Burnt Orange Report

Andrew Sullivan Comes to His Senses

By Byron LaMasters

Not a shocker, but here's his endorsement of Kerry. Not a glowing endorsement, but one nonetheless from a Bush supporter in 2000. I do fear not only for America, but for both parties should Bush win next Tuesday. I fear an inevitable, bloody, gut-wrenching fight for the heart and soul of the Democratic Party, and I also fear a Republican Party out of control - with no regard for our budget deficit, and highly reliant upon religious conservative voters who will shape a dangerous social and foreign policy. Andrew Sullivan shares my concern:

And when you think of what is happening in the two major parties, the case for a Kerry presidency strengthens. If Bush wins, the religious right, already dominant in Republican circles, will move the GOP even further toward becoming a sectarian, religious grouping. If Kerry loses, the antiwar left will move the party back into the purist, hate-filled wilderness, ceding untrammeled power to a resurgent, religious Republicanism--a development that will prove as polarizing abroad as it is divisive at home. But if Bush loses, the fight to recapture Republicanism from Big Government moralism will be given new energy; and if Kerry wins, the center of the Democratic party will gain new life. That, at least, is the hope. We cannot know for sure.

Finally, I think that Sullivan makes a compelling case for voters who supported attacking Iraq from the begining. Even if you believe that Bush was the right man for responding to 9/11 and dealing with Saddam Hussein, a clear arguement can be made for a Kerry presidency. The next four years will likely present America with complex foreign policy problems where a nuanced, rather than an absolutist approach is necessary. In this ever-changing world, John Kerry is best prepared for the task. Sullivan writes:

In the essential tasks of building support for greater international help in Iraq--financially, militarily, diplomatically--Kerry is the better choice. No, other countries cannot bail us out or even contribute much in the way of an effective military presence. But within Iraq, the impact of a more international stamp on the occupation and on the elections could help us win the battle for the hearts and minds of Iraqis. That battle--as much as the one on the battlefield itself--is crucial for success. I fear Bush is too polarizing, too controversial, too loathed a figure even within his own country, to pull this off.

[...]

Kerry has said again and again that he will not hesitate to defend this country and go on the offensive against Al Qaeda. I see no reason whatsoever why he shouldn't. What is there to gain from failure in this task? He knows that if he lets his guard down and if terrorists strike or succeed anywhere, he runs the risk of discrediting the Democrats as a party of national security for a generation. He has said quite clearly that he will not "cut and run" in Iraq. And the truth is: He cannot. There is no alternative to seeing the war through in Iraq. And Kerry's new mandate and fresh administration will increase the options available to us for winning. He has every incentive to be tough enough but far more leeway to be flexible than the incumbent.

For once (on a non-GLBT issue), I completely agree with Andrew Sullivan.

What were we really doing at the convention?

By Byron LaMasters

I finally got around to reading the New York Times magazine profile of political blogging. There's a lot of things I could write about the article - it's quite long, but a rather good in-depth look at Ana Marie Cox and Markos Zuniga (among others. But really, what did we do at the convention? Wonkette sums it up:

In Boston, at the convention, she hardly blogged at all. MTV had scheduled a single short piece for her to do from the convention floor. ''I'm not really doing anything for MTV,'' she said at the start of the convention. ''I'm doing interviews about being hired by MTV.''

That's pretty much it. Some of mainstream media folks complained that bloggers didn't add much to the convention, but that's because instead of paying attention to what we wrote, they spent most of the time asking us mostly generic (and sometimes condescending) questions about what we were doing there. Oh well, it was fun. If only they would have taken the gloves off in July...

Soon to be Published

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Scott Goldstein is someone whom I have come to know through the Dean campaign. I met him at the National Convention in Boston as he was coordinating the Dean Delegates. He's asked to publish part of my original writings from the Winter Wanderlust in Iowa and such.

I'm sending in the permission for it to be used in his latest book "The Tea is in the Harbor" to be published this October. This from the letter explains how it will be used...

The format chosen was to tell the stories of some of the “New Revolutionaries” or the “Sons of Liberty” following chapters or sections in the book. Your stories are interspersed throughout the writing.

So keep an eye out. This is Scott's Second Book, the first having been written about the 2000 election which is available here. It's an interesting feeling being published in a book, granted it's not My Life by Bill Clinton but hey, you try where you can. :)

KNAF Radio

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

If you happen to live in the Hill Country area around Fredericksburg, tune in this morning (Saturday) to KFAN 910 AM radio at 9:00 a.m.

Jan Fritz, wife of station owner Jason Fritz, has her weekly segment Kit & Kaboodle which covers a wide range of topics. This week's hour long show will be an interview with me about politics, my experiences regarding the Democratic National Convention, and youthful idealism.

If you miss it, I have been told it may run on another Saturday before the election at which point I'll post about it again.

The Road to Boston

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

What follows is the more or less official report I wrote for my journey to the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Parts of it were published on the front page of the Community Section of my local paper, the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post. While not a full and complete record (other elements and stories lie in the archives of this site) it should give new information and a readable picture of what was the most moving journey of my life to date.

Growing up, I thought I would find myself among the stars. With an interest in space and my last name, I figured it must be destiny that if Armstrong was the first man on the Moon, then Musselman could be the first man on Mars. My plans were to spend my life studying the heavens, getting to know the likes of Polaris, Vega, Sirius, and Castor.

