[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

California's delegation to the Democratic National Convention in Denver this August is leading the way in making the gathering the greenest in the party's history.California Democratic Party Chairman Sen. Art Torres (Ret.) today announced the delegation, comprised of delegates and alternates, standing committee members, staff, and all other official convention goers affiliated with the party (for a total of 844 Californians), will offset its carbon footprint at the convention thanks to the purchase of carbon credits by PG&E."This year's Democratic nominee will be committed to reducing global warming, so it's only natural that California's delegation to the convention do its part and lead the way," said Torres. "This will be the 'greenest' convention in history thanks in large part to our efforts and those of the Democratic National Convention to use carbon offsets, recyclable materials, and to reduce our impact on the environment.""California is America's trend-setter, so I'm very pleased our delegation is setting the pace by showing the rest of the nation that we recognize global warming is the greatest threat facing the environment," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Chair of the California Delegation. "The simple fact is that global warming can't be stopped, but it can be slowed, and every little bit helps."There's more...

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Plans to take back Presidency and parts of red California

By Sharon Kyle and Dick Price
Publishers
LA Progressive

The 150 Democratic Party activists who gathered for the 56th Annual California Democratic Council convention this past weekend in Fresno certainly had sky-high hopes about their party’s chances in the November elections—but they had their fingers crossed behind their backs, as well.

The woeful George W. Bush Administration—certainly the worst in living memory with its foolhardy and unjust Iraq War, its increasingly obvious willingness to bail out the rich at the expense of the working poor, its legacy of disdain for individual rights—had convention-goers salivating about the chance to advance a truly progressive agenda this fall. Talk in the convention’s workshops centered on how to capture parts of California and the nation—those infamous Red Counties and Red States—that haven’t landed in the Democratic column in decades, if ever.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

State Senator Carole Migden (left), coming out of a harsh rebuke from party activists who refused to endorse her re-election, can at least run a legitimate campaignnow that a judge has allowed her to spend $640,000 in left-over funds,the San Francisco Chronicle reports. She still faces an uphill battleagainst Assembly members Mark Leno and Joe Nation though.

When Bill Clinton told convention-goers to last Sunday to "chill out"over the on-going race between his wife Hillary and Barack Obama, he could well have been talking to himself, according to the Chronicle. Prior to taking the stage, Bill had one ofhis meltdowns, turning red in the face and screaming over BillRichardson's endorsement of Obama.

Former Congressman Doug Ose is hitting primary opponent Tom McClintock hard for "carpetbagging"in a new campaign ad high-lighted by the Sacramento Bee. In the ad, anarrator accuses McClintock of shopping for a new job in the NorthernCalifornia Congressional district being vacated by John Doolittlerather than running in Ventura County, which he represented in theState Senate. Conviently missing: Ose doesn't live in the districteither. Details, details.

There's more... 

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Arguing that Senator Barack Obama offers a "vision of what our world can be," San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris urged the general session crowd at the California State Democratic Convention to lend their support to Obama.

"We stand at a crossroads in history; we are a nation at war; our economy is sliding into the quicksand of recession; and our global environment has been damaged by neglect," Harris told the packed general session crowd. "To meet these great challenges, the next President of the United States must be more than simply an improvement on the incumbent."

As you might expect from a district attorney, she spoke at length about the need for criminal justice and civil court reform. "We need to be smart on crime," not just tough on crime, Harris said. Incidentally, she's also considered a strong challenger for Attorney General if and when Jerry Brown runs for Governor.

As an aside, I'm also told that Senator Ted Kennedy is out and about trying to snag superdelegates for Obama.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Let's face it. Most official campaign shirts are, well, boring. Some of the trendier convention goers prefer to look outside the box. Case in point: Obama is My Homeboy.