(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

For the life of me, I’m at a loss.

The Republican Party used to be pretty smart politically. They used to make good decisions — at least where campaigns are concerned.

But today’s selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be John McCain’s runningmate may go down as the worst political judgment in the modern history of Presidential politics.

First, there’s the fact that he’s picked the head of the most corrupt state Republican Party in America, and that’s saying something! She came in as a reformer, but she’s now under investigation herself. She’s supportive of folks like Ted Stevens and Don Young, and even when she promised to open up the decision-making process on a pipeline in Alaska, she ended up just holding closed-door meetings with the energy industry and making those decisions without the public’s presence. Sound familiar?

Then there’s the experience issue. John McCain has seemingly spent every second on the stump slamming Senator Obama about his experience. Senator Obama has countered that this is about judgment, and all the experience in the world can’t help John McCain’s poor judgment. Well, what we learned today was that judgment is really the key issue, not experience. John McCain picked a second-year (YEAR, not term) governor of the second-smallest state in the country whose only other key experience politically was being mayor of a town of 8000.

Wow. That’s bold. But it also shows a complete lack of judgment by Senator John McCain.

Then there’s the actual policy positions of Sarah Palin. She’s rabidly anti-choice. She thinks global warming is a myth. She believes in creationism and wants it taught in schools as a science. For pete’s sake, in 2000, she didn’t even support John McCain! Who did she support? Not George W. Bush. She supported Pat Buchanan!!!!

Now, it is rather obvious that John McCain is making a rather naked attempt to go after Hillary Clinton supporters who are not quite all the way there toward supporting Barack Obama. But in doing so, he tragically misses the point. Folks weren’t supporting Hillary Clinton because she was a woman; instead, they were supporting her because she had a history of service to America that included fighting for causes important today, such as health care and education. To think Clinton supporters are some sort of knee-jerk supporters of anybody with double-x chromosomes is an insult to those individuals — and from the initial response to the selection, many are showing their disgust with such a poor decision by John McCain.

Even if going after Clinton supporters was a good strategy, the judgment shown by John McCain in picking Palin over other Republican women is simarly poor. Sure, he’s probably wrapped up Alaska’s 3 electoral votes, but if he couldn’t win those, it was going to be a landslide anyway. But what about Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas? What about Condoleeza Rice? What about former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman? Heck, even picking Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina would have been a better pick. To pick Gov. Palin over these simply shows more poor judgment by John McCain.

This morning, I participated in a press conference to celebrate John McCain’s birthday. We were at The Rialto on 16th Street, and drew a nice small crowd. Pat Waak, state chair, opened up the press conference behind a brightly-lit birthday cake, and noted that John McCain’s pick of Sarah Palin is simply “more of the same”. I went next and said much of what I’ve written above. Rep. Mark Ferrandino went next and talked about how the way Gov. Palin has governed Alaska seems an awful lot like the last 8 years of this President. Finally, AFL-CIO president Mike Cerbo talked about the failures of Gov. Palin for working families.

I’m going to try to relax for a little while and enjoy Denver. I’ll write more about my Convention experience later.

(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

Wow. What an amazing night.

If you weren’t at Mile High last night, I sure hope you had an opportunity to see it on television.

I’ll write more later about this amazing convention experience in Denver. I’ll also write more later about my thoughts on the selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running-mate (hint: probably the worst judgment in the history of American Presidential politics).

But the experience last night at Mile High was breath-taking. What a night!

As I mentioned in the post yesterday, yesterday was both star-studded and Colorado-centered. And it was Barack Obama showing us why America needs to elect he and Joe Biden.

I was mesmorized by Senator Obama’s speech last night. He did a wonderful job of deftly combining the message of “Change” as an ideal with the realities of what change would mean — specifically — under an Obama-Biden administration. He laid out the differences between himself and John McCain, and he did it amazingly well. Somebody on television last night called it a “symphony” — a perfect description. It combined soaring rhetoric with policy specifics and contrasts with the Republicans.

