Wrapping up the Week of the DNC Convention: What in the Heck Was McCain Thinking?

Once again a hearty thanks to Don Gibson for taking us onto the floor of the Democratic convention. For me, I am so focused on local politics, that it took some time for me to get into the convention this year. But all in all, the Democrats did pretty much what they needed to do this week--they needed to come together and bury the hatchet from a tough primary season.

Hillary Clinton made that easy on Tuesday night with an electrifying speech that frankly, I thought was better than any speech that she had ever given. And I think it was not even close. It might have been a better speech than she was capable of giving.

Bill Clinton was Bill Clinton. The media spent a lot of time focusing on the personal differences between the Clintons and the Obamas, but they forgot something. With the Clintons, they are professionals first, Democrats second, and only third are they people.

If McCain's goal in naming Sarah Palin was to get the Democrats off the front page, he succeeded. However, if his goal was anything beyond that, I think the pick was an abysmal failure.

McCain expected that Hillary voters would support a right wing, anti-choice, anti-health care, and anti-environmental woman just because she is a woman, he is in for a rude awakening. Hillary supporters rightfully ought to be insulted by this pick. But once again it underscores just how important Hillary will be for this election. If she wants a key post, it is hers.

I know conservatives love this pick because Palin is a conservative. But let's face it, she's not just a conservative, she's an Alaskan conservative.

Her pedigree is just not impressive. I have to believe the Republicans could have found someone more qualified. She's been the Governor of a small state for a short period of time. Before that, she was part-time mayor of a city of 9,000 people. I cannot even think of a parallel person to this in California.

Her parents had to come back from caribou hunting so they could hear her announcement. Her husband is a worker for the oil company.

Do not just take the word of partisan Democrats on this. Gallup found that Democratic women said that the Palin pick makes 9% of them say that they are more likely to support McCain, but 15% less likely.

A Rasmussen Poll shows by a 41% to 35% margin, men said she was not ready to be president. Women more soundly reject her by a 48 to 25 margin.

In the Gallup Poll taken on Friday, overall 39% say she is ready to serve as president if needed, 33% said she is not and 29% have no opinion. That is apparently the lowest vote of confidence for a running mate since Dan Quayle.

Joe Biden on the other hand was seen as qualified by a 57 to 18 margin.

To me this pick does two things, neither of which are good for McCain.

First, it takes away the "he's not ready to lead" issue that the Republicans were attempting to use against Obama. The Democrats focused on that issue this past week. They knew it was a concern. The Republicans were going to focus on it exclusively next week at their convention. The issue is gone because every time the Republicans raise it, the Democrats have a quick counter.

Second, it puts the age issue on the table. Let us face it, McCain is 72. 72 is not old like it once was, but McCain is not in the best of health. He has survived at least two serious bouts of melanoma cancer. Therefore, he needed to have a strong running mate to diffuse any possible concern about the age and health issues. The line would go, well he's old and not in the greatest of health, but you will be in good hands with so-and-so. That defense is gone.

There is actually a third liability that enters the picture--the judgment issue. When they attack Obama as not ready to lead, the Democrats can counter that the first decision made by any Presidential candidate is their choice of Vice Presidential running mates. Obama can say his choice was the well-respected Senator from Delaware whereas McCain's choice was the former mayor from a tiny city in Alaska.

Those close to McCain suggest this shows his gambling side. He has rolled the dice. Privately they wonder if this is a decision more indicative about being down 20 in the polls then in a neck-and-neck race.

I did not understand this pick. I did not understand it when it was made and I do not understand it now. John McCain certainly changed the dynamics of this race, he certainly got the focus off of Obama's speech, but I am still not sure that this is a good thing for him.

When Governor Palin got up to speak, she sounded more like a PTA President than a Vice Presidential candidate. I respect PTA presidents in our local schools, but I guess I just expect a bit more experience from our Vice President. The key, though, is to watch the body language of McCain. He was not calm and comfortable. He was not confident. he was picking his fingers, fidgeting, and playing with his ring. I think this is a sure sign of a lack of confidence. Will the gamble work? We will find out. Right now though, I seriously question the judgment and decision-making of John McCain.

---Doug Paul Davis reporting

Vanguard Coverage of the DNC: Night Four

The Vanguard is primarily a blog that covers local politics and local government issues. However, there is no denying the fact that much of the world will be focused on the Democratic National Convention next week. So we have asked Don Gibson, a UC Davis Student who is President of College Democrats and an elected Hillary Clinton Delegate to the Democratic National Convention to write about his experiences at the Democratic Convention in Denver, Colorado.

by Don Gibson

The reason for the late post, I am still coming down from the moon which Obama's speech. This flight is the first free time today from running around to the airport and the after speech celebrations. Blogging from 20,000 feet in the air is a first for me.

To put is simply, it was one of if not the best moment of my life. Being in that stadium, 10 rows away from the next President of the United States, sitting next to the state Democratic leadership, and toping all the energy off with fireworks is hard to even begin to write about.