It was certainly a lofty goal, but destiny found me some stars down here on Earth to be among last month, stars with names like Clinton, Gore, Dean, Edwards, and Kerry. It was the 2004 Democratic National Convention, and I was the youngest of Texas’ 232 delegates in Boston, representing Democrats in 21 Central Texas counties, including Gillespie. For a 19 year old Democrat from Fredericksburg, I’d say that’s still pretty ‘out of this world.’

My convention story actually began four years ago with the 2000 presidential election. Unlike the majority of Texans, Al Gore inspired me and was the reason I got involved in politics as a career. At the age of 15, I attended our Democratic Precinct Convention at St. Joseph’s Hall with my parents in my first act of participatory democracy. Even though I could not vote, it was there that I made the bold statement that in 2004, I would be the youngest delegate for Al Gore to our county, state, and national conventions.

Unfortunately, that dream in full could not be fully realized as Gore did not become President in 2000. But that did not stop me and in 2002 I got involved in the John Courage for Congress campaign. I volunteered for him at our County Fair and on Election Day, I stood outside the Courthouse polling location handing out literature to the few voters that trickled in after I got off from school.

While handing out literature for Mr. Courage that evening, I remember one woman, a Hispanic employee at the high school, who said she had only planned on voting for Sanchez for governor but she voted for Courage thanks to me. That one moment made that night worth it and I realized just then that conversations like that, multiplied by millions, was what was needed to help Democrats win in 2004. Most importantly, it gave me hope in a year when there was little for an aspiring Texas Democrat.

A year before the Democratic primaries, in the spring of 2003, I had already settled on my candidate for president, Howard Dean. For the next year, whether it was in Texas, New Hampshire, Iowa, or Arizona, I did what I could to help him win the nomination. But by the time the Texas Primary came about, my man was out of the race but still on the ballot. John Kerry had the nomination so I went ahead and cast my ballot for Dean along with a dozen other Gillespie County die-hard Deaniacs. It was the least we could do heading into our Precinct Convention that night, where 9 of the 13 Dean voters signed in county wide. It was there, in the same St. Joseph’s Hall that my journey to the National Convention began. All those in attendance advanced to our County convention where a few weeks later, I was elected as one of four delegates to the State Democratic Convention in Houston.

Traditionally, delegate seats go to Party regulars, long time activists, or elected officials. The rules are set up and not widely publicized in order to encourage the continuance of those in the system, and discourage flocks of new people from overtaking it. Certain paperwork has to be filed with the state party in advance and deadlines have to be met. Because of this, most of my work to become a national delegate took place in late May and early June, before the actual State Convention. This meant that I knew in advance who I was running against for the male John Kerry delegate slot for our district, which consisted of the same 21 counties in Troy Fraser’s State Senate district. It also meant I knew and had access to contact information each of the voting delegates in the district that would decide who to send to Boston.

Because of party rules, and the way delegates are allocated, I faced a bit of an uphill battle to begin with. Two of the 21 counties, home to Temple, Killeen, and Abilene, made up half of the total delegation from our district. Five out of six of my competitors for the seat were all from Abilene, and the remaining one from Llano, was the former head of the Wesley Clark campaign in Texas. Thankfully, Bell County, the most populated county with 51 delegate votes had no dog in the race providing an opening. My plan was to run a grassroots campaign, win over the Bell county delegates and pair that with votes from Gillespie, Kerr, Blanco, Burnet, and other smaller rural delegations.

The very first action taken was to develop a message for my campaign. I decided to run on my youth, activism, and my dream from 4 years prior. “Believe in me, Believe in our future” was the slogan which adorned the first piece of campaign literature, a hang-signed and addressed letter sent to all 160 odd delegates and Democratic Party County Chairs. Soon to follow were three different e-mails including endorsements and directing people to my campaign website I had set up. About 70 phone calls were made to gather support and in the week before the State Convention, I printed up postcards that included the time and voting location where the vote would be held in Houston.

At the state convention, I bypassed most of the caucus meetings and such on the first day. Instead, I staked out in front of our district’s sign in booth, talking to delegates as they signed in. Like any good candidate would, I offered campaign stickers, over a hundred of which were taken, more than enough to win if they actually turned into votes. By the time our district met to vote, there was little more to do than some last minute hand shaking and nomination speeches.

As it turned out, all but one of the other 6 challengers for the National delegate slot dropped out of the race, leaving a long time labor union delegate from Abilene as the only competition. We gave our speeches, each focused on our strengths, but when the vote was tallied it was evident that the grassroots campaigning did it’s job. With a 120-30 vote win, a four year old dream was fulfilled and I was headed to Boston.

I traveled up to Massachusetts the weekend before Democratic National Convention with the Austin delegation in order to attend Democracy Fest, the national gathering of Howard Dean activists, delegates, and progressives. Held in the rural western part of the state, it required a day’s travel by car and an overnight stay at a cheap motel which was the cause of the best joke of the trip.

It was very late by the time we arrived at the motel to spend the night. We ended up driving by the back entrance at first and saw a bank of old rooms of which the roof had been burned off by a past fire. The rest of the rooms were just fine but it gave a new meaning to smoking and non-smoking rooms we thought.

At Democracy Fest, we attended training sessions sponsored by the Latinos for Democracy people from California where we learned what it was like to run and political operation in a Democratic state. Alongside that, there were entertainers down in the dining tent; everything from political bands, comedy groups, slam poets, solo singers, and speakers.

