WashCo Dems Latest Updates

At the beginning of the race for Democratic nominee, I was behind Dennis Kucinich. So were my wife and daughter. We just love Dennis. And meeting and speaking with his wife Elizabeth at the Neuberger last November was a real treat. But some things are not meant to be...
Of course as a loyal Democrat I know the right thing to do is to support the nominee, and I'm very excited about Barack Obama, but truth be told I still love Dennis - his bumper sticker can just barely be seen showing thru the Obama sticker on my car. So I was very happy to hear he would get to speak at the convention in Denver, which he did on Tuesday Aug 26. I think he hit it out of the park!
Watch Dennis Kucinich address the crowd of delegates in Denver and the entire Nation with his fiery speech "Wake Up, America!"
America needs more patriots like Dennis Kucinich.

If you missed Washco Dems Chair Lupita Maurer calling in Wednesday morning to the KPOJ Morning Show from the Denver Convention, here's your chance to hear it online!
To hear the interview, CLICK HERE to open the stream, and be paitient as it may take a few minutes for the recording to load. Lupita is the second guest following Rep Peter DeFazio, just move the slider about halfway across to go straight to her interview.
Great job Lupita, sounds like we are being well represented at the Convention!
Thanks to our good pal Carl Wolfson and the whole gang at AM620 KPOJ.

Wow!

We heard from Peter Defazio, Senator Amy Klobuchar, and Mayor Ray Nagin. and they were all great.  I have to leave to get to the Hillary caucus to hear her speech to the delegates so you have to wait for the comentary and photos. 

Wow!

I was prepared for something good but we got great and the audience’s energy was incredible. We were packed in and the isles were full. And, we heard the building was at capacity which kept late comers from getting in. Still photos cannot capture the dynamic of the speech and the audience response, especially from the Oregon seats!

Michele’s brother, the new OSU basketball coach, joined the delegation for a cameo visit. The Merkelys also attend Hillary’s speech and we made room for them.

I was disappointed that we could not hear the many speakers during the day. Some of the speakers I would have paid to hear but it was almost impossible to hear over the rude and disinterested crowd. I wanted to kick them all out and invite all of you who would have enjoyed hearing from people of national stature.

On the other hand, the speeches were mostly standard format: blah, blah, blah, elect Obama, cheer, loud music, repeat. Some of the speeches were exceptional but you all could see them on TV. Kucinich was entertaining but Schweitzer was a pro with the audience. I want a governor like that!

Police presence is everywhere and you cannot see areas with delegates without heavily armed police.  And, we see bike squads, horse troops, and SWAT teams.  It's impressive and every one of them are polite, and wave back, and talk to people. 

It is still an overwhelming demonstration of the culture of fear we have created in the past 7 years.  I suspect we will never return to a time when they are not needed?

Getting in and out of venues is easy with the delegate badge.  We have shorter lines for the convention center where we find the caucuses.  At the Pepsi center for the convention itself, think "airport security".  However, we have short lines for checking our bags and there is little wait.  And, we are not required to remove our shoes!

These guys waved back.  And "guys' is a gender neutral term.

Badged delegates were photographing these officers from the other side of the street and they seemed to enjoy the attention.  And the streets have an aroma of horse!

I attended the AFL-CIO caucus and heard Howard Dean make another pitch. He spoke of the Employee Free Choice Act and I certainly understand that is a theme of this convention. And, he spoke of Neighbor to Neighbor but with a different twist. He showed the link between this idea an the historical organizing of labor.

I am troubled that so few people know of N2N and that Dean is the only speaker cheering for it. We may have a lot of work to preserve this tool for the future.

The rest of the speeches were of the standard format. All speeches follow the same format: blah, blah, blah, elect Obama, cheer, repeat. On the convention floor, you add on step. Loud music between cheer and repeat.

This Wednesday, Aug. 27 the Washington County Democrats will hold a Convention Party at the Kingstad Center, 15450 SW Millikan Way, Beaverton.