I was living history. The 80,000 fellow people citizens in the stands and the 4,000 delegates were overcome with a feeling of hope that our nation's problems might be fixed for once in the last decade. The feeling that this man is a true leader came over me and all of my fellow Clinton delegates. We are now in love with Obama. It was everything we expected and more. He helped rally all of us to not only vote but campaign for him this election season.

Obama finally did the bio speech that laid out his upbringing. His family, growing up on government programs such as the GI Bill and food stamps, helped bring him where he is today. He moved to relate his experience with every American. He was packaging himself of those always courted swing voters with his background of strong values and upbringing.

Then he slammed McCain's positions. Telling McCain that he needs to actually go after Osama in Afghanistan as opposed to keeping troops in Iraq; helped alarm voters who think that McCain will keep the people safe. These attacks need to be done and many of us are happy that it is happening. It is scary that a man that actually wants to continue the policies of the Bush Administration has a decent chance of actually winning the White House. The 90% voting record with Bush is what should be in the minds of every undecided voter and ask them whether that judgment is the right leader we need.

Obama staid on message like always while going into policy during the speech which I have though is something he needs to do. Obama will lower taxes for 95% of Americans while McCain will keep Bush's tax cuts which he himself voted against twice. John McCain more of the same and Obama will bring change is the theme of this election. It maybe sticking because John Kerry did not have those slogans everyone knew and he lost.

The standing ovation after Obama's speech had such energy from the floor that I wish they could win an election just by a cheering crowd. Although there weren't any balloons (my only disappointment of the entire convention) the fireworks made everyone go crazy. It even caught Michelle Obama off guard but seeing she jump once the big ones went off. The fireworks were the icing on the cake that made a historical moment end of a bang.

The stadium had acted as if the Broncos were on the goal line, 4th down with 5 seconds left on the clock to score the winning touchdown.

I have yet to hear from a fellow delegate on the floor who was not touched or inspired to work for this man.

Outside after the speech was all over that close to 100,000 people jumped onto the buses and light rail. No one really cared that it took up to three hours in my case to catch a bus. We were in a state of awe and wonder.

Saying that Obama overshadowed all speakers would be true a huge understatement. We had over a dozen retired US Generals come out and tell McCain he has the wrong policy on the war while Obama wants to get the terrorist where they actually are. These people would make for great surrogates. Then the average Americans came out, many of them claiming to be former republicans gave McCain a strong attack that is hard to refute.

The only one who came close to clearing the way was Al Gore's speech. Not allowing our country be destroyed by climate change and owning up to our responsibility for future generations. Thank you Al Gore for speaking to your issue! I want to not have killer heat waves and Napa wine to still be good in 50 years. To think, that he was only 500 votes away from wining the presidency, that amount of campaign work can be done with a few people devoting their weekend to knock on doors or call. The would could have completely changed if my friends and I went out and campaigned. This is why I am in politics. Watching MSNBC or CNN or Fox News all day is fun and all but if you are angry at the current path of our nation, then go and do something about it. I feel bad for the people who say my vote doesn't count. Luckily young people no longer think that. Many of us remember Florida and almost no one my age likes Bush. The young voters, if targeted and reached out by campaigns will not only campaign but vote in a block two-thirds for Democrats.

Being a delegate provides such a status level that I had no clue about it until being there. It does not mean I will change any policy but I did cast one of the votes that was the deciding way in choosing the next nominee for the Democratic Party.

This is why I am proud to be a Democrat. They offer the ability for young activist who can register thousands of voters and change elections, the ability to directly shape the future of our nation. I do not know if the Republicans have 11% of their delegates under the age of 30 but we are representative of all members of the party, not just county chairs.

Thanks to DPD for allowing me to post this even though I may have been out too late parting.

My Thoughts on The Democratic Convention: Where the Democrats Have the Advantage

Don Gibson at some point will come down from the moon and hopefully describe what it was like to be part of history. If there is perhaps an inkling of disappointment in the convention, and really inkling may be too strong a word, it is that the Democrats ran from any notion of race as though it were a hand grenade. Here the first black man stood before this nation and accepted a major party's nomination and there were was hardly a direct reference to it from the dais. Hillary Clinton gave us all chills when she talked about the glass ceiling and the 18 million cracks that were exploded into it. Heck the reference gives me chills while writing it.

The pundits will tell you all about the rift between the Clintons and Obama and how personal it is. What they will forget to mention to you is that the Clintons are professionals first and people at best a distant third. But I do not want to talk about that either. To me the turning point in this convention came before Hillary Clinton ever uttered a word, a it came with some of the early speakers on Tuesday and continued through the keynote address by Mark Warner.

Reviews on Mark Warner's speech were rather mixed, some liked it, some didn't. For me, it was a great speech and it was followed up with an even better one by Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer. The Montana Governor presented an image that has been missing from recent conventions--he came looking like a rancher. No airs, nothing complex. And yet there he was with a strong populist message. Here this rancher-looking-guy stood up an talked about economic opportunity, attacked the Bush administration, and talked about energy efficiency. Who'd have guessed it. Both speakers were outstanding, they showed off new blood for the Democrats, and they returned us to the Democratic party's blue collar roots.