Dean’s presidential campaign manager Joe Trippi, an icon to most of the grassroots, spoke that afternoon which prompted some interesting discussion. This event, being a gathering of the core of the hard core activists, had a number of people who were incredibly upset with Trippi for what they believe he did to the Dean campaign at the end. There are complaints about his firm managing the horrible media ads, not paying enough attention to Iowa, not paying attending to minority building, or any number of reasons.

Personally, I found it ironic how some of the Deaniacs disliked Trippi so much. The man had to build an enormous campaign first in order for his detractors to complain about how he let it fall apart! They have to at least give him credit for that.

Trippi spoke about his new book, The Revolution Will Not be Televised. Or rather, he spoke on how it was not a ‘tell all’. But he did outline what his greater vision was for political organizing beyond the Dean campaign. He spoke about how he felt that Americans are in a time between TV being the dominant medium to the Internet taking over. It’s an idea of how people will return to the community driven model of interaction, organization, and socialization instead of being driven by the solitary conversation that direct mail and TV ads create now in politics.

He was asked a question after his talk along the lines of, “If you were the Kerry campaign manager, what dream idea would you have for the campaign.” Trippi’s response was that at the national convention, during his nominating speech, he would have Kerry make the announcement that he was putting the future of his campaign into the hands of the American people by not accepting $75 million, taxpayer funded, public financing check for the post-convention portion of the general election campaign. By making a bold statement like that, for one, a media firestorm would be created, and two, it would advance the acknowledgement of online organizing and fundraising to now, not 10 years from now.

I understand his vision and I can see, just like I see it in any of the other Deaniacs, there is a deeper commitment, vision, and belief behind what we are all doing. And that gives me hope.

There is no way one can fully convey the awesome experience of being a first time National Convention Delegate. There is so much to take in that it is near impossible to remember all the amazing pieces. One tries to take pictures, write down what they can, and take home as many memories as possible while fulfilling an official duty as a delegate.

Activities fall into a few categories, some having little to do with the Convention Hall. One of the primary ones is official caucuses. Throughout the week, delegates could attend convention caucuses if they happened to fall into one of the various interest groups like Hispanics, Native Americans, Veterans, Disabled, or a variety of others. I attended the Youth caucus where for two hours we discussed what we could do to get students more involved on campuses. In addition, speakers came including representatives from one of the Wrestling Federations doing voter registration, one of the head organizers of MoveOn.org, and the two Kerry daughters. Other caucuses had speakers in line with their interests ranging from Congressmen to Ben Affleck to Hillary Clinton and Teresa Heinz-Kerry. Since speakers are almost never announced ahead of time and can drop in unexpected, delegates depend on word of mouth and their ability to get from one event to another quickly for the best caucuses.

Also during the week were various trainings put on by more groups than one can keep track of. Topics ranged from fundraising to effective crowd-building to developing winning messages or building online grassroots organizing tools. There were sessions in which delegates gave brief speeches and received critiques. In others, delegates were invited to hear big name party analysts give their view on how the race for the House and Senate were developing. Hopping from hotel to hotel, sometimes across town to make particular session not only provided hectic schedule but also a way to burn the excess calories that most delegates took on at on the various breakfasts and after-parties scatter about town.

For veteran delegates who have been to many National Conventions, it is these meetings and parties which provide the most fun. It’s hard to pass up free food, free drinks, and the opportunity to schmooze with important luminaries. Some events are free, others by donation. Some are invite-only or open if you happen to know the right invited people. Or, in my case once, if you act like you’ve been invited and walk on in with a reporter in tow, few will question you.

A facet of great importance at modern day conventions is one that is nearly impossible to overlook. The Media. For every delegate, there are at least 3 officially accredited members of the media. In the hall, on the streets, or behind the security perimeter there was no place that delegates could go without running into someone with a camera, recorder, or notepad. As Texas’ youngest delegate, as well as an online ‘blogger’ (an internet writer and pundit of sorts) I had around 30 different media encounters ranging from Texas newspapers to BBC radio to MTV.

It would seem as if the convention was more for the media and less for the delegates and these days, and that is mostly true. The entire message is managed by the party, with every speech, every poster, every official event trying into a grand theme, in this Convention’s case, “A Stronger America.” The organizers even supplied official ‘talking points’ in every delegates welcome packet, none of which have been infused into this article because the time for media pandering ended with the close of the convention.

A little known fact is that former presidential candidate Al Sharpton’s 20 minute convention speech was 14 minutes over what had been scheduled because he junked the official script on the Teleprompters. But because John Edwards’s speech had to start on time later that evening in order to be picked up by television broadcasts, organizers had to cut that many more minutes out of the night’s schedule, which they did with amazing speed.

Speaking of speeches, hearing so many stars of the Democratic Party in just four days was one of the most exciting things about the National Convention. Every single one of the 10 Democrats who ran for President addressed the delegates, some with louder applause and cheering than others. While the likes of Rep. Richard Gephardt and Senator Lieberman barely got the crowd on its feet, Wesley Clark and Howard Dean had to wait through minutes of non-stop cheering and frequent applause.

Dean’s speech meant much to me personally, and it meant a lot to the convention as it was the premier speech of unity for the party. As he ended his speech, he began to run through a list of states where he said we would be proud to be Democrats in, Iowa style, capping it off with Texas, at which our delegation burst out in full minute of nearly deafening cheers. Though our delegation had not one single official Dean delegate, we had the largest Dean delegation with 75 of us having been Dean supporters at some point in the past year. It was like being there for the infamous Iowa Caucus Dean Speech one more time. And just like the other Dean delegates, official or otherwise, there was a certain bittersweet feeling. Like Dean himself joked in his convention address, we know he was going to be there; we just thought it was going to be on Thursday night instead of Tuesday, accepting the nomination instead of speaking on behalf of unity behind the nominee.