There is no doubt we cannot afford four more years like the last eight — “eight is enough” was the right motto that sold well with the crowd in Mile High. There is no doubt we cannot afford four more years of poor economic planning, a flawed foreign policy, and a failure to move American toward energy independence. There is no doubt we cannot afford John McCain. But Barack Obama went beyond that last night to talk not only about how we cannot afford McCain, but also how he will make America a different — and much better place.

By challenging us to become energy independent in 10 years, he showed the “big idea” thinking that has made America great. By assuring us that our foreign policy will be one to regain the world’s respect, he showed us the America that the world remembers and wants to see again. By talking about the need to improve our schools and invest in our economy for the middle class, he showed us his life experience makes him better able to put himself in somebody else’s shoes.

It was unbelievable, and I am so glad I was able to be a part of that night. After the speech, Colorado’s delegation finally said good-bye to the National Convention and headed back to the campaign trail. “Two months to finish the job,” was the mantra.

That has to be all of our mantra. This will be a tough election in Colorado, and we will need every hand on deck if we’re going to send our nine electoral votes to Obama-Biden. It’s time to get to work!

——————

Beyond the amazing speech, it was a still night to remember. Celebrity sightings abounded. Both Jessica Alba and Morgan Fairchild walked right in front of me. Brandy sat about 6 rows in front of Al Gore, and saw Oprah Winfrey, as well. All sorts of news personalities were around - I had a picture of myself snapped with Andrea Mitchell of NBC on the way out. Spike Lee was across the way filming. We heard some great musicians - from will.i.am to Sheryl Crow to Stevie Wonder to Jennifer Hudson, the music was outstanding and inspiring.

But the night was not about Hollywood; it was about America’s future. Congressman Mark Udall shined in his prime-time moment in the sun, challenging Democrats to be the change they want to see in the world. We heard from most of our Congressional delegation, and they all did a great job telling us about issues important to the Party. And Governor Ritter helped kick things off at the beginning, talking about the new Democratic leadership in the West.

There was dancing, there were tears, there was celebration. From the 500 level down to the front row of the Colorado delegation, it was a night that nobody there will forget for long.

As I said, I’ll write more later today, but I am headed to a 1 pm press conference here downtown.

(Cross Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

As I mentioned last night, tonight is kind of like having the Super Bowl at Mile High. Actually, it’s bigger than the Super Bowl. But with free tickets.

This morning has kind of like piling a National Convention on top of a National Convention. There is a whole new influx of people into Denver above and beyond the tens of thousands already in town and energized. Indeed, just in the lobby of this hotel, I’ve run into all sorts of people from around Colorado who have come into town for the evening. I almost literally ran into Senator Abel Tapia of Pueblo getting off of the elevator, and we have hosted several folks from around the state in our room today as they prepare to head over to Invesco.

There is definitely a buzz — and a whole lot more “celebrity” sightings this morning than the other mornings. We ran into Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel, of New York, just outside the hotel, and had a quick pep talk from him. Then, while riding the elevator with a fellow wearing a name tag with the last name “Pelosi,” the crowded elevator stopped on a floor where the smiling (and particularly radiant in person) face of Katie Couric greeted us. Seeing the crowd already on the elevator, she politely demurred to the next elevator.

That was my biggest celebrity sighting, but our friends Alain Chamot (Vice Chair of the Fremont Dems) and August Mergelman ran into a pretty big celebrity of their own just outside the Colorado Party office on the second floor of the hotel: Joe Biden. Alain reached out and shaked his hand, and he said he was impressed by how personable Biden was to him. It certainly sounded like a whirlwind brief experience, and very surreal.