Yet in the coming months, I think a key is a theme that has been building on the homefront for a long time with very little discussion at times from official Washington. The notion of energy efficiency and green technology as the wave of the future. This is a theme that could have been right out of the Davis City Council election and yet could be the key to the White House come this fall.

Back to Warner, there was a moment in his speech when he gave me chills. He said:

"in just four months, we will have an administration that actually believes in science. And we can again lead the world in live-saving and life-changing cures."

How true this is. He is of course referencing stem-cell research, but really we could be talking about global warming, evolution, and most profoundly, science education. How can we compete with the rest of the world in science education, teaching our young people, if we have leaders who do not believe in it. Think about how profound that statement is. Bush does not believe in science. He does not believe the scientific data about global warming, does not want science to explore stem cell research, he does not believe in evolution even. What kind of country in this world has leadership who do not accept the basic tenets of science? No wonder we are falling behind the world not only education but in new technologies.

Speaking of which, that leads me to my main theme and the key advantage I think Democrats have in the fall, if they are willing to utilize it. Let us go back to 1994. In and really following 1994, the Republicans were the party of new ideas. They were innovators as they looked for new ways to do things in order to devolve away from a reliance on government. You can disagree with their ultimate solutions but there is no doubt that really from 1994 until 2004, the Republicans in the war of ideas had Democrats on the defense. Democrats were defending and trying to conserve past programs, many of which frankly had failed. And it was a fatal mistake to defend poorly constructed and failing programs. When Democrats did head off impending doom it was by mimicking the Republicans, for example President Clinton's belated support of welfare reform that really didn't so much reform welfare as it made it hard for people to get any sort of public assistance.

However, emerging from the threat of global warming, you see a new innovation on the part of liberals. And I say liberal rather than Democrat here because it is really coming out of local governance the notion of energy efficiency and green technology.

It was great on Tuesday to hear this become a theme of the convention, because one does not hear it enough on the national front. But this is a savior not only for our planet but for liberals and Democrats everywhere. You see, the environment was often a concern for the public, but it was a dangerous issue for Democrats. They could easily be painted as anti-business for pushing strong environmental agendas that were forward thinking to encompass issues like global warming. You can play on people's fears if you can make them believe that regulations means losses in jobs. And sometimes they did mean losses in jobs. Sometimes it was necessary to lose jobs such as cutbacks in the clear cutting of old growth redwood forests in Northwest California.

However, the great thing about the new wave of environmentalism is that if you do it right it creates jobs--good high paying, high tech jobs. Good innovative jobs. And it creates them at a number of levels. Smart building design means jobs for contractors, engineers, and archetects, plus more construction jobs. More fuel efficiency means innovative jobs at developing new technologies. Green technology means research and development, construction, and other sorts of jobs.

The other great linkage was between green technology and American jobs. Linking environmentalism to the movement against the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs overseas. And also against the loss of research and development to other countries. This is crucial because once again you can tie the smart green revolution to populist and blue collar themes. Now environmentalism is not just for liberal college educated elites, it means new manufacturing jobs for the working class.

The best part is that it is difficult to assail the position. One cannot assail the green technology development by arguing that it losses jobs or hurts the economy. It is not a nebulus term like carbon credits that the average voter cannot understand. Instead it is a concrete concept that everyone can understand--the building of new and more efficient cars, homes, and electronics--is something everyone can understand and everyone can support.

How hard can the Democrats push this as a way to create new American jobs that will improve the economy? That is a key question. But a crucial one. Republicans took some of the gas debate away from the Democrats by pushing for the simplistic off-shore drilling as a solution.

I do not think the Democrats argued the point well enough, though it was mentioned. Off-shore drilling is a poor solution. First, it will make zero immediate impact on gas prices. It will take a long time to re-develop the supply from off-shore drilling. It will not add a large amount of new oil into the market and will not do it quickly. Finally from a longterm standpoint, it is the opposite of what we need to do. We need to move away from oil as the chief energy source. In short, Democrats have somewhat ceded a debate on a policy that has no upside in the immediate term view or the long term view.

What the green technology wave shows us is the really for the first time in a well over a decade the innovators, the party with new ideas, are the Democrats. It may take time for Democrats to fully exploit this advantage, but it is a sign of things to come.

How this race plays out is anyone's guess. The Democrats have the issues in this election to win, they ran a very good if not altogether perfect convention, but the McCain campaign seems more nimble and more dogged. Who will win--stay tuned and we will find out.

---Doug Paul Davis reporting

Vanguard Coverage of the DNC: Night Three

And Barack Obama is officially the Democratic nominee for the Democratic Party of the United States of America. Hillary Clinton and the New York delegation proudly asked to nominate Obama by acclamation after half of the states have placed their votes. Today was a great sign that no one in leadership is bitter. Hillary initiated the vote for Obama.

I did vote for Senator Clinton because I was elected by my fellow supporters to vote for her. It was not easy for me to choose. Many other pledged delegates for Clinton ended up voting for Obama. I did not vote in the convention hall but in the registration desk during breakfast.