While Dean’s appearance was personal, he actually came and visited with the Texas delegation at the Convention Hall on Thursday, the rest of the Democratic Superstars spoke as well. Bill Clinton and Al Gore spoke to our heart, to the base of the party, articulating the very message which we had lost two years ago. Elvis may have been the King of Rock and Roll, but Clinton was the King of Soul, the Democratic Soul of the convention. Barak Obama’s keynote address opened many eyes, ears, and hearts to the formerly unknown Democratic Senate candidate from Illinois. He hasn’t even been elected yet and delegates chattered about an Edwards/Obama ticket in 2012. John Edwards’s speech on Wednesday night, given while he had a 101 degree fever, was true to its message “Hope is on the Way.” After seeing him at the Texas State Convention, I finally got his message and realized why so many Iowans caucused for him. After Clinton, I have never heard a speaker so optimistic about what America could and should be. Most Democrats I know can’t wait to see the Cheney verses Edwards’s debate in the fall. “Talk about emotional opposites,” was a fellow delegate’s comment.

John Kerry’s acceptance speech was one of the most masterful works of political oratory, not because of what he actually said, but the effect it had on its targeted audience, undecided voters in swing states. With over half a million dollars spent on polling and focus groups in the prior month, the message was honed and perfected to appeal to the middle and satisfy the base, the premier balancing act of politics. As a result, the base donated over $5 million dollars online the day of the speech and the polls moved in the places that mattered, the battleground states.

And we as delegates were treated to a confetti filled balloon drop with the highly appropriate “We are Family” and “Celebrate Good Times” songs pumping through the Convention Center. Never underestimate a balloon drop’s power to create unity and energy, because it turns even the most ardent Anti-Bush Democratic voters into Pro-Kerry Democratic voters. While politicians might not care exactly why they get the votes they do, democracy cares because so much more is accomplished in the long run when citizens are for, not against, pro, not con.

But lost in all this hubbub of activity, speeches, parties, meetings, and general hoopla is the very simple task for which I was elected: to cast my official nominating vote for John Kerry as the Democratic Nominee for President. It was indeed the fulfillment of a four year old dream, one born on the inspiration of Al Gore, carried on by the hope of Howard Dean, and fulfilled by the acceptance of John Kerry.

Who said the third time couldn’t be the charm?

"He's adorable. We all love him"

By Byron LaMasters

That's me!:

The first person I spotted was 35-year-old Jessamyn West, who runs the wonderful librarian.net.

"My town's got 1,200 people in it. I have no frame of reference to deal with this amount of people," the dreadlocked Vermont librarian told me, nodding toward the crowded convention floor. She's been spending about six hours a day in the bloggers' area; it takes her a while to get going, since she has to pick up her credentials daily at an out-of-the-way hotel.

She pointed out a few notable blog-stars to me: Markos Zúniga, aka dailykos.com; OxBlog's Patrick Belton; and the exceptionally attractive Byron LaMasters from the Burnt Orange Report. ("He's adorable. We all love him," West said.) Aside from her, I spotted only one other female blogger in the section.

West said she's had a great week at the DNC, especially since, back home, "the only other person I know who knows about computers is my boyfriend."

Sure, it could be a little breezier on bloggers' boulevard. The location could be much easier to find. But it's a start. And the bloggers don't seem to mind so much.

"It's good to be here where all the nerds are," she said. Posted 8 p.m.

I really need to write this reporter a thank you note. You'd think I set this up, but I swear, I had no knowledge of this article...

It's so much fun doing google searches on my name. I'm like the only Byron LaMasters in the world, so if you do a "Byron LaMasters" search on Google.com, you'll find out plenty about me.

Anyway, reporters say good things about me. I am 'exceptionally attractive!" Go me!

Why Orange? Orange Mike Responds!

By Byron LaMasters

A lot of people wondered why Orange (BOR's favorite color)? Orange Mike, a Dean delegate from Wisconsin (who we could almost always spot within a minute from the nosebleed seats AKA Blogger Blvd. in the Fleet Center) tells us why he wears orange. Via email to Texas 16th Senatorial district delegate Patti Fink:

"he's wayyyyyy into deer hunting, wears orange all the time"?

Actually, the irony is that I *don't* hunt, even though I live in Wisconsin (what the hey; I don't drink beer, even though I live on Milwaukee's Brewers Hill and belong to the Brewery Credit Union).

I just enjoy the color orange. I started doing my "full orange" at science fiction conventions almost thirty years ago; later expanded it to union conventions and the bargaining table (weirds out new management suits).

--
Michael J. "Orange Mike" Lowrey
Dean delegate, 4th Wis. Congressional District

I took a picture of Orange Mike when he visited Blogger Blvd., here.

Last Convention Photos

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

The last of the DNC Convention pictures are finally uploaded! Thursday, the day of the big Kerry speech starts here.

At the very end of the set you can find three panoramic shots I put together. Boston City Square, the Sept. 11 Convention memorial, and downtown Pittsfield where Democracy Fest was held.

Some Numbers

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Here is some interesting figures that were passed on to me from sources inside the back-rooms of the Convention Stage.

John Kerry's Acceptance Speech had about $500,000 of polling and focus groups done on it to determine the most effective message that voters across the spectrum would like. That's info you won't hear most anywhere else.