Sen Joe Biden, Barack Obama's pick for vice president, is scheduled to make a speech that evening in Denver.  Watch Sen Biden, Sen Obama and others speaking at the Convention as we unveil Big Screen Dem-O-Vision for the first time ever!

This event will precede a slightly abbreviated monthly meeting, which will be chaired by Treasurer Doug Plambeck.  The event begins at 6:30 p.m.  The meeting, which will include debate and a vote on supporting 3 ballot measures, will commence at 8:00 PM.
Additionally, many of your Washington County legislators and candidates will be present to meet with you to discuss issues. See you this Wednesday evening at the Kingstad!

Be sure to tune in to AM620 KPOJ this Wednesday between 7:30 and 8:00AM, to hear our own Lupita Maurer reporting live from Denver on "Carl Wolfson & Friends", the KPOJ Morning Show.
Lupita is the Chair of the Democratic Party of Washington County, and a Delegate for the Washco Dems Obama Delegation, and is blogging here at www.washcodems.org.
She will be calling in live from Denver to chat with Carl about the Convention, the excitement, the movers and shakers as the Democratic Presidential nominee is made official this week.
While Lupita will not be on-air for the entire 30 minutes, she should be on some time during that period, so be patient and stay tuned.
Time is subject to change if Bush invades Iran or Cheney's heart beats.

What: Lupita live from Denver with Carl!
When: 7:30~8:00AM
Where: AM620 KPOJ or streaming live at www.620kpoj.com

This morning came a bit early.  We heard from Wyden, Wu and Hooley and all were in good form with their speeches.  Wyden renewed the call for unity and spoke about his hopes for legislation for healthcare and renewable energy.

Wu spoke about the privatization of every aspect of the govenment, including the US Marines.  He called for reversal of the policies that have created the private armies in Iraq and elsewhere.  He also spoke about his favorite topics of opportunity and education and his hopes for the next session.

Hooley honored Hillary for what she has done for women and demonstrated the McCain is not a friend of women.  She declared we can not have another 8 years of a Bush-lite president.

Being in a convention with at least 8,000 people is an amazing experience.  It is unlike what we have come to believe with the edited news media and the talking heads.   First, there are hours of tedium and speakers with no particular message than "elect Obama".   They are ignored.  But, half the people are out of their seats, either wandering the hall outside where one can buy Coors beer (somehow they missed that Dems do not buy Coors!) and other glop.Inside, the main floor is a mass of moving humanity with streams of people pushing though to the other side in a seemingly aimless purpose.   After a few hours I did it too.   The main speeches were well orchestrated for TV but I have to admit they were fun.  Both the Kennedy and the Michele Obama speeches were uplifting and we all went home in high spirits.

Our own Oregon bloggers hard at work

Nancy spoke while I was wandering aimlessly.  I wonder what she said?

Kennedy was clearly a favorite of this audience.  And, yes we have less desireable seats that Michigan and Florida.  I wonder why?

A great way to end the first day!

There are many speeches being given and it is hard to keep track.   The Senior’s Caucus was hopeless as it did not seem to have a purpose beyond defending Social Security from privatization.  However, I did enjoy the Rural Caucus because they had an agenda and lively speakers.  My favorite was Jim Hightower would can weave simple words into a complex idea.

Cecil Roberts, President of the United Mine Workers union spoke more like a religious revival preacher but the message was entertaining and I left wondering why anyone would be a coal miner.  However, the theme everywhere is passage of the Free Choice legislation to empower 60M workers who want to unionize but can’t with today’s laws.

Tony Dean is a Republican who is chairing the Sportsmen for Obama.  Like so many others, he feels his party left him and now wants to help with “Change”.  I was anticipating this speech but it’s not for us.  The focus is Wisconsin where fishermen might have the chance to help win this state.

Jim gave us a Texan idea for a bumper sticker, perferable on the bumper of a beat up pickup.
WHERE AM I GOING?
AND WHY AM I IN THIS BASKET? 
(Jim was surrounded by people taking photos of friends with him.  This is another theme of the convention.)