Behind the scenes there were a few mistakes in the votes. Arkansas which voted for Hillary around 70% placed all of their votes unanimously for Obama. But at least 3 delegates voted for Hillary. California, after the grandiose speech about how great the state is, the party chair, was forced to pass as opposed to voting. Apparently they wanted to get all of the votes in before they placed their mark down.

John Kerry, that boring senator from New England was not there; the candidate that everyone wanted him to be in 2004 came out and tore into John McCain. Kerry's theme was McCain has a reckless foreign policy which will further needlessly harm our troops. If John McCain got elected I am generally fearful that wars with other nations will continue.

Candidate McCain, the new label for McCain, is what is being driven home. With retired generals coming out strong for Obama, it shows that the wanna-be general McCain would lead us down the wrong path. A shocking scene was with Major Duckworth who was shot down in her helicopter gave a powerful and moving speech about Obama's supporting our troops when they are home. It really came full circle when she walked away from the podium showing her two prosthetic legs.

There is no question that party unity is getting done here. Bill Clinton's style of capturing everyone's attention the room and holding it for 20 minutes was at its best that night. He had three minutes of a standing ovation from the crowd as he walked in. This beat Hillary's two minutes of applause. Worries that Bill Clinton's image is tarnished do not seem to hold true because of the delegates going wild when he spoke. He told the arena to "please stop it, please sit down" but all of us would not listen.

Bill Clinton reminded us why we are all in love with him with his speech. With a crowd going crazy, his speech was filled with moments where the crowd would have cheered for minutes straight. He was filled with quotable moments such as "I am here, first, to support Barack Obama" and "the Republicans said I was too young and too inexperienced to be Commander in Chief. Sound familiar?"

Too bad he could not have been elected for a third term.

Biden's cheering entrance helped show that everyone is onboard with this experienced man. Biden as common with most vice presidential candidates is the attack dog and Biden shined at it. He talked pocket book issues that affect every American. The new theme will be "Barack Obama was right, John McCain was wrong" This will resonate with everyone because of the Iraq War and McCain denouncing his legislation that he drafted himself. Democrats will throw back right at McCain changed his policy. It is sad that the "Maverick" has completely changed the policy once that he started running for president. He now votes around 90% of the time with Bush and we all seen where that has taken our nation. Attacks on McCain are beginning to get harsh against him and will ramp up continuously. But we all know that the attacks on Obama will be even harsher because they know that it is one of the few ways that they could win. People maybe are tired of the personal attacks but they have proven to work.

The main stream media did not find the conflict that they were looking for. Out of those PUMA's in the crowd, the media will only interview the one or two in the entire California delegation of 441 delegates who feel that way. I did not see any actions today beyond interviews here and there today. Hillary clearly calmed the radicals down.

On other convention activities, Ariana Huffington spoke to New Democrats Network (NDN) about the new media such as blogs and her online site. I have come to realize through her speech and the way I have been seeing the cameras focus on that 1% that the main stream media has lost its way. It should be about finding the truth not both sides of the story. It is not through the left side of the argument and the right side of the argument that reality is always found in the middle. Sometimes one side is so wrong, they do not even deserve airtime, such as 9-11 conspiracy theorists to one extreme and global warming deniers on the lesser extreme.

Before I forget the California delegation party was at this great museum in Denver where I got to meet CA Secretary of State Debra Bowen !

Vanguard Coverage of the DNC: Night One and Night Two

The Vanguard is primarily a blog that covers local politics and local government issues. However, there is no denying the fact that much of the world will be focused on the Democratic National Convention next week. So we have asked Don Gibson, a UC Davis Student who is President of College Democrats and an elected Hillary Clinton Delegate to the Democratic National Convention to write about his experiences at the Democratic Convention in Denver, Colorado.

Please note: due to technical problems, we were unable to post yesterday's entry, so today we have Monday and Tuesday Night's coverage

Monday Night

Michelle Obama gave one of the best speeches I have ever seen. Her speech about her husband's values was an incredibly honest description of who is he. The best thing about the speech was her style of presenting it. She spoke in a perfect mixture of calmness shielding powerful emotion. The most fun part was when Obama came in over the television link and his kids came out. I am still in a state of amazement on how great that speech was. The only way I could compare it to my universe was like seeing the Oakland Raiders win the Super Bowl in person.

Yesterday's speeches were all about getting to know who Obama is. It is working and I have been learning so much about this man.

The tribute to Edward Kennedy was a historic speech. It is likely to be Kennedy's last convention speech and a powerful statement from him now and his past. Giving every American health care is a passion and Obama is the person who could lead the way in actually doing that. His words wring strong in his passion for public service and his great legislative successes.

Media from all over was at the Pepsi Center and Al Jazera was under a seat of my friend.

The significance of being a delegate is becoming clear to me now and why people spend thousands of dollars for this experience. Sitting next to the states biggest leaders while waving signs all united for a common cause is a powerful feeling. There are only 441 delegates from the biggest state with nearing 40 million people. The rate is near 1 in 100,000 people living in the state. The green floor pass that was given to us is practically a magical ticket that lets you get into all but the most exclusive parts. We are able to avoid security for the Denver Convention Center. It is so important that people do not lose their passes because they are very strict about not replacing lost passes. These passes just look like the run of the mill tickets but they have little sensors within them that are actively scanned when people go into the Pepsi Center. On the rumor mill, they are actively tracking the delegates and where they go, I personally doubt that they are doing that because of the cost and lack of need.