Besides that, info that had now gone into a press release from the campaign is as follows.

On Wednesday, the campaign shattered its previous online fundraising
record, raising over $3.3 million dollars in one day, only to crush it on
Thursday with a total of $5.6 million raised -- bringing its two-day total to
$8.9 million. At times during Kerry's speech, johnkerry.com received over
5,000 hits per second.

More Convention Wrap-Up

By Byron LaMasters

Apparently, I'm the last person on Earth to find out about Jib Jab's "This Land" video. Absolutely hilarious if you haven't yet seen it.

Natasha has her version of our Novak baiting on her blog, Pacific Views (my picture and version of the events are here). Natasha probably scored more interviews than any other blogger. She did a great job, and if you don't read Pacific Views regularly (I didn't), it's definitely worth it. Check out some of her work:

Joe Trippi.
Andrei Cherny - Senior DNC Advisor.
Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) on farm policy (I'll be posting my thoughts on this interview in the next couple of days).
Kevin Knobloch, President of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Javier Brown, College Democrats of Georgia.
Jerry Springer.

Jesse and Ezra of Pandagon.net are just really cool. Yeah. That's about it. Read them, even though they really don't need the extra traffic.

So is Bill Scher of Liberal Oasis. He got me copies of all the embargoed speeches that got emailed to him (I wasn't on the email list) if I didn't get a print copy that was passed around. He also took some great pictures of Kate Snow of Good Morning America interviewing me in Blogger Alley. Bill also got some great coverage of several caucuses so check out his blog if you don't already.

I spoke with a high-ranking DCCC official, and their polling shows some good news for Richard Morrison, and they are considering targeting the race. I'll post more details on it in the next few days.

David Weinberger applies the smackdown on Charles Cooper's silly critic of the Convention Bloggers. Rick Heller of Centerfield also defends himself against Cooper's attacks.

I finally gave in to Wonkette guest editor Boi From Troy and did a short interview with him. I figure he's been hitting on me since Monday, and even if he's a Republican, I figured five minutes of flirting was worth the several hundred (thousand) visitors the link from Wonkette would bring. Breaking stories like Why Margaret Cho got disinvited from the HRC party also helps getting Wonkette linkage.

That's all that comes to me for now.

Back Home

By Byron LaMasters

I'm back home in Dallas from the Democratic convention. I'll have lots of posts over the next few days wrapping things up. I still have lots of material from interviews, etc. that I would like to post, along with many pictures. Today, I've been catching up with laundry and watching convention videos from the C-SPAN archives to get another perspective of them. The convention is an incredible experience. I got around 4-6 hours a night, so I slept for about 14 hours last night catching up. The trip was so fast-paced. I think I would have needed 100 hours a day to sift through all of the news and information that I needed to cover the convention as well as I would have liked. In retrospect, I probably would have done things a little differently. I wanted to go to some state delegation events, but was unable to. The main state delegation events were morning breakfasts at 8 AM. That would have required waking up at 6 AM to get to the subway station at 7 AM in order to find my way to an 8 AM event. Considering that I didn't get to sleep until 3 AM at the earliest nights, going to delegation breakfasts was not a realistic plan if I wanted to maintain my sanity throughout the week.

I'd like to especially thank the DNCC for giving us the opportunity. They were very helpful, and when a lot of us had a hard time getting an wireless connection on Monday night, they were up there with two teams of technicians on Tuesday afternoon. The blogger breakfast went great. The only conflict of the week between the bloggers and the DNCC was due to Matt Stoller's "Not sold on Obama" post on his personal webpage after the blogger breakfast. And to be honest, I'm a huge fan of Obama, but his comments at the blogger breakfast were pretty generic. I was mostly focused on taking pictures of the guy, so I didn't hear everything, but I think Obama felt obligated to just stop by personally thank the bloggers who had been following his candidacy much longer than most Americans. He certainly got a reception Tuesday night. His was the best speech of the convention along with Bill Clinton. They both get an A+. I'd disagree with Jim - that Kerry's acceptance speech was the best I've ever seen. It was a damn good speech, but not the best ever. John Kerry simply isn't a great speaker. But he rose to the challenge and captured the moment. I give him a solid A.

Speaking of Obama, check out his blog. It just got bombarded with visitors on Tuesday night. According to Atrios - Obama's webpage was getting 18,000 hits a minute during the speech.

As for Kerry. He keeps breaking records. As he did earlier in the year, John Kerry broke online fundraising records in two consecutive days. The U.S Newswire reports:

The highly successful 2004 Democratic National Convention ensured Kerry and Edwards started this tour with tremendous momentum at their backs. The four-day showcase of the Kerry- Edwards plan to make America stronger at home and respected in the world energized Americans everywhere.

On Wednesday, the campaign shattered its previous online fundraising record, raising over $3.3 million dollars in one day, only to crush it on Thursday with a total of $5.6 million raised - bringing its two-day total to $8.9 million. At times during Kerry's speech, johnkerry.com received over 5,000 hits per second.

The campaign also succeeded in energizing people in states across the map. On Thursday night, more than 200,000 Americans gathered with friends and fellow supporters at over 5,000 house parties to watch Kerry accept the nomination.

Most importantly, millions of Americans over the last four days learned about the lives of service and strength Kerry and Edwards have lived, about their experience standing up for middle-class values and their plan for America's future.

Wow! Not only that, but Kerry / Edwards are on the road drawing tens of thousands of people in mid-sized conservative-leaning cities in Pennsylvania:

10,000 in Greensburg, PA.

