Talk Elections

From the Baltimore Sun:

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-08-20/news/bal-omalley-to-speak-at-democratic-convention-20120820_1_democratic-convention-martin-o-malley-speakers


The article speculates on Cuomo, but he's already said that he's too busy to attend more than one day of the convention:

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/07/cuomo-to-attend-only-last-day-of-democratic-national-convention/

(part of his apparent strategy to avoid the national spotlight, and keep the 2016 speculation to a minimum)

Why does Strickland maintain so much involvement with the Dems...?

Were you guys on here saying something about some GOPer speaking at the DNC?  Is there actually someone or was that just people on guys guessing that there might be one?

Mike Allen was the first one to report on it. (http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2012/08/10/democratic_national_convention_plans_gop_speaker_middle_class_focus_.html)

Governor Kasich has not had a very successful term so far.

They've just announced a slew of additional speakers, all women:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/22/democratic-convention-women_n_1820517.html?utm_hp_ref=elections-2012

Sandra Fluke, really?

People helped by Obama (see Ledbetter).

Can't help but notice a certain high-profile woman missing from that list.  Has a speaking slot been confirmed elsewhere, or will she just introduce her husband?

Edit: Actually Hillary is missing too, so we know it's not intended to be a full list of female speakers.  Never mind.

As SecState I doubt Hillary will speak.

Eva Longoria?? When was the last time a party convention let a B-rate Hollywood actress address a nationally televised audience in prime time? And that's a serious question. Has this been done before, by either party?

The GOP convention has Janine Turner speaking, who is more like a D lister

Are Janine Turner and Eva Longoria in prime time?

They better give my boys Feingold, Dean, and Schweitzer slots.

What a circus.

Boring.

Not really sure why Eva Longoria is speaking but I won't mind looking at her.

Reagan, except he was an actor.

Oh yeah...that silly actor-turned two-term President and one of the most beloved ex-Presidents in history. Forgot about him.  (http://www.gallup.com/poll/145064/kennedy-highest-rated-modern-president-nixon-lowest.aspx) (http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2011/09/jfk-reagan-clinton-most-popular-recent-ex-presidents.html)

Eva Longoria is one of the campaign co-chairs.

But why? For being an attractive hispanic?

lol Sandra Fluke...really?

Please please tell me they are going to have some part of the convention dedicated to speaking on how it is some fundamental human right that the government pays for birth control.

I was joking. Obviously it isn't the same. Same with Olympia Dukakis.

Lol what Celebs does the GOP have? Yeah thats right none. you find their movies in the $2 bin at Wal-Mart.

Oh yeah, that sounds like a fight worth having..."my party has better hollywood celebs than yours."

Where's Brian Schweitzer and Howard Dean?????

Because she's put in work for the campaign.

Wow...the GOP speakers actually are more exciting than the dems

Is "10" available again?

Melissa Joan Hart, who played Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Yes, I'm such a loser for knowing that.

Part of the problem the Democrats have in reaching middle-American voters is that they care too much about "celebs."

Hillary says she won't be attending the convention.

Because "calebs" are the true reader of the publics opinion?

Interesting.  In that case, will the First Lady be speaking?

For that matter, what about the Biden sons?

Acting and politics don't mix well together.  That's one thing celebrities have no common sense in when it comes to middle Americans.  I'll watch the DNC just for fun.

Out of these, only two are elected officials. One is 76, and the other is a lesbian. I would have preferred they put on more potential rising stars in electoral politics. What about Amy Klobuchar or Kirsten Gillibrand?

I also find the DNC line up to be particularly...odd. Where's Deval Patrick, Cory Booker (woops), etc. Bumped by Eva?

Clearly, they're trying to Super-Woman it up, praying to GOD that Todd Akin can save them from their record.

Deval Patrick will be speaking. Cory Booker is Co-Chair of the platform committee.

Read the list of speakers in the OP of this thread.  Deval Patrick is listed.

