begins Sunday afternoon. I'll be posting from the Pepsi Center floor, the convention center and from the streets through Aug. 24-28. On Thursday evening, I'll join some 75,000 others to hear Sen. Obama's speech from Mile High Stadium (a.k.a. as Invesco Field).

Happy reading.

Comments welcome.

Meet the DNC delegates: Ann Robinson

Meet Ann Robinson from Casper, delegate to the Democratic National Convention (in her own words):

I have been involved in politics off and on since I was 11 years old when my father, Lefty Graham from Thermopolis, first ran for the Wyoming State House. He served 6 terms over a period of 20 years between 1958 and 1978.

I first ran for the House District 58 in 1994 after another candidate ran through the primary election and dropped out. That was the Newt Gingrich year of the Contract on America. Nearly every race went Republican, right down to the dog catcher, and I lost by a 5% margin.

In 1996 I ran successfuly against the majority whip in the House. She came back and ran against me several times, but I managed to prevail. I ran unopposed for my last two terms. I served 10 years, from 1997 through 2006. My greatest claim to fame is authoring and being the primary sponsor for the legislation exempting food from sales tax.

My parents grew up in Wyoming, but were in Washington state during the war. They stuck around there long enough that I can't claim to be a Wyoming native. We moved to Thermopolis when I was 13 months old.

This is my first national convention. I am very excited and honored that I was elected to be a delegate.

My goals for the convention are to have a great time and learn as much there about the process and issues as possible.

I hope to bring the excitement of the convention home to Wyoming to energize friends, family and the people of Wyoming to participate in the November election and to understand why it is so important to all of us to elect a president who will move this country forward and get us out of the hole the current adminstration has dug for us.

EDITOR'S NOTE: You may have caught Sen. John Barrasso's TV ads leading up to the primary. In it, he took credit (as a Republican state legislator) for the bill to remove the sales tax from food. I know, if it was on TV it must be true. But it's not. Ms. Robinson, along with Dem allies in the state legislature and the Gov's office, was the real author and mover-and-shaker behind the bill (bills, I should say, as it took several tries). And don't forget all those citizens (Dems, Repubs and Indies) who stood in front of grocery stores on windy winter days to collect signatures for Robinson's bill(s).

Lummis takes page from Cubin's playbook

From the Wyoming Democratic Party:

Not missing a beat, Cynthia Lummis yesterday picked up where she left off, with negative attacks that leave no doubt about the clear choice Wyomingites will have this fall. After regularly and repeatedly attacking Mark Gordon in the primary, Lummis lobbed a personal attack against Gary Trauner on the very first day of her general election campaign. [“Lummis Takes Early Jab at Trauner,” Associated Press, 8/20/08]

“It’s clear that Cynthia Lummis intends on continuing Barbara Cubin’s legacy of negative politics and no solutions. Trying to pit American against American, Wyomingite against Wyomingite, is exactly the type of divisive politics that career politicians practice and that takes America on the wrong track,” said Bill Luckett, executive director of the Wyoming Democratic Party.

Lummis defeated rancher Mark Gordon through a negative campaign in which she strongly criticized his contributions rather than his policies.

“Cynthia Lummis didn’t appear to disagree with Mark Gordon’s policies, just his desire to put people before partisan politics. A majority of Republican primary voters didn’t vote for her because the people of Wyoming are growing weary of personal attacks and prefer positive solutions,” Luckett said. “Cynthia Lummis’ campaign tactics appeal to voters’ worst instincts. We are proud to field a candidate in Gary Trauner who is focusing on issues that matter to Wyoming families and who is running a campaign that will make Wyoming’s people proud to call him their congressman.”