The convention has almost 3 levels of security. The first one is getting onto the charter bus with the police officer. Then after the 45 minute to hour ride, delegates need to go through metal detectors, then before walking in the door of there is a final check before walking in the Pepsi Center. The final is before which section of the stands you go to, you need to show the pass again. There is more then one person I know who is trying to sneak into the good seats but it does not look easy for them.

The protesters are well hidden. At least the ones who want to do marches, I have only seen them once. I heard the police shut down the street my hotel was on because of a intense protest where tear gas was shot but since I rarely can access the internet or watch TV to double check this. The bus ride took along time to get to the Pepsi Center and my assumption is that they wanted us to avoid the protesters outside of the center. They have kept us very isolated between the protesters up until today.

That brings me to PUMA (Party Unity My Ass). There was little visible tension, just one or two unorganized people standing on a corner is what I have been used to seeing. Today at the state delegation breakfast Gloria Allred, who won election to be a delegate, is the person who started trouble.

It first was with people walking into the hall where speeches and breakfast is served. When people were taking the tickets a few of the PUMAs were passing out white ribbon for people to tie around their wrists. It was first told to some people that it was to show support for woman's suffrage but it was really for Gloria's media grab. Out of the 441 delegates there maybe only three that is actively undermining the normal activities. A smart delegate took the literature and tore it up right in front of one of the PUMA! And then a person next to them did the same. Their stunt is saying that they are "gagged" and not giving Hillary a voice even though her name will be on the ballot. The bad thing about this is that as I have been saying all along, the vast majority of activists are on board while only a few people hog all the media which loves controversy.

On the better side of things Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi has been reaching out to the Young Delegates at the convention. He sat down with 25 of us for an hour to talk about what our issues are. He is the only person, that I know of, offering to sit down with all of us while we are at convention.

Tuesday Night

Hillary Clinton just proved today why she inspired millions of Americans. The grand speech she gave reaffirmed the support that she garnered from her years of public service. Before she started speaking today, she had 2 minutes of a standing ovation to her. Her speech would not have brought in every PUMA supporter but it effectually convinced all of the iffy supporters to vote and campaign for Obama. My Mom who supported Obama in the primaries was cheering and clapping watching her rally the crowd. All of the hardcore Clintonites that I personally know were more then wooed over. These people were not only reaffirmed their love for Senator Clinton but were moved beyond the bitterness of the primary. The beauty of it was that she played to her reasons of her supporters while taking in those unsure of the support.

My friend and die hard Clinton supporter John Vigna said "So tonight, Hillary elected Barack Obama". He is right. I do not have any more significant qualms about voting for Senator Obama.

The two other speakers that really stood out to me were Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich and Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer. Dennis Kucinich has the spirit of the flaming liberal in all of the delegates there. He speaks to that part of our mind that wants to get out and do huge social change and reform. It is not a view that would win an election across the country but is something that all progressive's have. It helps keep that liberal side of the Democratic Party true to their roots by having a presidential candidate represent that 20% to 30% of the party that wants huge change. It helps keeps the Democrats in touch with their hardcore base. It was by far the most impassioned speech I have seen by the representative from Ohio with emotion and passion flaring through. Governor Schweitzer has the populist style that shined in the crowd of cheering supporters. He by far outshined the keynoter Former Gov. Warner from Virginia. The speech that Schweitzer gave spoke to true American values that resonate in America. He walked all around the podium which helped show his great emotion and passionate speech. In my book, he should have been the keynoter.

Today I was a whip for the California Democratic Delegation. If you noticed in any of the shots, we were the ones in the neon vests. We had the pleasure of directing traffic and telling elected officials that they need to keep moving in the hallway. There was more then one time that I wanted to tell someone that they needed to move but I thought, he or she represents over 600,000 people, I am just going to let everyone else figure it out.

There were over six different sign changes. For the whips on the floor, it hell to figure out what goes when and where. Because of the rapid fire succession of the changes in the signs with the moderate democrats, such as Governor Sebelius of Kansas and Senator Bob Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania, we had to have the right signs waving at the right moments. It did not run smoothly. Many of us were picked up at the last few hours before the start of ceremonies. I had the pleasure of doing whatever needed to be done at the moment such as clearing out the hallway or passing out the latest sign. The whips are what ensure that the choreographed event goes off like it should. I knew what I was supposed to be doing at the convention hall but not the people attending.

There were far too many people who were not elected delegates that snuck in with their spouse or other they of pass. It was also my job to tell them that they should not be doing that. It was tough telling someone "I am sorry that you and your husband have been sitting together for the last 2 hours but elected delegates worked very hard to get here and you are taking their spot." Being a bouncer is not on a career path right now.