A better question is where is Brian Schweitzer?  At this point he's easily the most charismatic Democratic politician (Obama doesn't give speeches like he used to :( ) and Schweitzer is usually at his best at events like this.  Also, he is good at appealing to several groups that Obama will likely underperform with.

More speakers announced:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2012/08/foxx-rybak-malloy-to-speak-in-charlotte-133036.html

Doesn't look like he's getting a speaking slot before the full convention, but he will be effectively launching his 2016 presidential campaign:   ;)

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=158046.0

Eva Longoria, Sandra Fluke, and Lily Ledbetter speak, but no Schweitzer or Feingold? It seems like they're trying to stuff in as many women as possible. The unfortunate reality is that most Democratic leaders, and most of the best speakers, are still men.

As I said, it's the worst of both worlds. They're reserving a lot of spots for women for being women, but they didn't pick any who could actually have a political career at a higher level. I would rather have Schweitzer and Feingold than Lily Ledbetter, Eva Longoria or Nancy Keenan. But on the other hand, I also would have liked to see some women elected or potential up-and-coming leaders, such as Klobuchar or Gillibrand. The point of these speeches is to introduce lesser known people onto a national stage. That veteran who won the primary in Hawaii has a promising background to- Tulsi Gabbard (?).

Sounds to me like the Democrats aren't really putting a lot of their eggs in the convention basket.  It sounds more like they are prepping for the homestretch.  Probably a wise choice.

Why would they want Malloy? He's a right wing twit.

Really it's just an extension of the conflation of politics and entertainment in this country, something that 'middle Americans' don't appear to mind too much.

Schweitzer would be great, but he's probably from to small a state.  OTOH, Bill Clinton came from Arkansas.

This.  But they would be better off letting their best speakers have speaking slots.

No Al Gore or John Kerry?

Kerry's speaking. Not sure about Gore.

Does "D" rated count?

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Mostly looks like a parade unimpressive mediocrities. Why am I not surprised?

That's a clown line-up, bro.

Sadly, Vice-President Gore is hosting Current Tv's RNC and DNC Coverage. He says he will not be attending the convention this year, the first time since 1988. I'm sad, in 2008 he knocked his speech out of the park.
Did anyone say whether Warner was speaking. I'm pissed off Schwietzer wasn't invited, we need someone to represent us Moderate Dems.

Warner and Schweitzer could still both be speakers; not all have been announced.

Granholm!? >:(

Yeah, the DNC speaker line-up...doesn't seem very good. Barbara Lee? The Planed Parenthood head? Some stupid Hollywood acctress? God damn Sandra Fluke?

Also, I actually kind of like Carter, but he's a terrible pick for a primetime DNC speaker.

Booker was a good, pretty obvious pick though.

Warner's keynote in '08 was totally unmemorable.

Schweitzer's or Hillary's did seem more like a Keynotes to me. Warner's not that great of an orator. Then gain, it would be kinda hard to replicate the magic of Obama's 2004 "There Is Not A Liberal America, and A Conservative America"  speech.

As I recall, Warner's speech was notable for how much he talked about how awesome he was for making all that money.

http://www.baynews9.com/content/news/baynews9/news/article.html/content/news/articles/bn9/2012/8/27/fla_gop_gov_charlie_.html

An official with President Barack Obama's campaign said Sunday that Crist will speak at next week's convention in Charlotte, N.C., but the day hasn't been worked out.


We found the mystery GOP speaker.

By the end of the DNC, Crist will be as Republican as me.

???

Two of the three people you mentioned are washed-up has-beens? 

Mods, if we could, let's go ahead and sticky this as well as we're just a week away.

Once again, I'd like to remind everyone that Crist is not a Republican. :)

I expect to hear a riveting speech from him on how he and Obama share the same political values. Oh wait, he has none...

It won't be on him and Obama, it'd be on how he left his party (or the party left him), that today's Republicans are too extreme to govern, there's no room left for moderates, that kinda thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umDr0mPuyQc

Dean is personally responsible for the Democratic landslides in 2006 and 2008 and heads a major progressive organization. Feingold...sure, but a ton of has-beens are speaking.