20,000 in Harrisburg, PA.

17,000 in Scranton, PA.

Wow. Wow. Wow.

Why Margaret Cho was Disinvited from the HRC Convention Party

By Byron LaMasters

One of the few controversies this week at the Democratic convention was the disinvitation of comedian Margaret Cho to the July 27th "Unity Party" for GLBT delegates sponsored by the HRC (Human Rights Campaign). Cho has a huge following in the gay community, so her participation in the event was widely anticipated by the organizers and many delegates. The Washington Blade provides some background:

The Human Rights Campaign says it stands by a decision to drop bisexual comedian Margaret Cho from the roster of entertainers invited to perform at a July 27 “Unity 04” party in Boston for gay delegates to the Democratic National Convention.

Cho had promised to put on an “incendiary” act attacking President Bush, according to HRC spokesperson Steven Fisher. Fisher said such a performance would have diverted the event’s “message” away from the organizers’ aim of helping to elect John Kerry president.

Some of Cho’s gay fans said the comedian became a victim of efforts by the Kerry campaign and some of its gay supporters, including HRC, to tone down controversial rhetoric inside and outside the convention hall.

[...]

Fisher said that 10 of the 12 groups that signed on as sponsors of the Unit 04 party supported HRC’s proposal to withdraw the Cho invitation.

Fisher said HRC raised concerns after Cho informed the gay rights group through her publicist that she planned to use new material at the Unity 04 event from her “State of Emergency” national tour, which is set to begin soon. He said HRC called Cho’s representative and asked to review the material.

Cho then informed HRC she would put on an “incendiary” performance and would not in any way “tone it down,” Fisher said.

“We said we feel she’s great but this was not the right forum,” Fisher said. “This is a political convention where everyone is on message.”

According to sources close to the HRC, Cho's "new material" which she refused to tone down (thus prompting her disinvitation) included references to "fist 'cheney'-ing" and sexual humor regarding the Abu Ghraib prison. Organizers were worried that such humor would be offensive to some, and would cause a media frenzy that would distract from the overall positive tone of the convention, and thus decided to rescind their invitation to Cho.

Bob Novak Without the Makeup

By Byron LaMasters

As I left the convention center with several fellow bloggers, Natasha of Pacific Views spotted Bob Novak and proceeded to chase him down to try and interview him. I ran after Natasha to see what was going on. She finally caught up with Novak, and asked him a question about the outting of Valerie Plame. Novak was approaching security, made a funny evasive manuever, mumbled something, then continued walking much faster. The rest of our group caught up with Natasha, and we started walking towards the Charles River out of the Fleet Center to catch a taxi to meet up at this place in Cambridge with some other bloggers. About a minute later, Novak is storming back towards the Fleet Center, probably having forgot something. Natasha doesn't miss a beat. She asks Novak again, "Do you have a statement regarding my question"? At that point, Novak turned around and I caught this flattering picture of the Real Bob Novak.

Enjoy.

Afterwards, Natasha, everyone else and I kept north to get a taxi as Bob Novak turned into a bat and flew away.

The Best Speech I've Ever Seen

By Jim Dallas

Kerry's acceptance speech - out of the park! Natural but idealistic, easy-going but serious, small and big.

You gotta believe!

UPDATE: Here's some extended commentary from an IM between me and Byron.

Jim D.: The speech to me seemed very Capra-esque.

Jim D.: It started off with a sort of Clintonian "my momma always said" touch and had it's Kennedy-esque moments..

Jim D.: But it was a speech which let Kerry talk about big ideas without becoming overwhelmed by them.

Jim D.: It was passionated but poised.

Jim D.: Much like Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

Jim D.: It captured the mind of our candidate, but it captured also his heart and soul and because of that I trust Kerry more than before. I mean I can say I am really FOR this guy and not just a defeated Deanie..

Byron L.: post that.

Jim D.: It came across real good on TV (C-SPAN at least).

Byron L.: what you just said.

Values

By Byron LaMasters

I'm pleased that John Kerry is framing the Democratic domestic agenda about values. What are values? Republicans would make you believe that values are about stem cell research, abortion, guns, gays and God. But what are values really about? Should they be about ideology? Or should they be about doing things that actually make a difference in the lives or ordinary people.

Values are not just words. They're what we live by. They're about the causes we champion and the people we fight for. And it is time for those who talk about family values to start valuing families.

[...]

We believe in the family value of caring for our children and protecting the neighborhoods where they walk and play.

[...]

You don't value families by denying real prescription drug coverage to seniors, so big drug companies can get another windfall.

We believe in the family value expressed in one of the oldest Commandments: "Honor thy father and thy mother." As President, I will not privatize Social Security. I will not cut benefits. And together, we will make sure that senior citizens never have to cut their pills in half because they can't afford life-saving medicine.

[...]

You don't value families if you force them to take up a collection to buy body armor for a son or daughter in the service, if you deny veterans health care, or if you tell middle class families to wait for a tax cut, so that the wealthiest among us can get even more.

Democratic values are about helping people. Republican values are about advancing an extreme ideology. Family values should be an issue in this election, and I'm glad that John Kerry is making it one.

"I Accept Your Nomination for President of the United States"

By Byron LaMasters

Just testing this out. I might have missed the words, but here's the reaction from the nosebleed seats:

Here's my video of it: here

2000 vs. 2004

By Byron LaMasters

Bush 2000 - "I will restore honor and dignity to the White House"

Kerry 2004 - "I will restore trust and credibility to the White House"

One failed. Now, Kerry has his chance.