If you can’t make it to Invesco today, be sure to watch as much as you can; today might as well be called “Colorado Day” for all of the Coloradans who will be speaking to us. Here’s the schedule right now of Colorado speakers:
3:00 - 5:00:
– Just before the Call to Order by Speaker Pelosi, Colorado state director Ray Rivera will be speaking about the voter registration program.
– Following the National Anthem, Host Committee President Elbra Wedgeworth speaks to the Convention
– After Wedgeworth, come some resolutions, followed by Governor Bill Ritter
– Then, Congressman Ed Perlmutter
– Then, Congressman John Salazar
– Finally, Congresswoman Diana DeGette

5:00 - 6:00:
– A fun hour including Gov. Bill Richardson, will.i.am (from the Black Eyed Peas), and Sheryl Crow
– The hour ends with Ray Rivera apparently speaking a second time for the day

6:00 - 7:00:
– Congressman Mark Udall is the second scheduled speaker of the hour
– The hour ends with Stevie Wonder, followed by Al Gore

From 7:00 to 8:00, I don’t see a whole lot of Colorado-based speakers, and then — of course — Senator Obama speaks in the 8:00 hour.

You won’t want to miss this!!!

(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

Well, each night of the Democratic National Convention just keeps outdoing the previous one. Monday was great — Tuesday was unbelievable. But tonight was even better than the past two.

I sure hope that you all got an opportunity to see most of tonight’s exciting moments. The session began earlier than normal for most of us — we were all told we needed to be there quite early — 3:00 — to see Senator Salazar speak and to be present for the roll call of the states. I even got to be a tiny part of the great evening — the Obama campaign asked me to second a procedural motion at the beginning of the session.

Senator Salazar had a key role early this evening. He was one of the nominators for Senator Obama, and did wonderfully. Right after the nominations, we went straight into the roll call vote. Senator Salazar, Congressman Perlmutter, and Pat Waak announced Colorado’s results — 55 votes for Senator Obama, 15 votes for Senator Clinton. (More on how we voted later.)

Then, there was an interesting dance — when they got to New Mexico, the State Chair, Brian Colon, passed the floor to the Illinois delegation, who then passed the floor to the New York delegation. In New York, Senator Clinton was introduced, and she moved to nominate Senator Obama by acclamation.

The motion passed overwhelmingly.

What came next was an interesting catharsis. I didn’t expect the rush of emotion at that point — I truly enjoy the roll call votes as one of the best parts of these conventions, but I honestly didn’t really give any thought to what would happen when Senator Obama actually received the nomination — I just figured there’d be some celebration.

But this was more than a celebration — it was a release. Several delegates from Colorado were shedding tears of joy. Indeed, I felt a little emotional. I jumped up on a chair and just screamed and cheered. Then, I got back down and gave several folks who I’d seen work so hard hugs and high fives. It was a rather touching moment.

But the convention must go on, and it did. Later in the evening, we heard from President Bill Clinton. There had been some concerns among delegates about what he’d say, but — like his wife — did a wonderful job of working to unify this Party and make it clear: He’s going to work to elect Barack Obama the next President of the United States.

We also heard a speech from Senator John Kerry. Senator Kerry — well, what can I say but WOW. He laid out about as compelling a case as can be made as to why John McCain is a poor choice to lead our nation, and then did a wonderful pivot and contrasted that well with how Senator Obama represents the values and the judgment needed to be President. He also — in a very ironic way — pointed out how John McCain has changed his position on an unbelievable number of issues.

That brought us to the nomination of Joe Biden as Vice President. We went through the process and nominated him by acclamation. Then, we heard from his son, the attorney general of Delaware. He gave a very moving speech that gave us a glimpse into the personal life and values of Senator Biden. We heard about his commitment to return home to Delaware on the train every night — and how tragedy marked his initial swearing-in to the U.S. Senate, so much so that he almost did not decide to swear in to the Senate. “Delaware can get another Senator. My children cannot get another father.” In the end, he was sworn in at his son’s bedside in the hospital.

And Joe Biden showed up to prove why he’s our Vice Presidential nominee.

He gave a great talk — including introducing us to his wonderful mother in the crowd, and talked of the values that he learned from her. He talked about what kind of race this will be, and also talked of John McCain, who he listed as a true friend, but who is wrong on so many issues important to America today.