However, I still can't wrap my head around the fact that they gave so many irrelevant women (sure women's health stuff is important, but they have like 10 speakers for the same damn purpose, and most prominent Democratic politicians that warrant a slot are still men) like Sandra Fluke and Eva Longoria, full speaking slots, while snubbing someone like Brian Schweitzer, who's a strong speaker with a solid record and can appeal to swing voters?

With the GOP's swing to the right and the nomination of a man who holds utter contempt for the average American, I hoped that Obama would take the opportunity to contrast him by bringing back the Democrats to what we're really about (or were until Bill the Cutter); the party that works to help the 99%. Given that most of the speaking slots are either by shiny moderates or are just highlighting a social issue which 49% of the country has absolutely no connection with, and that few (except maybe Strickland's and Warren's) are either by those on the base of the party or are focusing on the major issue of the campaign and taking a hardline pro-people stance on it, I'm rather disappointed in Obama and the DNC. I'll watch Obama, Biden, Castro, and Warren, and hopefully I'll feel better about the future of the Democrats.

Dean wasn't responsible for 2006 and 2008.  The three people responsible for that were Rahm Emmanuel, Chuck Schumer, and George W. Bush.

Good for Crist. I know, as a ConservaDem, I've been trashing the DNC this year (see my signature), but I'm happy for Crist. I really do think he's just a good guy (and he gets an undue amount of flack on this forum :P).

I'd have much more respect for Crist if he'd come out of the closet. I mean, as a politician, I don't see how going from Republican to Independent to Democrat is any more embarrassing than just admitting the truth.

Because in a hypothetical Democratic primary, a good part of his base (namely northern ConservaDems and African-Americans) aren't friends with that community, and besides, he's married. Or do you believe Jim Greer?

Larry Craig was married too.

He still hasn't come out of closet though?

Was Foley married?

I haven't really followed this closely, but what is the evidence that Crist is gay?  Some guy claims to have had an affair with him?  Didn't a man also claim to have had sex with Obama?  Does that mean he's gay?

I'd boo the hell out of Crist if I was on the floor.

Dear Lord, where do we begin (not that there's mountains of evidence, it's just a really complex plotline; Florida politics is interesting)... Okay, the former chairman of the FL Repubs is a guy named Jim Greer, who is now under arrest for several felonies (organized scheme to defraud, money laundering, grand theft); he made a company that would take funds from the FL GOP and use it on his personal expenses. Greer says that Crist knew about it, people don't believe him, his attorney talks to the guy in charge of Crist's law firm (John Morgan), his attorney says that Crist is gay, had gay relationships with at least two men, paid those two men to leave the state, tried to kiss Greer, went on drunken escapades, and attempted to run over people while on a drunk golf cart joyride. Crist says that it's "a bunch of delusional lies" and that Greer is trying to extort him, and Morgan questioning why, if Crist was gay, would he try to kiss Greer (in his own words, "He (Crist) would have to be a sick son of a bitch to try to kiss Porky the Pig"), and also comparing the questions Greer's attorney was asking to be comparable to "when was the last time you [smurf]ed the neighbor's sheep", or "are you still beating your wife." After this incident, Greer accused Crist of appointing George LeMieux to the US Senate in order to keep him quiet about Gayporkydrunkengolfcart-gate.

Also, there was a 21-year-old GOP staffer (Jason Wetherington) six years ago who boasted that he had banged Crist and also said that a convicted robber (Bruce Carlton Jordan) was Crist's long-term partner. They both worked for Katherine Harris in her Senate bid. AFAIK nothing much ever became of it, but it was fodder for some documentary (Outrage, I think it was called).

Cardinal Dolan is going to be giving the closing prayer at the DNC as well as the RNC.  At one point he had offered but the Democrats didn't take him up on it. Did they change because they were getting bad press?

To add onto this; in summary, I feel the Democrats are, unlike the Republicans, ignoring the progressive base and trying to win by moving to the right.

Thank God this is next!!!

It's time for an Obama comeback.