Hampsters for Kerry!!

By Byron LaMasters

Well, Kerry certainly must have the hampster vote after the night. After Alexandra Kerry's inspiring story of John Kerry diving into the river, grabbing that hampster, getting out of the river, performing CPR on the hampster (mouth-to-mouth) and saving its life.

Somehow, it's just not quite as inspiring as pulling Jim Rassmann out of the Mekong River in Vietnam, but in the world of hampsters, John Kerry is probably hailed as a hero nonetheless.

Speaking of Rassmann, he's up next, and the runners are handing out "Veterans for Kerry / Edwards" signs.

Tammy Baldwin Interview

By Byron LaMasters

Tammy Baldwin is probably best known as the first and only open lesbian to be elected to the United States Congress. She is also the first non-incumbent open gay or lesbian to win election to that body. As a Congresswoman from Madison, Wisconsin, she has been highly involved on health care issues. I also had the opportunity to ask her about higher education since her district includes a large university - The University of Wisconsin. Along with Bill Scher of Liberal Oasis, I had the opportunity to spend ten minutes to ask her a few questions.

First, we asked how she felt that GLBT issues had been handled at the convention. She was very pleased. She felt as if she had two very distinct honors in that regard. First, her selection as a vice chair of the convention was the first time that an openly gay person had been selected for that honor for a Democratic convention. Second, she was honored to have the opportunity to speak on the opening night of the convention on health care issues. She said that her selection was significant for the state of Wisconsin - a swing state this fall, and also for the fact that the Democratic Party has embraced gays and lesbians in positions of prominence in the party, not just on the sidelines.

As the first open lesbian in congress, Baldwin believed that her success as a candidate was due to her involvement in local and state level politics first. By the time that she ran for congress, her sexual orientation was old news, because voters had a chance to see her as a public servant who cares about good health care who happens to be gay. She said that she'd work with the media to make sure they'd get their one "can an out lesbian win" story during her first campaign, but only once. Then she'd move on to the other issues for which she was fighting. As for advice to other gay and lesbian candidate, Baldwin said that the key was to build your way up. A gay or lesbian candidate with no experience on other issues can be easily labeled as a one-issue "gay candidate". When Baldwin first ran for office in 1986, there were slightly over a dozen openly gay and lesbian elected officials nationwide. Today, there are well over 200. She believes that state and local offices are the training grounds for Congress, and the they are the best way to build political skills and position oneself.

On higher education issues Baldwin shared many of the concerns that many students, especially of those at the University of Texas, as she represents a large university in Madison - the University of Wisconsin. Wisconsin, like Texas, struggles with the same concerns of higher tuition rates. She felt that John Edwards' "two Americas" speech perfectly captured the problems of many students. She said that the solution to the problem was increasing funding for the Pell Grant program, and lifting the ceiling on the amount for grants so that it could cover a higher percentage of costs. Higher education funding has shifted vastly to students so that scholarships, grants, a part time job, and a small loan is usually no longer enough. Now, many students must take out dramatic loans and are strapped with huge debts for many years. Such debts leave many students with limited opportunities after college, making them less likely to take jobs after college where they give back to their communities after college such as joining the Peace Corps or teaching in an inner-city school. Baldwin decried this as "depriving our country of a talent pool".

John Kerry will be visiting Wisconsin next week and Baldwin cited health care, job instability and Iraq as the most important issues in the state. Baldwin said that while Bush has visited Wisconsin frequently, he tends to stick to the "conservative hamlets". When asked how Bush would be treated in Madison, Baldwin replied, "I don't know. I haven't seen him here".

I also had the opportunity to interview Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) yesterday, but I haven't yet had the chance to put it up. It may be up tonight, maybe tomorrow, maybe over the weekend....

Translate me this

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Apparently some version of one of my profiles has been translated into Spanish and made into this and this and this and this paper/online. I imagine it's got to be AP Spanish or something, I'm not entirly sure. Here is the (badly) translated text.

The performance of the blogueiros will not be restricted to the commentators politicians. Some democratical commission agents including Karl-Thomas the Musselman, youngest delegated of the Texas also will have its blogs. The youngster of 19 years, that when child dreamed in being the first man to step on in Mars, despertou for the politics in the 2000 elections. The blogueiros ones go to offer one another angle, one another market for notice and information is of the convention

The democratical commission agent says not to believe that the blogueiros ones go to supplant the traditional media, but detaches the paper of them. "the blogueiros ones go to offer one another angle, one another market for notice and information is of the convention", affirms Musselman. "We are not under a flag of ' right and balanced ' (slogan of the Fox sender). We can be a little more irreverent, more critical, more analytical ", we add the blogueiro. "This is the nature of that we are, and is therefore that the people read blogs."

I also seem to have been translated into German as is evident here (taken from the AP story)
And if you are in Longview, TX, you might pick up your paper (Longview News Journal ) or check this out online; they picked up the Ausitn American Statesman profile from Monday. Nothing new, just interesting that it's out in Longview now too.

Also, I've been listed on the front of the Out for Democracy Blog. Entry is here.

Oh, and MTV just interviewed me.

Atrios is Real!

By Byron LaMasters

I can prove it! The picture was taken at the blogger party last night hosted by the DCCC at Meze. They made us feel important at least. Whether we are or not is probably debatable. But being a VIP at a party in convention week with a wristband for free drinks and a "blogger goodie bag" and free t-shirts upon leaving certainly made me feel at least a little bit starstruck.

