good evening and welcome to day three of the democratic national convention. or just another evening of bad white dancing.i failed you a bit this evening, loyal readers. i had a farewell gathering for a friend that i had to attend and i missed the roll call that ended with today becoming a historic day: a major american political party has nominated an african american for president of the united states.
i missed the vote but i've tracked down the skinny for you. from politico.com:
Democrats nominated Barack Obama for president Wednesday after Hillary Rodham Clinton released her delegates and cut short the traditional convention roll call with a motion for approval by acclamation.
...
In the end, Clinton, who had finished a very close second in the presidential primaries and caucuses, stood among her home state delegates and urged that Obama be declared the nominee by acclamation.
"On behalf of the great state of New York, with appreciation for the spirit and dedication of all who are gathered here, with eyes firmly fixed on the future, with the spirit of unity ... let's declare altogether with one voice right here and right now that Barack Obama is our candidate and he will be our president,” Clinton said to the cheers of thousands of delegates and others filling the convention hall.
After a second to the motion, sought by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the convention chair, the crowd shouted a collective aye, and she declared Obama the Democratic presidential nominee.
what an amazing day.... what a historic moment. no matter your thoughts or feelings on obama... you have to be proud of the united states today.
one step closer to realizing the dream.
as you can see... i'm blogging earlier tonight than the past two. i've been up late bringing you all the news of the DNC. but i'm tired, my friends. so i'm sorta/kinda live-blogging.
i plan to talk about the two major speeches tonight and i'll be adding quick hits at the end of the entry throughout the night.
the first speech has already occurred. and, well...it just reaffirms something i've said over and over again.
i miss bill!
president bill clinton was introduced at 8pm CST by representative kendrick meek of florida. now, i'm sure it was no mistake that an enthusiastic african american introduced bill.
let the healing begin...
and meek outlined all the successes of bill's presidency (so he didn't have to) and bill took to the stage at 8:02. three minutes later...when the resounding and enthusiastic applause began to subside, bill said: "i love this. and i thank you. but we have work to do here tonight. first, i'm here to support barack obama." HUGE applause. "and second, i'm here to warm up the crowd for joe biden."
it was all classic bill for twenty minutes (he was scheduled to talk for ten, but come on.... who honestly believed bill would only talk for ten minutes?) and he highlighted every point he needed to hit home with the party he once led.
he said that last night hillary said she would do anything to help elect barack obama president. "that makes two of us," he said. "actually, it makes 18 million of us" as he then echoed hill's call for her supporters to back obama.
bill said there were two things the next president had to accomplish: "rebuild the american dream and restore american leadership in the world." and then he said that his 8 years as president and from all of his experience over the years, he knows that "barack obama is the man for this job.... barack obama is ready to lead america.... barack obama is ready to be the president of the united states."
it was an unequivocal endorsement and should go a long way to putting to rest democratic fears that obama is not ready to lead. as bill pointed out, the GOP tried the same argument back in 1992.
bill also spoke a lot about the need for restrengthening america... from jobs and economic equality to (something that i care strongly about) renewing "the battle against HIV/AIDS here at home."
he said "people around the world have always been impressed more by the power of our example...not the example of our power."
and, perhaps his best line of the night, was when he said:
[The republicans] actually want us to reward them for the last eight years by giving them four more. Let's send them a message that will echo from the Rockies all across America: Thanks, but no thanks. In this case, the third time is not the charm.
as i said, he spoke for about 20 minutes and once again proved the clintons know how to deliver a barn burner. good speech. (but not as good as hillary's.)
the senior senator from delaware
at about 9:20pm CST, joe biden was nominated as the democratic vice presidential candidate by acclamation. then beau biden, joe's son and soon-to-be-deployed soldier to iraq, gave an emotional and powerful introduction for his father.
joe took the stage and proclaimed: Since I've never been called a man of few words, let me say this as simply as I can: Yes. Yes, I accept your nomination to run and serve alongside our next president of the United States of America, Barack Obama.
and then he launched into a strong dissection of what's wrong with the republicans and the policies of john mccain. but not before he said, "george, i'm sorry. i mean john mccain. freudian slip!"
"john mccain is my friend," biden said, "but i profoundly disagree with the direction john wants to take the country."
then he went into a litany of "that's not change" examples, "that's more of the same." he pointed out that mccain voted against a raise in minimum wage 19 times. "these times require more than a good soldier, they require a wise leader."
he talked about putting "security back in social security," accessible and affordable health care for everyone...and he really emphasized equal pay for women.
he thanked both clintons early in his speech who both enthusiastically applauded him throughout the evening.
and he questioned mccain's judgment, better than anyone else so far at this convention, over and over and over again.
biden completed his speech with these powerful words:
These are extraordinary times. This is an extraordinary election. The American people are ready. I am ready. Barack Obama is ready. This is his time. This is our time. This is America's time.
much like president clinton, believe me when i tell you: "i love joe." i wrote in my notes, sometimes i still can't believe biden is the veep... but goddamn, i think he'll be a great fuckin' vice president.
quick hits
--i caught part of senators jay rockefeller and majority leader harry reid's speeches this evening. BORING! what snoozers. why are so many boring white people talking at this convention? bring back jesse jackson, jr.
--at 7:00 melissa ethridge performed and, for a few minutes, transformed the DNC into the lilith fair.
--msnbc interviewed president jimmy carter. nice that they could give him some time since the convention didn't. i really love listening to carter's insights.
--spike lee offered his personal psychoanalysis of the clintons for CNN...really hitting bill pretty hard as a "sore loser." nice spirit of unity there, spike. he even made some comment that bill couldn't get past a large number of african americans that wanted to nominated obama over his wife. ummmm..... shut up.
--maddy albright spoke about the most important quality in the president being the ability to learn. mccain refuses to learn from history.
--spotted so far in the house: hillary and chelsea clinton. michelle obama. MOHAMMED ALI! jennifer garner, jessica alba and chevy chase.
--when bill took to the stage, michelle looked.... underwhelmed? nervous? hmmm... she was enthusiastic, however, in her applause as his speech went on.
--i did want to mention that president clinton had one line about biden's experience and wisdom supporting obama's insight. that's the line the GOP will jump on. but then again, if mccain picks romney, they're both covering their weak points.
--did i mention i got the HBO movie recount in the mail from netflix? guess who will be fighting back the DTs from convention withdrawal with a certain movie...?
--michelle obama cried during beau biden's introduction for his father. (i got teary too... fuck, these things make me emotional.)
--9:41, CNN breaking news: barack obama is in the pepsi center.
--melissa ethridge furled her brow and didn't look pleased with biden's "scare tactic" proclamation that al queda is plotting more attacks in the mountains between afghanistan and pakistan. hmmm....
--biden is the first person from delaware to serve on a major party's ticket. just FYI.
--the "surprise" entrance by obama at the end was electrifying. even if cnn spoiled the surprise.
final thoughts
some good attacks on the GOP tonight. i think bill clearly outshined biden, who still gave a strong speech. i think i just heard chuck todd call it "disjointed" and that sounds about right. biden just learned about being v.p. a few days okay... i'm sure he's still processing and acclimating to his new position.
tomorrow night the convention moves to mile high stadium and a crowd predicted to reach 80,000. will this idea of "opening up" the convention backfire and reinforce the GOP attacks of ego and celebrity?
i don't know... but tomorrow is historic.
this entire election cycle has been historic.
what exciting times we live in. please find a moment to take it in and enjoy it.
obama/biden 08!
e.
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