I am personally a tad confused at the lack of opportunity Obama is giving for the next generation of Democrats. Omalley, Castro, Hickenlooper are there but the bulk of the rest of the lineup is filled with random liberal females and has beens.

This is one of the worst lineups for a convention I've ever seen in my entire life. The Republicans have a much deeper bench for the future if these are the people they're propping up, even though their nominee was overshadowed by nearly every speaker.

The list of women is terrible. Sandra Fluke, Barbara Lee, Eva Longoria, and even Barbara Mikulski over Amy Klobuchar and Kirsten Gillibrand? I am considering changing my registration again.

Am I the only one who finds it ironic that Warren immediately precedes Bubba? ;)

Wiki says Hickenlooper and O'Malley will speak, but I really want Gillibrand and Schweitzer.

It would be helpful if on the first page a lineup was given for the four days of the convention.

So who's speaking when?

The lineup here is honestly worrying me. The GOP convention admittedly had a lot of good future stars show they had something...not getting that vibe so much from the Dem lineup.

Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren
Former president Bill Clinton
First Lady Michelle Obama
Keynote speaker Julian Castro, mayor of San Antonio
Former President Jimmy Carter will address the gathering by video
Former Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida
Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin
Newark Mayor Cory Booker
Former Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Tammy Duckworth
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel
Georgetown Law School Graduate Sandra Fluke
Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx
Former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm
California Attorney General Kamala Harris
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper
Montana State Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau
Former Virginia Governor Tim Kaine
President of NARAL Pro-Choice America Nancy Keenan
Author and daughter of former President Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy
Lieutenant General Claudia Kennedy (ret.)
U.S. Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts
Women’s rights activist Lilly Ledbetter
Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California
CarMax co-founder and former CEO Austin Ligon
Obama Campaign Co-Chair Eva Longoria
Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter
U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, together with the women of the U.S. Senate
Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley
Houston Mayor Annise Parker
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick
President of Planned Parenthood Action Fund Cecile Richards
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak
Journalist Cristina Saralegui
Costco co-founder and former CEO Jim Sinegal
Former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland
Los Angeles Mayor, Democratic Convention Chair Antonio Villaraigosa
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Pathetic list. Some of them have no relevance whatsoever anymore. Strickland? Granholm?

No Schweitzer? No Cuomo? Gillibrand and Klobuchar shoved in with all the other Senate women?

O'Malley and Booker are the only ones that might be interesting and amount to something, but I somehow doubt that too.

Some of them are good, but yeah we've got too many random females.

Aren't Kamala Harris and Hickenlooper also considered rising stars?

I'm disappointed by about 1/3 of the list:


But I suppose there are usually only be 4-5 speeches that are at all memorable, at most. The rest doesn't matter terribly, although politicians like Gillibrand really deserve the chance to be showcased.

Will there be a surprise speaker as it was Eastwood for the Republicans?
If yes who could it be?

Isn't there supposed to be some relevant Republican on the list?

ugggh actual stars of the party (Cuomo, Schweitzer) nowhere to be found...

This. Although Cory Booker's speech will be fantastic.

Yes

A weak list, and not a focus on jobs/the economy.

Terrible framing, but Obama can knock it out of the park.

As for Hollywood stars, the GOP has Clint.  Case closed.

So they have irrelevant women and a terrible CT governor up, but no Schweitzer or Dean or Gore?

Also, there is far too much of a focus on women's issues and gay rights. It's the economy, stupid!

Who  on that Democratic list is capable of fundraising the enormous amounts of money required to be President, particularly if Romney wins and starts with no primary and a massive bank account?


Hillary, Cuomo, and Patrick can do it for sure. Omalley too maybe.

Why would they bring back Dean or Gore?

Dean? Yeah, shouldn't have said that one. :P

They probably wanted Gore (or at least I hope they did), but he's at Current.

You guys can keep him after that debacle.

You never saw Jimmy Stewart in Harvey, did you?

I did. That was movie, this was real life...

Hickenlooper is. Not Harris. Harris was the worst-performing statewide Democrat in California.

Anyways, this is a pretty awful list (if it is the atual list).