That should have been the end of the night. You’d normally have the VP nominee’s family come out, and there would be a celebration. But not tonight.

We usually hear rumors about what is going to happen each night. For instance, I’d heard generally how the vote would be conducted the evening before. We’d heard that Senator Obama was going to be on the video screen after Obama’s speech. But when Joe Biden’s wife came out to the stage and said she had a surprise, it was news to all of us. I expected us to have another video feed.

But there was a slight delay: Biden looked genuinely confused. Then, we in the Colorado delegation saw the curtain to the side of the stage open and out came… Barack Obama. The delegation went wild. Senator Obama told us why he’d wanted to move the Convention to Invesco Field tomorrow night: he wanted to open the Convention to as many as possible.

I don’t know what the best adjective is for the night: “magical” seems trite. Amazing?

————————

The morning began with another breakfast. We heard from Congressman John Salazar, and the vice president of the United Farm Workers of America. There were a number of other speakers, but I had to leave to get over to Rocky Mountain PBS, where I was a guest on “Colorado Matters,” which is on Colorado Public Radio, but is also showing on PBS this convention week.

I felt like the show went well. I was on with Congressman Ed Perlmutter, who is so energized this week. (As an aside, I sat next to him at the Convention, and I can tell you that he’s about as enthusiastic about Barack Obama as you can be.) The host asked several really good questions and I felt that Congressman Perlmutter and I did a pretty good job talking about the differences Colorado voters will face between John McCain and Barack Obama.

After the show, we went over to a lunch for Western states delegates, and then headed over to the Pepsi Center because of the need to be there earlier than normal.

Tomorrow is the big day. I know many of you will be there — I hope to see so many of you, and I’m so glad that many Colorado Democrats will have a chance to be a part of history. Invesco Field has never seen a Super Bowl, but this may very well be even better than any Super Bowl!

See You There!!!

(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

If there was any doubt about the unity of the Democratic Party, tonight Hillary Clinton squashed those doubts. If you missed Sen. Clinton’s speech, you missed something special. She made it clear that this is a race of clear choices — between four years of the same with John McCain and a fresh new direction for all of the things that Hillary Clinton stood for during her campaign.

Tonight it was definitely Senator Clinton’s night. The Colorado Democratic Party even took the unusual move of assigning the best seats in our delegation — the first two rows closest to the podium — to the Clinton delegates. But the message that we need to all support Barack Obama was not lost on any delegate in the delegation.

The night was an exciting night — Keynoter Mark Warner showed why many consider him a lock for taking over an open Senate seat in Virginia. And if you missed Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer’s speech to the convention just before Hillary’s speech, you missed a speech that truly energized the hall and got the crowd dancing. Former Denver Mayor and Clinton cabinet member Federico Pena spoke earlier in the evening, as well, before coming down to join the Colorado delegation.

Today was a very busy day. We started with the delegation breakfast. Congresswoman DeGette and Congressman Perlmutter spoke to us. We were also joined by a Colorado native named Kelly Doherty, who is the executive director of Iraq Veterans Against the War. Kelly, an Iraq and Bosnia veteran (and a good childhood friend of Brandy’s), has helped found and now leads an organization of veterans committed to ending the war in Iraq. She gave a great breakdown of the organization’s goals, and the crowd responded with a standing ovation for her.

Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano also spoke; however, I had to leave the breakfast early to do a taping of a television show, GritTV with Laura Flanders. I headed over to the television studios and taped a segment discussing the “transformative” nature of the Denver Convention with Laura and the Washington editor of The Nation magazine. You should be able to see it at http://lauraflanders.firedoglake.com/.

After handling the taping, we went down to Civic Center park to take a look at the protests that the media has been reporting on lately. I was rather surprised by how few people were actually there protesting. There were a wide number of different types of protests, but in reality, the park was not filled like I had expected from prior conventions.

