Barack Obama is the first black man to become the nominee of a major political party.
Wednesday afternoon, on Day 3 of the Democratic Convention in Denver, Obama officially won the nomination. The convention ran through its roll call until New York, with Obama gaining the vast majority of the votes, as most of the Clinton delegates swtiched their first ballot votes to Obama in the interest of party unity. When the announcer called for New York, Hillary Clinton came out from the back, in fairly drmatic fashion and took the mike. She magnanimously called for a suspension of the rules and for Obama to be nominated by acclimation. At that point Nancy Pelosi conducted a voice vote and named Obama the nominee.
Wednesday will be interesting at the Convention. You may not know that the nominating process will be held early. The nominating and seconding speeches for Clinton andn Obama will begin almost as soon as the convention is gaveled to order, shortly after 3PM Denver time. They have set aside a full hour for the roll-call vote, although the rumor is that Hillary Clinton will put an end to the roll-call after a few states have announced their votes. Everyone waiting to hear what Bill Clinton will say. His remarks are scheduled for 7PM Denver time. Joe Biden will give his acceptance speech at about 8:20. Other heavy hitters to speak on Wednesdya night will be New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh.......All the speakers on Day 3 will have a tough act to follow because Hillary Clinton was almost perfect, giving the best speech I've ever seen her deliver.I was in the Convention Hall, and I can tell you, she was connecting with everyone. She successfully tied Obama to her own ideals and presumably her followers ideals as well, giving a convincing argument as to why they should vote for Obama. She delivered many memorable lines. Among my favorites:
"No way, no how, no McCain. Barack Obama is my candidate, and he must be our President."
"To my supprters, my champions, my sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits...."
"...it makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities, because these days, they're awfully hard to tell apart."
Some of the best speeches at conventions are given by those who lose the nomination. These would include Ronald Reagan in 1976, Ted Kennedy in '80, and last night's remarks by Clinton........The most entertaining speech of the day was given by Dennis Kucinich. He delivered an old-style, political, fire and brimstone speech that brought the house down. It was complete with jumpin' up and down, fist thrusts and all kinds of gestures. On the other hand, Mark Warner was a flop as the keynote speaker. He delivered no memorable lines, and gave delegates little to get excited about.
I went down to the floor last night at Convention Hall so I could get up close to the delegates. I was taken by the looks on their faces during Ted Kennedy's speech. There was clear emotion and they stood there transfixed with rapt attention. I saw tears in quite a few eyes. I think many of them were feeling that it might be the final time they hear Kennedy speak publicly. He was a little shaky at the start but then the adrenaline kicked in, and Kennedy, always at home in this kind of situation gave a typically Kennedy speech.......Michelle Obama's speech had a tough act to follow, but she pulled it off. She accomplishjed all of the goals she had in the speech, portraying Barack and herself as regular people, not elitists and showing the "human" and "American" side of both of them.........A lot of self-promoters are here. You can't go ten minutes without someone giving you his or her card, or trying to pitch you an interview......My favorite protest here in Denver so far was the group that tried to levitate the Denver mint yesterday. They were inviting all protestors to join them, bring all of their energy and magic, and try to levitate the Denver Mint to redistribute the wealth. Unfortunately, the Mint stayed glued to the concrete.........I beleive Hillary Clinton will make a big pitch to her supporters at hte Convention for them to support Obama. It is an important speech for her politically and could mean a lot for the election chances of Obama. Actually, I think Hillary has handled her loss far better than either her diehard supporters or her husband........Keynote speaker is Virginia Governor Mark Warner, with many delegates already expressing concern that he won't hit John McCain hard enough.
Well, I finally made it to a national political convention, here in Denver for the Democratic showcase. I am doing my broadcasts on the Handel show from the Convention Hall, just between the Arby's and Cheesesteak concession stands......Big question at the convention today is whether Sen. Ted Kennedy, suffering from a brain tumor, will make an appearance......The convention area resmebles a fortress, with high fences around the outer perimeter, helicopters buzzing overhead and lots of police..............Featured speaker on night one of the convention is Michelle Obama..........there are 15,000 media here and only 4000 or so delegates
© 2008