Malloy and Granholm are unpopular in their own states. Sandra Fluke is ridiculous. And what the HELL at selecting Barbara Lee. Are they insane?

Sinegal looks like a great choice though. Booker as well. But where are their other stars?

Same thing, unless you think Obama is invisible.  It was designed to be humorous.

And to most people it just came off as sad and/or embarrassing, even Scott Walker thought it was(!)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/31/scott-walker-clint-eastwood_n_1846546.html?utm_hp_ref=elections-2012

Kamala Harris is definitely a rising star. She had the worst performance because she was running against a very popular, "moderate" Republican. Her victory was something of an upset.

Cooley was popular and moderate, but he was not the only moderate Republican on the ballot. Gavin Newsom romped against a moderate, hispanic Republican.

The fact simply is that Kamala Harris wasn't even that popular in the Democratic primary. She wasn't many people's top choice. And she still isn't. Her record as SF DA was not very good. Gavin Newsom, with all his flaws, is still a much more of a rising star than Harris.

Others didn't, including Mia Farrow:  http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/31/politics/eastwood-speech/index.html

It's unusual for Eastwood, and he didn't pull it off as well as Stewart or Newhart could have, but it was still funny.  It also appeals to the over 55 crowd.

Okay. So I don't want to criticize the Dems too early, because they might actually have breakouts. But most of these people are either extremely tired/retired political forces (Granholm, Strickland, Carter). completely irrelevant (Saralegui), already-well-known politicians (O'Malley, Kerry, Kaine, Rahmbo), or unpopular politicians (Malloy, Granholm, Villaraigosa). And a few insanos (Barbara Lee, Sandra Fluke). And everyone hates Mikulski in the Senate (voted meanest senator several times). Also, Denise Juneau amused because the DNC probably want to check off the Native American speech box, and picked a completely unknown state education superintendent to do so. But who knows - she might be a breakout. Maybe. Maybe.

There are a few potential breakout potentials here: Parker and Rybak are popular mayors and potential breakout. Hickenlooper and Booker are already rising stars. And of course, Castro.

It's pretty mediocre overall though. Imagine if the Republicans did this. Picking people like Bachmann and Norquist (like Dems are picking PP president), and then mostly retired politicians.

I'm not sure why the Republicans here are fixated on 'breakouts.' This is Obama's convention and the DNC does not want anyone to upstage him. Warren, of course, can have her moment, and Castro can too, but unlike the RNC, this isn't about creating an open mic session for 2016 because the movement doesn't like their nominee. Plus, who is actually missing from this line-up, aside from Hillary?

And why rag on poor Jennifer Granholm? She is an excellent speaker.

I respectfully disagree with the first point. It's the Democratic National Convention, not the Obama National Convention. There's more at stake than Obama. Things like the platform, the party messaging, and the future of the Democratic Party.

I mean, I'm not ragging on Jennifer Granholm. I reserve my contempt for Barbara Lee, Sandra Fluke, and Kamala Harris. I'm just saying that she left office relatively unpopular and she's more of a media-person/academic now than an active politician. IIRC, she writes for Politico and teaches somewhere.  Her future won't be in elected politics. Having her speak is a lot like having Huckabee speak. But there was a lot more to the RNC than just Huckabee, while I don't see many candidates for the future in the current DNC line-up.

The Democrats need to prepare for the post-Obama era and I don't see them doing this. They're not nurturing new politicians and they're completely ceding the arguments on things that will be important in the future, like entitlement reform and education. When we eventually debate entitlement reform, I suspect the debates will be framed by Republican vocabulary. The DNC was a chance to prepare and they may very well miss that chance.

These are the only people on the list I have ever heard of, and none of them make me want to go out and watch their speeches. The only ones I'd be anywhere near interested in watching are Clinton, Carter, Kerry (former Presidents/candidates), Crist (obvious reasons) and Hickenlooper (I kinda like him). All the others aren't exactly high-profile. Stupid list overall. Where's the John Lynchs, the John Kitzhabers, the Jon Testers, the Jim Webbs, the Brian Schweitzers, the Russ Feingolds?