We met up again with Kelly, where we got to meet Ron Kopic, who is the individual whose life is purportedly portrayed by Tom Cruise in “Born on the Fourth of July”. From there, we headed back up 14th to see some IVAW members participate in some street theater — portraying what it is truly like to patrol the cities of Iraq.

From there, I switched roles and took my turn as Brandy’s guest. We went over to the Denver Downtown Aquarium for a reception honoring the Rules Committee members (Brandy is one). It was a nice break to a busy day, and we got to see the wonderful exhibits at the museum.

From there, we finally headed over to the Pepsi Center, where we saw a great program which was capped by the speeches I mentioned above.

Finally, after the convention, we headed over to the DCPA, where we saw a wonderful performance by Boyz II Men. We ended the evening on the rooftop of the Denver Athletic Club, where Congresswoman DeGette was sponsoring a reception. It was a great chance for Colorado delegates to cut loose — and to cut a rug. Brandy and I even briefly got out on the dance floor, and that’s pretty rare. When I finally get around to posting all of the pictures from the Convention, I’ve got a few of Colorado delegates dancing and enjoying the evening.

Tomorrow is a similarly busy day. I’ll be a guest with Congressman Perlmutter on Colorado Matters, which is both on Colorado Public Radio and on public television in Denver. If you get a chance, take a look! Also, if you’re around C-SPAN tomorrow afternoon, note that Senator Ken Salazar will be speaking to the convention early — probably in the first hour, between 3 and 4.

Of course, I’ll write more when I can!

(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

Last night was an amazingly touching evening in so many ways.

After an unusually long bus ride to the Pepsi Center, we finally got into the arena. Almost immediately, we were greeted by Rob Riggle of The Daily Show frisking random convention-goers. Then, I worked my way onto the floor to the Colorado delegation. Already, the energy and excitement was palpable.

Being on the front of the convention hall the way Colorado is has its obvious advantages. But it also has its disadvantages, as well. I spent most of the evening in the front row; however, I had a few rows of photographers in front of me jostling for the best position. As with attending most of these conventions, it was definitely surreal.

But even those distractions could not take away from the two highlights of the evening: Sen. Ted Kennedy and Michelle Obama. Sen. Kennedy surprised everybody by not only showing up, by not only speaking, but also by giving a great speech that reminded so many in the hall of the Kennedy charm and power. His appearance not only reminded us of the fighters that have long been a part of the Democratic Party, it also reminded us of the torch being passed to Sen. Obama.

Michelle Obama concluded the evening, and, boy, did she conclude it! With a speech worthy of her husband’s oratorical prowess, she talked of Sen. Obama as a family man, as a husband, and as an idealistic yet effective public leader. She brought many of us to tears with her stories of Obama’s commitment to his family and how they met and fell in love.

By the end, we were certainly on our feet and cheering wildly. But then, we got to see the Obama children say hello to their father on the television screen in an obviously unscripted moment. It was one of those times during conventions that will likely be replayed again and again, but was real and showed exactly what Michelle had been talking about — Barack Obama has an amazing history and an amazing family.

Tonight, we’re looking forward to hearing from Senator Clinton and former Virginia Governor Mark Warner. Based on Sen. Clinton’s speeches so far, I don’t think this is one speech you want to miss!

I’m off to the delegation breakfast, then off to do a television interview on Grit TV (available on the Dish Network, I’m told) with Laura Flanders. I’ll write more later!

(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

After writing my post this morning to DemNotes, we headed over to the Convention Center to attend the Hispanic Caucus meeting. We made it to hear the end of Senator Clinton’s very amazing speech to the delegates there. Everybody I spoke to — whether a Clinton supporter or an Obama supporter — was raving about the speech afterwards. Senator Clinton made it clear that she’s going to do whatever it takes to elect Barack Obama and Joe Biden as President.

I saw Blanca O’Leary, a delegate from Pitkin County, right after the speech (and gave a few comments to the Aspen press). Blanca — an Obama delegate — was struck by how hard Senator Clinton worked to build support for Barack Obama’s campaign. She was truly excited, and it was great to run across a fellow Coloradan like that.

