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The fourth and final day of the Democratic National Convention will be called to order at 5:00 PM EST on Thursday, with a theme of "Change You Can Believe In." The final day's events will take place at INVESCO Field at Mile High, where over 70,000 people are expected to attend. Featured speakers will include Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D), former Vermont Gov. and Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean (D), New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D), U.S. Rep. and U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D), former Vice President Al Gore (D) and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D). U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), the Democratic presidential nominee, is scheduled to address the convention at 10 p.m. EST. The full schedule is below.

What follows is a complete state-by-state listing of Politicker.com's coverage of the third day of the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

DENVER -- Rep. Sarah Gelser (D-Corvallis) said Wednesday that Oregon Democrats had put forward a slate of qualified candidates for the state House and seemed poised to pick up a significant amount of seats this November. Democrats have targeted 11 House races that they believe they can win. If they win all three, they would have a 22-seat advantage over Republicans in the house. "Our chances of working toward a 41-seat majority are good," Gelser said. "We have voter registration behind us- that blue tide - and what we're finding is that when candidates are getting out and speaking to voters, they are connecting."

U.S. Senator Gordon Smith's (R-Pendleton) campaign responded to Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley's (D-Portland) convention speech Wednesday saying that Merkley only managed to affirm to Oregonians that he would be very partisan if he was elected to senate. "Jeff Merkley aired his divisive partisanship loud and clear today," Smith campaign spokeswoman Lindsay Gilbride said. According to Gilbride, Smith has spent the week campaigning in Oregon, before he has to return to Washington D.C. for Senate work in September.

Below is a transcript of remarks made by U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Merkley (D-Portland) at the Democratic National Convention Wednesday evening, as prepared for delivery.

DENVER--U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Springfield) spoke enthusiastically on Wednesday about congressional nominee State Sen. Kurt Schrader’s (D-Canby) chances of holding onto outgoing Rep. Darlene Hooley’s (D-West Linn) seat because of a continuous line of controversies surrounding Mike Erickson (R-Lake Oswego).

DENVER -- U.S Senate candidate Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley (D-Portland) took center stage at the Democratic National Convention for a short time Wednesday ready to convince party members nation-wide that he was a candidate prepared to help out the Democratic effort in Washington. "Oregon needs a senator who will fight for affordable health care, living wage jobs, an end to the war and a smart energy policy - not a senator who will give us more of Bush-McCain's failed policies," Merkley told the crowd. Merkley only had 90 seconds in the limelight, and it may not have been enough to get into the intricacies of his campaign that have ranged from a battle with incumbent U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Pendleton) over healthcare and the Iraq war to controversies over furniture purchases for the legislature. But it was enough time for him to try to convince his party that electing him would take the country a step in the Democratic direction. "If my opponent Gordon Smith returns to Washington, it's just more of the same, and we can't afford that," Merkley said. "Not in Oregon, not in America."

Marc "Ted" Winters, husband to Senator Jackie Winters (R-Salem) and former aide to former Governors Tom McCall and Bob Straub, died last night at the age of 84.

DENVER -- U.S. Senate candidate and Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley appeared earlier today in a press conference with U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and other Democrats running tight races for current Republican Senate seats.

DENVER--U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Portland) urged his fellow Jewish politicians to stick to the Jewish teaching of Tikkun Olam as they discussed ethical quandaries that they find themselves in as politicians and how Jewish teachings help them through it. Wyden was speaking at the National Jewish Democratic Council roundtable with several other politicians, political consultants and rabbis. The panel discussed how to best stick to truth-telling and practicing politics with Jewish values. Wyden told the group that he has lived by Tikkun Olam, a Hebrew phrase that means to "heal the world," for his entire political career. "I show up every day asking myself what we need to do to make the world a better place," Wyden told the panelists and 150 people that gathered to hear the discussion. "We need to speak to the values that are important as Jews because Jewish values are American values."