Jon Tester probably doesn't want to tie himself to the national DNC, being in a tough re-election. That, and he's quite busy campaigning for re-election. Same reason why Brown wasn't at the RNC.

Now I'll admit, I like Lynch. I may or may not have voted for him. But his political career is done. It's his last term and he's far too moderate for any kind of national profile in the Democratic Party.

I also really like Jim Webb. Ad I'm pretty sure Jim Webb would not actually want to show up DNC. If you hadn't noticed, Webb is not particularly happy with the national party right now.

why do we think Gore won't be there?  the masseuse?

So when will a schedule be released? Or has it already been and I'm just blind?

Ignoring the other people under discussion, it's worth pointing out that ex-Presidents and Vice Presidents are usually invited, and it seems to me quite possible that Gore just turned down an opportunity to speak rather than that he wasn't offered one.

So then where's Walter Mondale?

How does the list get selected? Is it from the candidate's campaign, the national committee, a combination of the two?

Also, the GOP made a good move by focusing their convention on the economy. Why is the DNC devoting a billion damn speeches to birth control and gay rights?

I think one speech on both of those issues would be a good idea. And not from politicians - but rather from "normal people", like an emotional gay couple.

But getting Sandra Fluke, the head of Planned Parenthood, the head of NARAL, AND Mikulski (who will talk about abortion) is ridiculous. If they spend the entire convention harping about birth control, abortion, and killing Osama, and then an awful jobs report comes out the day after the convention; it will be the worst convention since Chicago.

In 2009, Gore described himself as a "recovering politician."

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2009/11/quotes-of-the-day-im-a-recovering-politician/ (http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2009/11/quotes-of-the-day-im-a-recovering-politician/)

The "framing," those people/events surrounding the nominee, is hideous, but it can be changed by one good speech from the nominee.  

The framing is like 30% of the grade (30 points), the VP speech is about 10% (10 points), but the nominee's speech is about 60% of the grade (60 points).  

Obama it capable scoring all 60 points.  If he has a bad speech, or goes along with this theme, he is in big trouble.

I agree. Obama usually surprises people with his speeches. The one he gave in 2008 was quite detailed about his plan for the economy. I think the women will probably get the first day for the "War On Women" crap that no one cares about. Day 2 and 3 will probably be about the things Obama has accomplished, where he wants to go, and where Romney wants to take us.

Republicans are lucky that their unpopular ex-President is sensible enough not to appear at their convention in person. (Although I suppose we have no way of knowing whether he'll choose to participate in conventions two or three decades from now.)

Why Rahm Emmanuel?  Isn't he a gigantic twat?

Pretty much.

I have yet to meet a Democrat in real life who didn't mention the "War on Women" or gays as one of their top two reasons for voting Obama. Hell, even Bain seems like a distant second.

I am starting to think you are quite unusual for a Democrat. Unusual in a good way. Which kind of makes me want to try to poach you for our side one day. :P

"Where Romney wants to take us." There's absolutely no way Obama won't start talking about "war on women" and abortion/planned parenthood/gays. That's probably issue #1 for at least a third of his supporters, if not half.

Something tells me they will get George Clooney to speak.

It's because he's Obama's buddy.

Rahm is one of my favorite Democrats.

Happy now?

How do that many speakers fit?

A lot of that is just a bunch of women Senators/Congresswomen on one stage.

Well that full list is slightly better.

Crist gets to speak, but not Cuomo?  What.

Yeah. In all honesty, part of what makes the Democrat Convention naturally not as good as the Republicans in terms of new political talent is that the Democrats just don't have the sheer numbers. The Republican Class of 2010 is very very large. The Democrat Class of 2010 is not very large. There's not much they can reasonably do about that. Practically every single Democrat governor that won in 2010 (even the extremely unpopular ones like Quinn, Chaffee, and Malloy), and they still don't even have that many.