After the speech, on our way out of the Convention Center, we ran into former Senator Bob Graham of Florida. He and I chatted briefly as we walked about the Senate race here in Colorado. He was interested to find out what kind of attacks the Republicans were lobbing against Congressman Udall.

Then, we headed up to Coors Field for a reception honoring labor members and veterans for Colorado and other delegates. We saw Pat Waak there, as well as several other Colorado delegates. It was a nice relaxing stop in the middle of a hectic day.

Then we headed back over to the Convention Center for the Rural Council meeting. At the rural council meeting, we heard a lot of great information about how John McCain has consistently voted against rural interests, including his opposition to about every Farm Bill ever written. We were able to pick up some information about messaging for the campaign in rural areas, which should be helpful.

Right after posting, we’re going to head over to the Pepsi Center for this evening’s session. Michelle Obama is the “headliner” — we should hear a lot about Barack Obama the person, the husband and the father. I’m really looking forward to it.

As always, I’ll write more when I can!

(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

This morning, we had our first Delegation Breakfast. We’ve had delegation breakfasts at each convention, but this was something more. To start, the room was at least twice as large — perhaps three times as large — as the rooms where we held our breakfasts in Boston and Los Angeles at the last two conventions. And we filled the room — Colorado’s delegates were only a part of the crowd.

We had some great speakers this morning. We heard from Senator Salazar, as well as Reps. Salazar and Perlmutter. Senator Salazar was bursting with pride at being the host Senator at this convention. We heard from several other speakers, as well, including a great speech from former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman. Gov. Siegelman was targeted by the U.S. Justice Department and Karl Rove because he was a Democrat in the South they couldn’t beat legitimately. He was even thrown into a maximum security prison before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered his release, with the comment that he was likely to win his appeal.

Siegelman did a great job keeping the crowd energized by his compelling story. He was introduced by CDP Political Director Billy Compton, who got his start when Siegelman hired him out of college in Alabama.

It was a great morning to be a Colorado Democrat. And I’ve seen a list of some of our speakers in the days to come, and it is only going to get better!

—————-

Last night, after we left the star-studded Green Concert at Red Rocks, we headed back into the heart of Denver for the evening soiree for the Young Democrats of America and the Colorado Young Democrats. We arrived just in time to hear CYD President (and Colorado delegate) Crisanta Duran energize the crowd and introduce the YDA President. We also heard an excited and inspiring speech from Congressman Jeff Merkeley — the club was certainly “jumping” with YD energy.

Today, there are a number of events we’re headed out to do before we go over to the Pepsi Center this afternoon. As always, I will try to write to DemNotes as I can. Note that it appears if I post from my cell phone, you won’t get DemNotes via e-mail, so you might want to check online at www.DemNotes.com for the latest reports.

(Cross-Posted earlier this evening to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

I’m live-blogging from Red Rocks right now; Sheryl Crow has just finished entertaining this capacity crowd here - it is truly an energized collection of delegates and Coloradans joined together in an excitement level for the Obama-Biden ticket like I’ve never seen. They’re showing a great video of Will Ferrell playing the President talking about global warming.

Well, this afternoon, I saw some global warming of my own. State Party Executive Director Sherry Jackson and I had to skip the Colorado delegation welcoming party in order to attend to the last-minute preparations at the Pepsi Center. We joined other state party chairs, vice chairs, and executive directors at the Convention Center for a briefing. After the briefing, we walked over to the Pepsi Center.

Well, most of the way, anyway.

Because of protests, the Pepsi Center’s perimeter security was placed on lockdown, locking us out of our last-minute walkthrough. In the heat. And, important for my pasty-white flesh, in the sun.

After about an hour and a half, we were able to get in. But the damage to my head was already done. So look for a reddish-pink glow toward the front-right of the stage in following days. That will be my balding and now burned head.