I have no idea what these people were thinking but they certainly got a lot of heckling!

Security is really obvious everywhere we go, including buses and trains.   The Denver police I ahve encountered are all very polite and friendly but is does reinforce the Bush message that we should be afraid.  And, people pushing some cause are everywhere as if a flyer or a poster would really help their cause.

These are some of the "lighly" armed security and they were particularly attentive to a protester that others had arrested.

I'm still going to eat meat!  Perhaps other were convince that beef is bad but surely not fish?

Our surprise speaker was Howard Dean. I failed to get a phone of him so I went to the Washington State breakfast for the photo. He had a different speech for them. We heard his thanks for our support of Neighbor to Neighbor. Wyden and Blumenaur spoke and Earl was at his best.  He spoke about our duty to get our Democratic message across to voters this week and energize the other Democrats who are not as involved as us.

Click on photo for a larger image

These guys are everywhere.  And, some are more colorful than others.

At the convention center, people excaping the noise and finding a place to sit. 

With more than 65 people from Oregon in our hotel, one might mistake this for a venue in Oregon.  However, the rowdy Washington delegates outnumber us.   We did meet Bret Stonier's brother and helped him distribute buttons.

The Oregon elected officials are all here but for Kulongowski.  It makes one wonder why we offer them the automatic position when they don’t choose to show up.

The Katrina event was huge but both hot and noisy.  The food was outstanding and it appeared that only Washington and Oregon delegates were in line for the craft beer.

We stepped out into the entry to get away from the noise and missed the speech by Howard Dean.  The speakers from the Gulf States were passionate about the struggle to recover from the storm, even three years later.  It was very clear that rebuilding is very slow and we certainly heard a cry for help.

Our tri-state event was held at the hotel and the room was hot and noisy.   I think I may have found a theme for the convention!   I did meet the vice chair from Washington and we conspired to get my brother involved.   I’m not sure he will appreciate the call but it should be a conversation starter for our next meeting.

Hopefully, tomorrow we will be doing some work. 

Click the Photos below for a larger image. 

The cajun seafood chowder was outstanding but I have to admit that I enjoyed the mac&cheese with crawfish.

Susan Castillo State Superinendent of Public Instruction and Susan Gates, outstanding HDL from Sandy.

Some one will have to tell me the significance of a 4-story tall blue bear looking into the convention center.

The hot and noisy hall where we heard of the incredibly poor progress on reconstruction.

To keep from overwhelming the front page, I will be posting the rest of my experiences in Denver as comments to this post. Also, be sure to look at our Vice Chair Steve Packer's blog. It's down to the right under the 08 DNCC logo.

To keep from overwhelming the front page, I will be posting the rest of my experiences in Denver as comments to this post. Also, be sure to look at our Vice Chair Steve Packer's blog. It's down to the right under the 08 DNCC logo.

Now that Sen Barack Obama has announced Sen Joe Biden will be his running mate, it's time to fire up the Waybacktm machine and see how good your predictions were back in 2007.
The Dec 27 2007 Politi-Poll asked the question: Assuming one of the current Democratic Presidential candidates wins in Nov 08, who would you most want to see as VEEP?
The results of that poll may surprise you.

Cheers,
Glen

PS Please read my comments that accompany the VEEP question. Dang I'm funny!

Hello! My name is Lupita Maurer, and I have the honor of Chairing the Washington County Democrats.

I also have the honor of having all of you as good friends. And as you've done for so many of our representatives in Washington County, you helped win a hard election – for me to be an Obama delegate.

So now I'm off to Denver.

I intend to be the best delegate I can be. So many of you wanted to go, I hope that I can give you a flavor of the experience behind the scenes, whatever it turns out to be. So I will be blogging here on our www.washcodems.org website. And I intend to read your comments to see if you want anything done.

I can't promise that I will be "live-blogging". I don't know if I can write that fast. But I will try to at least make one entry a day. Maybe more than that.

Write if you want anything from me. Thank you.