Effectively, the presumptive presidential nominee has carte blanche to run the convention however they want.  The national committee becomes more or less subordinate to them once a putative nominee emerges.  Which is why a contested convention in the modern era would be so wild...

Thanks for the reply. You, Ernest and a couple other people are the only ones who make this board worth reading.

There is a fairly rapid-growing coalition on Facebook (Bring Betty White to the DNC (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CCwQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FBettyWhiteDNC%3Fref%3Dnf&ei=iCJDUPaAMIWi8ATbpIDgDw&usg=AFQjCNEAbeOfAf188Gj4zJv51nZ2YCeSqg&sig2=ckYgBRosthjuUN4qLcuuxg)) to demand that Betty White speak next week. It's got about 10,000 likes as of right now. If we get any celebrities, this is the one to get.

Here's the musical entertainment:

http://www.demconvention.com/pressrelease/dncc-announces-full-performance-schedule-for-the-2012-democratic-national-convention/

I would have liked to see more rock, but oh well. :P

Should have booked Jay Z.

The Foo Fighters alone would draw the 75.000 people into the stadium.

Obama's Team should not be concerned anymore to fill all of the stadium seats.

Cuomo's trying to avoid becoming a lightning rod like his dad in 1984. He doesn't want to get ahead of himself and become a national figure before 2015 or so. He doesn't even do Sunday Talk Shows.

I just watched Vice President Joe Biden speaking in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
What a great speaker he is. His speech will be one of the highlights at the
convention in North Carolina, I can't wait to hear him. He is nearly 30 years
older than Paul Ryan but still acts like a man of 50.

Terrible minds think alike!

---

:( The Foo's :(

I knew Dave was a staunch Dem, but still....

Not that this matters at all, but with a line up like this:

Foo Fighters
Mary J. Blige
Earth, Wind and Fire
James Taylor

I think we can all agree that the music for the DNC will be better then the RNC.

I like James Taylor. Everyone else....not so much. The RNC had the Oakridge Boys, almost had Skynard, G.E Smith, and that awesome gospel choir.

Evening speakers

Tuesday
Michelle Obama
Julian Castro(keynote)

Wednesday
Bill Clinton
Elizabeth Warren

Thursday
John Kerry
Joe Biden
Barack Obama

Not sure how they will handle Thursday primetime and if they will try and squeeze both Biden and Obama into the final hour.

Jerry Brown isn't going either, but obviously for different reasons.

Wow, only 3 days? Kerry might have to keep it short.

Well Kerry is scheduled to talk Foreign Policy so he wont just be introducing Obama. I suspect they will have some kind of intro video. I bet that Kerry and Biden will not actually be during the one hour of network prime time.

Brian Schweitzer was on the Ed Show. He says he doesn't know what day he's speaking, but that it's going to be prime time. This is a great day for America.

Well there is 'primetime' and then there is the one hour of broadcast network primetime, when the total viewership more than doubles. I doubt Schweitzer is going to be in that one hour.

Im paraphrasing. I always counted prime time as that time after dinner, but before bedtime. Ya know, like between 7:00 and 11:00 or so.

Are there any speakers who are *not* speaking between 7 and 11pm Eastern?

Yeah, Ron Paul. Let's say about 8:30ish and 11:00.

Obama and Biden are speaking on the same night? Isn't that kind of odd?

Anyway, it doesn't look like there's going to be much of a reason to watch this until the last night. I'll hopefully have better things to do than to watch Bill Clinton blow himself.

I think Bill Clinton and Al Gore did it too opduring the 1996 Democratic National Comvention in Chicago.

Well, 4pm Pacific, everyone is still at work.

