[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Glennia Campbell

On the first full day of the California Democratic Convention, I made my way into the big hall, bright green "INTERNET MEDIA" press pass dangling from my neck, wondering who was going to stop me and tell me that it was off-limits. I thought as lowlife bloggers, we'd be shuttled into a windowless, cinderblock sideroom where we would watch the action from a portable Zenith black & white television set with rabbit ears. Instead, I was told to go sit on a platform at the back of the room, with a great view of the stage, above he heads of the delegates in the crowd, right beside the TV news crews from CBS, CNN, and other major networks. I found a seat in the back row of the blogger ghetto (shown at right), and opened up my laptop.

by SweetMelissa [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Constant Readers,

In my final post about the California Democratic Convention, Ima write about the saga of Carole Migden and Mark Leno and the fight over who would and (perhaps, more importantly) who would not get the Democratic party endorsement for the District 3 State Senate seat.

Saturday

I've already written about Friday night, so let's start with Saturday. Over breakfast, I wrote a post about Migden's public display of lunacy on Friday night, then dealt with the proxy fiasco. After that, Beth and Brian D. (also proxies) arrived in San Jose and a group of us met up for lunch before we had to go vote. In anticipation of a boring afternoon, the booze flowed liberally as we debated the difference between a "nerd" and a "dork" - which is only something a bunch of nerdy dorks would do. Then we ambled on over to the convention center to engage in some Sauvignon Blanc-fueled heckling.

Here's how it works: before all of the CA delegates vote on whether to endorse a candidate, the candidate's Region has to hold an election to endorse the candidate. In this case it was Region 4 whose delegates needed to vote to endorse Migden or Leno. As the incumbent, Migden only needed 50% + 1 of the number of votes cast by delegates. As the challenger, Leno needed 70% +1 of the total number of votes cast by Region 4 delegates to get the endorsement.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Cruickshank with fellow bloggers hard at work and enjoying the scene at the CDP convention while doing their craft

By Robert Cruickshank

Former (and future?) governor and current Attorney General Jerry Brown was waxing nostalgic about his days in the governor's mansion, driving the famous blue Plymouth ("it lasted 240,000 miles without an engine overhaul - now that was sustainability"), and suing Ronald Reagan over the governor's mansion.

But the core of his speech dealt with our climate crisis. Brown emphasized his administration's earlier efforts to encourage smart growth, urban density, walking, even trains. And he called for renewed action on this today. He conceptualized it as "elegant density" - get people out of their cars, build more walkable communities served by trains and other forms of mass transit, powered by solar energy, to not just deal with global warming, but to encourage a more sustainable California.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

[Editor’s note: Here is the full text of California Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi’s speech to the state Democratic Convention this morning in San Jose. Garamendi is a bit more than rumored to be running for Governor in 2010 and is seen here pressing the flesh and having his picture taken with many well wishers.]

My Friends:

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Frank D. Russo

Youngest Democrat at California Democratic Convention Supports Obama

I left the California Democratic Convention at the end of day one shortly before midnight. The parties were still going strong, the hallways were filled to the point that one could hardly move. My notebooks were filled, my pockets stuffed with petitions, business cards, and I have met Democrats running in areas of the state for offices where they have not been active for years. All in all, there was an expectation echoed in private conversations and publicly that this should be a big year for Democrats in California.

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Hey You, especially you in the Bay Area, are you busy March 28-30? Want to help out at the California Democratic Convention? Well, grrreat, because apparently they need 800 of them. There will be opportunities for volunteers to attend General Session and hear some of the speakers.

If you are interested in volunteering, please complete the volunteer form by March 12, 2008 for best availability.In order to volunteer at the State Convention, you must sign-up in advance. There will also be a mandatory meeting for all volunteers Thursday, March 27th, 2008 at the San Jose Convention Center.

If you have any questions, please call Christopher Guerrero, Volunteer Coordinator at (916) 442-5707 x 318 or email volunteer AT cadem dt org.

So, any other thoughts?

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Frank D. Russo

A formal announcement will be made shortly by John Edwards that he is dropping out of the race for the Democratic nomination for president. According to published accounts, he will not immediately announce his support for one of the other two candidates who this contest now boils down to: Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton.

Edwards, pictured above, being greeted by California Democratic Party Chair Art Torres before giving a rip-roaring speech at the California Democratic convention in San Diego last April, won the hearts and minds of many delegates with a speech that impressed and resonated in the hall. He spoke forthrightly about poverty in the United States, a life time passion of his that he has committed himself to as an attorney. He also spoke strongly against the War in Iraq. At the time, I wrote:

“Presidential candidate John Edwards spoke to the California Democratic Convention in San Diego yesterday starting and ending with strong words about what is probably the single most important issues to our state's primary voters--the war in Iraq. His 23 minutes speech was interrupted by applause on a number of occasions, especially when he talked about the war.”