Tomorrow Bill Clinton, I have seen him speak 2 times before and have always been awestruck. Then VP candidate Biden will also be speaking. I am looking forward to jokes by him about McCain in the same fashion of Hillary's. Tomorrow I hope all of the PUMA's sleep in and do not cause a ruckus at the roll call vote which may of us are not sure how it will work. I was elected to vote for Hillary and that is what I plan on doing. I do not see anything that will change my vote as of now. Hillary had her light in the sun and the American people listened. Obama may have just won the election because of this amazing woman.

Vanguard Coverage of the DNC: Day Four in Denver

The Vanguard is primarily a blog that covers local politics and local government issues. However, there is no denying the fact that much of the world will be focused on the Democratic National Convention next week. So we have asked Don Gibson, a UC Davis Student who is President of College Democrats and an elected Hillary Clinton Delegate to the Democratic National Convention to write about his experiences at the Democratic Convention in Denver, Colorado. Here is his fourth report.

by DON GIBSON

The convention activities have just begun today. I moved into the Sheraton where its lobby has all of the important people in California and New York walking through. I bumped into Mayor Gavin Newsome, vice chair of the California Democratic Party Alex Rooker, and campaign adviser Bob Mulholland. This is the place where all of the action is happening. Even though the Pepsi Center is what everyone envisions as the epicenter, the Sheraton has such a large amount of energy that the media does not seem to cover. The press is setting up to find the thoughts of delegates here at this hotel.

The media is trying to find controversy. I had two television interviews today, one for KCRA 3 in Sacramento and another for ABC 7 in Los Angeles. Both of the reporters looked for controversy between Clinton and Obama supporters where I had to talk about how to unite the party. They tried to ask leading questions to have me or other delegates to say something like "I want Clinton to be the nominee" or "Obama is unfit to lead". The views of the vast majority of activist are that those are flat wrong. I did learn something about the media today; political talking points don't work for them when you are on TV as a young delegate.

Sponsoring the delegates has become a tradition. An experienced democratic activist told me to bring a spare bag for all of the junk that I will be getting for free. He is right! I got two full conventions bags as I registered to be a delegate. I have received over 50 labeled really random things from different corporations, lobbying groups, and people campaigning for office. There was so much stuff that it covered my entire bed as you can see in the photos. The best thing I got was the wine glass from Lt. Governor John Garamendi. The oddest thing has to be the bobblehead for Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The most useful thing is the USB drive from California Treasure Bill Lockyer. The coolest things to find will be the Obama-Biden buttons and signs but they have yet to be given to us.

Denver's atmosphere is completely changed from just a day ago. The police are not only out in force but they have assault rifles and squads of horse troopers are set up to stop anything from happening.

The protesters are finally out. Two people in pig costumes riding around in a coverable were waving signs saying "Tax Meat!" Other groups were not as light. Hardcore pro-lifers held out signs with pictures of abortions. Not fun to say the least. When I was walking out of subway on the 16th St. mall I was able to see the anarchists march down the outdoor mall. The best thing was that 20 officers walked behind the marchers in full riot gear. People may be afraid that the police are taking too extreme of an approach but they not stopping anyone from expressing their views (that I know of).

There does not seem to be tension between the city's residents and the delegates. People would rant to me or other activists on the light rail but not in a combative fashion. The city tends to have people who want to speak up .

I went to my first totally delegate exclusive event. The Gulf States hosted a reception for the host committee, with great gumbo and live New Orleans musicians to celebrate the revival of New Orleans. They had "Obama Beer" exclusively for the event. It was the first drink to run of all of the bars. It was hosted by Chairman Dean to bring in the thousands of delegates and the open bar kept all of them happy.

Tomorrow young democratic activists and I will be sitting down with John Garamendi to talk policy for an hour. Then have the first event at the Pepsi Center will be fun seeing the first big speakers. I just got offered to be a whip for the floor and I may take up this opportunity to help control the delegation.

Vanguard Coverage of the DNC: Day Three in Denver

The Vanguard is primarily a blog that covers local politics and local government issues. However, there is no denying the fact that much of the world will be focused on the Democratic National Convention next week. So we have asked Don Gibson, a UC Davis Student who is President of College Democrats and an elected Hillary Clinton Delegate to the Democratic National Convention to write about his experiences at the Democratic Convention in Denver, Colorado. Here is his second report.

by DON GIBSON

Today was a slower day. One thing is becoming very apparent though, a rush to see Obama's speech. Right now I am at University of Denver at the College Democrats of America convention. This is where the lead college activist through out the nation for holding trainings and elections. Too bad the elections are happening at 8am while the reception for CDA starts at 11pm. There will be a lot of college students not coming to elections because of the late night party.

All of the activists who were not able to be elected to be a delegate need some kind of connection to get into Invesco Field. The best way is to volunteer. These people will be everywhere, on the field, in the nosebleed seats, and in the parking lot. A new rumor is that roads one mile around the stadium will be shut down when Obama is giving his speech. Delegates and volunteers will be bused in from downtown's hotels while the light rail's stadium connection will be out of service. I wish I had the $1,000,000 to spend on the box seats and then being able to hang out with Obama and Biden after the big speech. That high donor area is the only part where the regular volunteers would not be allowed to go explore.