TUESDAY
http://www.demconvention.com/schedule-tues/

6:00 PM – 7:00 PM (LOCAL)

 

Platform Committee Remarks

The Honorable Barbara Lee

Member of the US House of Representatives, California

Lieutenant General Claudia Kennedy (Retired)

First woman to reach rank of three-star general in the US Army

 

Platform Video and Remarks

The Honorable Cory A. Booker

Mayor of Newark, New Jersey

 

Remarks

The Honorable Bev Perdue

Governor of North Carolina

 

American Hero Video: Education

 

American Voices Remarks

Ryan Case

 

Remarks

Mary Kay Henry

International President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

 

 

 

Remarks from Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus

The Honorable Charles Gonzalez

Member of the US House of Representatives, Texas

Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus

The Honorable Nydia M. Velázquez

Member of the US House of Representatives, New York

 

Remarks

The Honorable Pat Quinn

Governor of Illinois

 

Remarks

Doug Stern

Cincinnati, Ohio Firefighter

 

Remarks

The Honorable Tim Kaine

Candidate for the US Senate, Virginia

Former Governor of Virginia

Former Chairman of the Democratic National Committee

 

7:00 PM – 8:00 PM (LOCAL)

 

Remarks

The Honorable Anthony R. Foxx

Mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina

The Honorable Harry Reid

Democratic Majority Leader and Member of the US Senate, Nevada

 

An Economy Built to Last Video: Education

 

Women of the US House of Representatives

 

Jimmy Carter Video

 

Remarks

The Honorable Ken Salazar

 

Kennedy Family Tribute Video

 

Remarks

Joe Kennedy III

Candidate for the US House of Representatives, Massachusetts

 

Live Performance

Ledisi

Singer/songwriter

 

Remarks

The Honorable Robert Wexler

President of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace

Former Member of the US House of Representatives, Florida

 

8:00 PM – 9:00 PM (LOCAL)

 

Remarks

The Honorable R.T. Rybak

Mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota

The Honorable Jared Polis

Member of the US House of Representatives, Colorado

 

Stronger Together Video: Reproductive Choice

 

American Voices Remarks

Maria Ciano

 

Remarks

Nancy Keenan

President of the National Abortion Rights Action League – Pro-Choice America (NARAL)

 

Progress for People Video: American Veterans

 

American Voices Remarks

Nate Davis

 

Remarks

The Honorable Tammy Duckworth

Candidate for the US House of Representatives, Illinois

Former Assistant Secretary of the US Department of Veterans Affairs

The Honorable Lincoln Chafee

Governor of Rhode Island

The Honorable James E. Clyburn

Assistant Democratic Leader and Member of the US House of Representatives, South Carolina

 

Progress for People Video: Health Care

 

American Voices Remarks

Stacey Lihn

 

Remarks

The Honorable Xavier Becerra

Democratic Caucus Vice Chair and Member of the US House of Representatives, California

 

9:00 PM – 10:00 PM (LOCAL)

 

The Honorable Ted Strickland

Former Governor of Ohio

The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius

The Honorable Rahm Emanuel

Mayor of Chicago, Illinois

Former White House Chief of Staff

 

 

 

Remarks

Kal Penn

Actor/Producer

Former Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement

 

Remarks

Craig Robinson and Maya Soetoro-ng

Brother of Mrs. Obama and Sister of President Obama

 

Stronger Together Video: Equal Pay

 

Remarks

Lilly Ledbetter

Women’s equality leader and namesake of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

The Honorable Deval Patrick

Governor of Massachusetts

 

10:00 PM – 11:00 PM (LOCAL)

 

The Honorable Martin O’Malley

Governor of Maryland

 

Introduction of Keynote Speaker Julián Castro

Joaquin Castro

Brother of Mayor Julián Castro

Candidate for the US House of Representatives, Texas

 

Keynote Address

The Honorable Julián Castro

Mayor of San Antonio, Texas

 

Michelle Obama Video and Remarks

Elaine Brye

 

Remarks

Michelle Obama

First Lady of the United States

 

Benediction

Jena Lee Nardella

Founder and Executive Director of Blood: Water Mission

Ann Coulter quipped that as of 2010, the Democratic Party's freshest faces were Harry Reid and Jerry Brown.  I remember watching Mr. Brown's victory speech in 2010.  When he started talking about the craftsmanship of the auditorium's ceiling, I knew California politics had sunk to a new low. 

They're having Cory Booker come on before 7?  That's crazy.

I believe every new day is a new low for California politics.