The DNC does not always have a keynote speaker. Sometimes there is a speaker that can be thought of later as such, but was not necessarily labeled “keynote” at the time. So this list can certainly be argued with.Obama was the DNC keynote during the last Presidential nominating convention. It is often presumed that the keynote speaker will be a key player in future elections. However, that is definitely not always the case. Sometimes the keynote is finishing old business (in which case their name is usually “Kennedy” and other times reorienting the party towards its traditional liberal values. Other times the keynote is a display of the Democratic Party commitment to diversity and equality. Continue reading Prior keynote speeches at the DNC
Monthly Archives: June 2008
Gay Marriage Across the Border
Recognition of marriages across political boundaries is a long standing, virtually global tradition .,.. perhaps one of the earliest non-refugee related mundane global practices … to cross borders to get married. The distinction between ceremony and recognition is well established. This does not always mean that marriages are so recognized, but more often than not, they are.
Why are we talking about this? I’m expanding on a discussion happening here regarding the recognition of marriages (in particular gay marriage), celebrated elsewhere, by New York State. Continue reading Gay Marriage Across the Border
Top 10 Giant Movie Monsters
Pretty good overview:I was under the impression that many of them monsters Godzilla fought were not from outer space, but rather, from eggs shaken loose by earthquakes and mutated by nuclear irradiation and stuff. Am I wrong about this?
Why you really should be a Democrat
Montana Polls Close
Obama is the projected winner of this last primary, though no margin is estimated at this time.Obama to speak from Saint Paul.There is good information out there that Clinton and Obama are working out a meeting as soon as possible.There is also excellent information out there indicating that Clinton is interested in being vice president.These two things are probably related.
Obama speaks
In Saint Paul, at the same stadium where the Republicans will hold their convention later this sumer.I won’t be live blogging this because it won’t be as suspensful as Clinton’s speech. He is expected to acknowledge his position as presumptive nominee.
Clinton Speaks in New York City
Clinton thanks South Dakota who “had the last word” in this primary season (oops, that would be Montana, but whatever).She honored Barak Obama and his supporters for “all they have accomplished.”Clinton noted the great increase in previously uninvolved voters and the unprecedented raising of money, as well as the importance of her campaign in relation to women’s rights and political standing. (Especially noting the women in her campaign who were born before women were allowed to vote in the US.She noted that people across the country and the territories all had a chance to vote for the candidate they felt would be best, strongest, most experienced, etc. and that the majority of people voted for her. She noted that she had won the swing states necessary to get the necessary electoral votes in the general election.Clinton ran over the litany ways in which the Republicans have screwed up our country and the rest of the world, noting as well that the average hard working person is invisible to the president. But not to Hillary.Then, she asked the question: Continue reading Clinton Speaks in New York City
Clinton Wins South Dakota
Fifty seven to forty three percent.
NBC calls Obama Nominee
For the first time in history, a black man is one of the main candidates for election to the office of the President of the United States, having achieved the number of delegates required to be offered the nomination of the Democratic Party. This is based on recent declaration by several super delegates for Obama and the estimated outcome of the South Dakota polls, which closed moments ago.
Christian Group eats Sour Grapes
A Christian legal organization says it has sued to stop New York from recognizing same-sex marriages legally performed in other states.The Alliance Defense Fund says it filed its lawsuit Tuesday in a court in the Bronx. Several Republican state senators are named as party to the suit.Gay marriage is unconstitutional in New York. Gov. David Paterson however told state agencies on May 14 that New York must recognize same-sex marriages performed in Massachusetts, Canada and other places where they are legal.The Arizona-based legal group filing the lawsuit has intervened elsewhere in gay marriage and religious freedom cases including those involving abortion and what it calls traditional family values.source
AP: Clinton is open to VP spot
Most importantly, Clinton seems to be stressing the importance of the party (the Democratic Party) winning in November. Continue reading AP: Clinton is open to VP spot
Kennedy Surgery Over
Ted Kennedy is out of brain surgery with good results, according to a recent news report. Continue reading Kennedy Surgery Over
AP:”The Democratic Primary is Over, Obama Wins”
AP has called the race. They have used 11 delegates expected today to be awarded to Obama from primaries, which is a little premature in my view (I mean, why not wait until after the election like we are supposed to). It also includes, and this is very interesting. 16 super delegates that have told AP they are going to throw their lot in with Obama but who have not yet done so. The existence of a bunch of such super delegates was heavily hinted at by various media mucky mucks over the last couple of days. Continue reading AP:”The Democratic Primary is Over, Obama Wins”
Retraction: Clinton will stay in race after tonight.
You may have noticed that in my previous post I tried to equivocate and I gave the story right from AP as a big quote. This is because I could not reconcile what I was reading internally. It did not make sense, and I suspected that the press was just trying to bring the campaign to a close. This is based not just on what I posted, but what I watched for 10 minutes on MSBNC.Turns out my caution was appropriate:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is “absolutely not” planning to concede the campaign to Barack Obama on Tuesday night, Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe told CNN on Tuesday”No one has the number to be the nominee of the Democratic party right now,” he said.McAuliffe, asked about an AP report that Clinton will acknowledge Tuesday night after the South Dakota and Montana primaries that Obama has the delegates to clinch the nomination for the November presidential election, replied: “They are 100 percent incorrect.”source
Clinton Will Announce that”Obama has enough delegates”
… according to AP, and this will happen later today. This, however, will not be a formal ending of Clinton’s primary race, nor will it be a suspension. Therefore, it is not clear what the meaning of it is. This is what the press is saying: Continue reading Clinton Will Announce that”Obama has enough delegates”