The stadium should be packed. Originally there would have been enough tickets that family members and all of the activists that came to town could see Obama. This is no longer promised because people from all over the nation are now calling in all the favors to get a ticket. Residents in Colorado are fortunate by comparison where many of them simply have to offer to prove they are registered to vote or register at a local campaign office.

Police protection is out in force. There could be literally a dozen on a corner at anytime downtown. Half of the police officers around the Denver Convention Center are decked out in riot gear. I have yet to see a single protester these few days. This may have been the safest event I have ever been to. They even have more bike cops than Davis. Road blocks haven't popped up yet but I would not be surprised to see them soon. The concert blocks protecting the buildings are already up and ready.

Even through I have yet to see protesters, I have been handed literature from one random group calling to ban all drugs. The price was professionally done but lied and used scare tactics about the softer drugs of alcohol and marijuana.

I was able to put some of my thoughts to Obama's choice as Biden now that I can digest it. He is a fighter that can put the hurt on McCain. It is unfortunate that Biden's presidential run I could only remember two things, he talks about Iraq and he made a good joke about Rudy Giuliani. Biden would have been a great candidate in 2004 primaries but in 2008 he was going against the cream of the democratic crop leaving him behind in the minds of the people. Biden is an incredibility smart man who is a leader in the Senate and first elected in 1972. Now he is a member of the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary and the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations. The two biggest things lacking in the Bush administration, intelligent foreign policy and respect for the Judiciary branch is what Biden knows.

I am already looking forward to a Biden vice president. I hope Republican friends of mine can even admit that he is better than Cheney.

Vanguard Coverage of the DNC: Biden is the VP Pick for Obama and More

The Vanguard is primarily a blog that covers local politics and local government issues. However, there is no denying the fact that much of the world will be focused on the Democratic National Convention next week. So we have asked Don Gibson, a UC Davis Student who is President of College Democrats and an elected Hillary Clinton Delegate to the Democratic National Convention to write about his experiences at the Democratic Convention in Denver, Colorado. Here is his second report.

by DON GIBSON

How did I get here?

As a college democrat, the DNC was not my first idea of helping getting democrats to take back the state. A few political friends of mine suggested that I run because they thought that I would be a passionate delegate. The general goal for getting elected to be a delegate is get the most registered democratic voters to come out to the caucus to vote for you. There are stories of all the crazy ways people got elected to be delegates. From rumors I have heard, one person running to be a delegate in San Francisco's district went all out. He filled a bus load of homeless, offering them coffee and donuts and registering them to vote then cast their ballots.

I did not have the resources or connections to do something that intense. A goal for me was to have the caucus site on the UC Davis campus where I could get all of my friends to vote for me. But the first CD is a geographically large district. It reaches from West Sacramento to Napa City to Eureka and the boarder of Oregon. What ended up happening was unique for this CD. This was the only CD in California had two sites for people to cast votes. I thought I was done for. How could I get dozens of my friends to Napa? And then deal with the fact that someone could bring their entire church to vote.

In the Democratic Party, the strict rules about gender equality work on the delegate level. The delegates work out to a 50% to 50% ratio through out the state. In the 1st CD, Obama beat Hillary by .3% points. So he got three delegates and one alternate while Hillary received two, one male and one female delegate.

I thought, I doubt I would win but why not try? I filled out all the paperwork already. I got a van with me and six other Davis College Democrats to come to the caucus. On a side note, they did not encourage my run. The entire hour car ride was them joking about me. They were saying everything from "Don Gibson supports the Iraq War" to "Vote for Don Gibson to make abortion illegal". It was not the most encouraging car ride I had experienced.

Once we all got to the high school in Napa, the whole mindset changed. The game was on. I met up with a fellow Hillary delegate candidate. She had not committed to support a male on her slate so I made a deal that my friends who came would vote for her and me. Due to the ability of people to cast two votes, I was able to help out fellow candidates who pledged to support my run.

I had to shake every hand that walked through the doors of the high school's theater. I knew I could not win only on the fact that six of my friends came but that I had to win uncommitted voters. The odd thing about this run was that a significant number of people came supporting a female candidate but not a male one. The voters had the ability to cast two votes. I had the pleasure of convincing them that I would go for Hillary all the way.

Two different conversations still stick out to me today. One woman asked me "What would cause you to change your vote to Obama?" At the time, the primary was still in full swing and no one was sure who would come out on top. My only response was that "If I was personally insulted by her". The other person who really asked where I stood on his issue was abortion. He asked me where I stood even telling me he was a catholic and strong pro lifer. I could only say that "different people have different ideals of morality and government should not regulate morals" I do not know if I ended up getting the pro-lifer's vote by it was a trying experience.

After producing literature and shaking over 100 hands, all the votes have been cast. The votes for the male ended up being around 89 total votes where I received 45 to my astonishment. Four other males received votes and the female that won was not even from this caucus but was from the one in Eureka. I vowed to ensure that ever American had health care and that we would get out of Iraq as my impromptu acceptance speech.

What happened today?