When we did get in, though, it was truly breath-taking. The stage and Pepsi Center are unbelievable up close. You are truly in for a visual treat when you watch this thing on tv in the days to come.

We tested out the microphones and the voting equipment and they are in great working order. And our seats — oh, man! They are as good as they get: right on the edge of the stage in the first few rows.

After we finally got out of Pepsi Center, we went back to the delegation hotel. I had heard from Brandy that the hotel was on lock down - apparently, there was a moderate-level security threat to the hotel. We were hearing that nobody was being allowed in or out, but the situation was resolved by the time we returned.

After a quick bite at the hotel, Brandy and I headed out to another delegation event at a private home in South Denver. There, we heard energetic speeches from Gov. Ritter and Sen. Salazar - who broke the news of a poll in the 5th CD showing Hal Bidlack leading incumbent GOP rep Doug Lamborn by a point! Both Bidlack and Hank Eng (6th CD) were there, joining Reps. Perlmutter and Salazar. It was an outstanding show of energy for Democrats in Colorado!

We then rushed over here to Red Rocks for the “Green Concert”. Sen. Salazar just finished giving a rousing speech, and country band Sugarland is now entertaining the crowd. We’re anxious to see Dave Matthews next.

Well, that was about all for today. Tomorrow is the big day. I’ll try to write more after the delegation breakfast — and hopefully I won’t be writing this from a BlackBerry then. Signing off from Row 21 at Red Rocks…..

(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

“Are You Ready to Get This Party Started? That has two meanings this week!”

And thus, the Flobots truly defined in short and simple terms what this week is about.

Oh, yeah. Let me first explain who the Flobots are. The Flobots are a musical group dedicated to civic action and making change in America. They’re a Denver band that is sweeping the nation. And important to this discussion, they headlined the Media Party that kicked off the 2008 Democratic National Convention tonight.

Brandy and I have been listening to the Flobots for a couple of months now, but seeing them in concert was truly revolutionary. They challenge their audience to get involved — to become activists. They’ve even started a nonprofit organization whose goal is to engage youth and register them to vote across American.

Tonight, approximately 15,000 members of the media joined together to enjoy the opening event of the National Convention at Elitch Gardens. As a member of the Host Committee Board of Directors, I was lucky enough to join the crowd at Elitches. Beyond the amazing concept of being able to ride the Mind Eraser without any line, the evening was truly a night to celebrate Denver’s week in the limelight.

Senator Ken Salazar kicked off the night as we enjoyed traditional Native American dances. Then, we heard a few words from Governor Ritter and Mayor Hickenlooper before the Flobots kept the energy of the night moving. The evening ended with a fantastic three-level fireworks display that was, in a word, breathtaking.

The day began over at the Convention Center, where we attended the Rules Committee meeting. Brandy is one of Colorado’s representatives to the Rules Committee. The Committee rather uneventfully adopted the permanent rules that will govern the National Convention this week. The Clinton and Obama campaigns worked hard to ensure that both sides were satisfied with the outcome. The Rules Committee also adopted a proposal to create a commission to review the timeline and caucus / primary process for the nomination, which will start up next year. I had some discussions with campaign officials out of concerns that out of state interests would attempt to dictate how Colorado runs our caucuses; I’m confident we will have our voice heard when this Commission forms next year.

After the Rules Committee, we headed over to the Grand Hyatt to check in to the Colorado delegation hotel. Interestingly, this is also the DCCC hotel, where many members of Congress are staying. Security here is rather tight; it is a rather surreal experience.

On the way over to the Media Party, we stopped at a reception for State Party Chairs, Vice Chairs and Executive Directors at Tamayo on Larimer. It was great to see so many of our colleagues — they all seem to be enjoying their stays here in the Mile High City so far.

Tomorrow, there are a lot of things going on, including a couple of Colorado Delegation events. I also may have to do a walk-through of the Pepsi Center, missing the key Colorado reception. As with tonight, I will try to write when I can.