The morning after former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton made a call for her supporters to unite the Democratic Party behind Barack Obama, Clinton delegate Rep. Sarah Gelser (D-Corvallis) thanked Obama delegates in advance for their understanding during the roll call Wednesday. "Senator Clinton made me so proud to work for her and so proud to be a Democrat," Gelser said to the Oregon delegation as they ate breakfast. "On behalf of the Clinton delegation, I would like to thank everyone for being respectful of the process."

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Pendleton) was trying to change who he is by running ads talking about all the work he had accomplished in tandem with Democratic Sens. Barack Obama and John Kerry. "Gordon Smith is one of the least popular Republican incumbents," Schumer said. "And he is trying to change who he. He runs more commercials with Barack Obama and John Kerry than he does with George W. Bush and John McCain."

U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Merkley said Wednesday he will talk about the economy in his speech Wednesday evening at the Democratic National Convention. "When I've been on the road hitting 87 of my 100 town tour, everyone is really anxious because it seems like the price of everything is going up, and everything is going up except their paychecks," Merkley said. The Speaker of the House, who is the only Oregonian slated to speak at the convention, stressed that he was given a limited amount of time to introduce himself from the podium to the Democrats gathered in the Pepsi Center, but he hoped to portray his race for Oregon's Senate seat as critical to the country's future. "I get a whole 90 seconds tonight," Merkley said. "But, I want to clarify tonight that Oregon is a critical state, and if we are going to move this country forward we need to get rid of Gordon Smith."

DENVER -- New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin urged Oregon delegates to unite behind Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama (D-Ill.) Wednesday, saying that Obama would bring change to the Federal Emergency Management Agency which he says was inept in its reaction to Hurricane Katrina when it struck New Orleans in 2005. "FEMA is not an agency you want to deal with," Nagin told the breakfast of about 100 people. "My hope is that Barack Obama will retool the agency. You know, three years ago, right after the storm, Senator Obama came down to New Orleans and pledged his support. Senator McCain, I don't think he showed up till after he received the nomination." Nagin also told the delegates that as the election cycle heated up, they had to be sure to remember their goal of electing Obama even as he was attacked. "They're going to throw the kitchen sink at Obama," Nagin said.

DENVER -- U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) shrugged off her Senate colleague Gordon Smith's television ads that have touted his record of working with Democrats, saying that Democrats simply needed to elect more Democrats. "People are going to do that, but I just think in Oregon there is a big difference between Gordon Smith and Jeff Merkley," Klobuchar said as she left the Oregon delegation breakfast. Klobuchar addressed the delegation earlier Wednesday, urging them to put their efforts behind Merkley, the Oregon House Speaker, so that the Democrats in the Senate can pass legislation without the threat of filibuster.

When incumbent U.S. Senator Gordon Smith dropped the ball on Oregon rural county timber payments earlier this year, he opened a door to rural voter support normally closed to his Democratic challengers.

DENVER -- Several of Oregon's Democratic delegates floated the idea of trying to exchange seats in order to be in full view of the podium when U.S. Senate candidate and Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley (D-Portland) addresses the convention Wednesday evening. The idea is to ask the Colorado delegation, which is seated front and center in the Pepsi Center, to give their seats up to the Oregon delegation while Merkley is addressing the crowd so that his hometown delegation can be in front of him.

Check back tomorrow morning to view my sketchpad for day three of the Democratic National Convention, and go to my national blog to follow convention coverage by cartoonists from around the country.

Oregon House Speaker and U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Merkley (D-Portland) will address the Democratic National Convention this evening between 2 and 4 p.m (PST). Most recent polls show Merkley trailing incumbent U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Pendleton).

The third day of the Democratic National Convention will be called to order at 5:00 PM EST on Wednesday, with a theme of "Securing America's Future." The day will begin with the nominating process for President, including nominating speeches for U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.), followed by a roll call vote. The headline speaker will be vice presidential nominee, U.S. Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.). Featured speakers will include President Bill Clinton (D), U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Gov. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.), U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), U.S. Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.). The full schedule is below.