Governor Dean! Luckily I did not call the contents of his speech as in my last post. He talked about how our current leadership in college democrats is what needs to take the lead to win the swing states for Obama. He asserted that Obama was the candidate of the future and McCain was the one of the past. This is a great way to invigorate the activists at the convention. The big idea was his campaign plan for the country. In 2005 the DNC held experiments with voters about how to increase Democratic turnout in Virginia. Groups that received robocalls or direct mailers increased their turnout by 1% to 2%. While those who were in the neighborhood leaders program had a 12% increase in Democratic turnout. Those people had their door knocked on 4 times for 40 households with members of their own community. According to Dean's speech voters under 30s actually voted more than the 65 and older crowd in the Iowa caucus pushing Obama over the edge. Dean was only a 10 to 20 points away from winning the democratic caucus in Iowa. Even though he did not go down as the candidate, he is doing an amazing job as DNC chairman.

Nothing other than that really happened today. More college democrats flew into town and there was a community service project outside of the University of Denver. But I can not forget to mention this thing. Biden is the VP for Obama! I hope I did not ruin anything for you guys but it came out publicly as many of us were leaving for the evening reception for College Democrats of America. I got the text message at 1:08 am MST.

Vanguard Coverage of the Democratic National Convention

The Vanguard is primarily a blog that covers local politics and local government issues. However, there is no denying the fact that much of the world will be focused on the Democratic National Convention next week. So we have asked Don Gibson, a UC Davis Student who is President of College Democrats and an elected Hillary Clinton Delegate to the Democratic National Convention to write about his experiences at the Democratic Convention in Denver, Colorado. He arrived in Denver last night and has submitted his first report.

by DON GIBSON

Who is a delegate?

Delegates are the ultimate political junkies. Not only do almost all of us read multiple newspapers, blog, and never turn off CNN, we also poured hundreds of hours into campaigns. The delegates are party activist who were elected to support their respective candidate at convention. Registered Democrats in the Congressional District get to vote. I was elected to vote for Senator Clinton way back in April.

Today delegates are diverse. On age, race, and sex, the party has worked tirelessly that no group would be unrepresented. There are an equal number of men and women from each state while states like California set affirmative action goals to fairly represent the party's base. The newest demographic that is popping for this convention is young delegates. 11% of California's delegation is under 30 (49 of 441) compared to only 8% in 2004.

Why are so many of us not becoming involved? Is it Obama or Bush's presidency or something else? I don't think that there is any one thing that drove fellow young democrats to be delegates and myself to run. Many are excited about Obama (including Clinton delegates like myself). 8 Years under this disastrous presidency gets many young people afraid of what another Republican in the office will do. My thought is that we are the wired generation. Our generation is now plugged into the world 24-7. The level and ability for awareness in my generation is beyond anything just 20 years ago. Now millions of us will get a text message from Obama's campaign when he announces his VP choice in just a day or two now. It is almost hard to imagine for me what the world would be without the internet or cell phones.

Young voters are increasing going democratic. We do not care about same sex marriage, we care about college affordability and the Iraq War. In a head to head vote between Obama and McCain 18 to 29 year olds support Obama 60% to 33%. 47% of this electorate describes themselves at Democrats to 28% Republican. The old thought about young people not voting is no longer true. If they are targeted for outreach they will vote at 64.4% turn out. In the California 2008 Presidential primary young voters were 14% of the voters. With per-to-per outreach and campaign resources we not only vote more but can change the outcome of elections. If only 500 more people voted for Al Gore in 2000 in Florida then the course of the country would have forever been changed. 500 is less than the number of students in the Emerson dorm hall in the Cuarto part of UC Davis. Students can change elections. As Barbra Boxer put it "elections have consequences"

Today's first update:

I just got to Denver. I may have been the only person on that flight going to Denver and will be active at the convention. My activism may have been given away with my 5 buttons and sticker on my backpack. The airport and city are all decked out in "Welcome DNC to Denver" and volunteers all in orange sticking out in the crowd. They are waving signs with big question marks and lines like "Ask me questions Democrats". It almost feels like this is Beijing's Olympics where the city is pulling out all the stops to make people feel like there is focus. But they did not destroy half the poor areas in the process. Although there a lot of rumors about what the city is doing about the homeless, everything from giving them tickets to the zoo to sending them to Salt Lake City.

Before the big convention with Obama and the Clintons, I am going to College Democrats of America convention. The first cool thing is meeting people from all over the nation. Right now sitting next to me is 3 fellow bloggers, one from Princeton, one from UC Berkeley, and another from Tuffs. The only thing I wanted is nice hotel rooms. As you can see in the pictures I will not be staying the lap of luxury tonight. For the DNC convention the California and New York delegations get to say in the Sheraton, formerly the Adam's Mark.

Nothing too exciting has really been happening now. The only thing that is going on is random groups of people meeting up and partying in their respective dorm rooms. I am about to go walk all around the campus looking for some fast food for dinner.

Tomorrow should be fun, College Democrats are putting together a community service project in the city. Then for kick of Gov. Dean will be speaking to the hundreds of us. I hope it is not the speech that ever politician gives to us student activist. The: "You are the future of country… Hope… Destiny… Future… On the door step of a new millennium… Tomorrows leaders… and so on"