(left to right. Jeralyn of Talk Left, Duncan of Atrios, and Byron of Burnt Orange Report)

Orange Mike

By Byron LaMasters

He's a Dean Delegate from Milwaukee. From the Fourth Congressional District of Wisconsin. His real name is Michael Lowrey, but as you can see as he takes a break from the floor to check his email up in Blogger Alley, he is aptly named:

Boston Globe on the Texas Delegates

By Byron LaMasters

The article is really pretty silly. I mean there's some good points, but overall, the article paints the wrong picture of the Texas delegates. It starts with a picture of Texas delegates looking very bored. Well, yeah - the picture was taken early in the afternoon when no one was paying attention - in Texas, or in any other state. But this is just silly:

Texans are not taking the slights as well. The 232-member delegation is a proud bunch, easily recognizable in vests emblazoned with the Texas flag and cowboy boot-shaped pins that flash in neon red, white, and blue lights. Some wave American flags festooned with faux sprigs of bluebonnet, the Texas flower.

Yesterday, the Dallas Morning News weighed in on the matter of the Texas delegation's lodging at the airport hotel in verse: "Hello, Mudda, hello, Fadda. I am overlooking Lufthansa. The Texas Dems have come to Boston. And state support for Bush is gonna cost 'em."

But Texas' treatment comes as no surprise, given the Texas Democratic Party's anemic condition -- a dramatic comedown from last century when such Democrats as Sam Rayburn and Lyndon B. Johnson dominated both Texas and American politics, said Earl Black, a professor of political science at Rice University.

"Texas Democrats are weaker than they have ever been," Black said. "Every major statewide office is held by Republicans. . . . I'm sure whoever is deciding who goes where has written off Texas so completely that Texas Democrats have to settle for the crumbs."

Texas delegates protest, arguing that Bush is losing favor in his home state.

"Don't count Texas out," said Earlie Davis, 72, a retired teacher from Dallas.

Others seemed resigned to Texas' diminished role.

"Texans want to do anything possible to see George Bush go," said Jim Fletcher, 55, a businessman from Fort Worth. "Even if that means taking a back seat."

Can someone explain this to me? Why does the Globe say that "Texans are not taking the slights as well", when their only source is silly Dallas Morning News ditty, but not of any delegates. The most negative thing they could find was a warning to the media to "not count Texas out". I guess the reporters are just bored. They're making up news where none is there. All of the Texas delegates I've spoken to are enthusiastic about the opportunity. Travis County's 14th senatorial district didn't have nearly eighty people run for six delegate slots because they were expecting to be treated to fabulous parties, cocktails, happy hours and boat trips. Sure some fun is nice, but Texas Democrats were eager to come to Boston to participate in being part of making history to nominate and elect a new cycle.

Oscar Mauzy is MIA at the DNC!!!

By Byron LaMasters

Yup. The Dallas Morning News breaks the news. Oscar Mauzy is missing in action at the Democratic Convention (screenshot available here):

MIA at the DNC

The Democrats best known to the most Texans aren't at the Boston Hilton this week. They aren't delegates, so they're on vacation or back at work. They include:

Rep. Lloyd Doggett, Austin

Rep. Chet Edwards, Waco

Rep. Martin Frost, Arlington

Rep. Solomon Ortiz, Corpus Christi

Rep. Max Sandlin, Marshall

Former comptroller and lieutenant governor nominee John Sharp

Governor nominee Tony Sanchez

Former attorney general Jim Mattox

Former land commissioner Garry Mauro

Former agriculture commissioner Jim Hightower (although he came for a day to promote his book.)

Former House Speaker Pete Laney

Former U.S. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (who is in frail health)

Former state senator and Texas Supreme Court Justice Oscar Mauzy

Former Senate nominee Victor Morales

Good research to the guy at the Dallas Morning News. It's abundantly clear that Texas Democrats are running away from the Kerry / Edwards ticket!

A slight problem, though. And I won't even mention the fact that Jim Hightower and Victor Morales have distanced themselves from the party in recent years (Hightower supported Nader in 2000, Morales refused to support Kirk in 2002). A bigger problem though is that Oscar Mauzy died in 2000 - almost four years ago:

OBITUARY:

Justice Oscar Holcombe Mauzy, champion of the people and friend of the underdog, died peacefully after a brave battle against lung cancer on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2000.

Born to Harry Lincoln Mauzy, Sr. and Mildred Eva Kincaid Mauzy on Nov. 9, 1926, Oscar was the sixth of eight children and the namesake of long-time Houston mayor Oscar Holcombe. Although his father's death when Oscar was only three prevented Oscar from knowing him, he was always proud of his father's work as a union organizer. The family was raised by Mildred Mauzy in Houston's Fifth Ward.

Oops. Next time the Dallas Morning News wants to engage in Democrat-bashing on their headlines, they ought to do better research. Or, if they want to list dead Democrats as being MIA in Boston, they ought to include Ralph Yarborough, Lyndon Johnson and Sam Rayburn. Then again, they mentioned that Lloyd Bentsen is in frail health, so you would think that they would point out that AWOL Oscar Mauzy is dead.

Hat tip to Tom Blackwell.

Question

By Jim Dallas

And I want Byron and Karl Thomas to get me the answer.

Four years ago, much was made of Gore writing his speech on a notebook computer.

This year, both Kerry and Edwards wrote their speeches out on yellow legal pads.

Has our party been taken over by luddites?

The Edwards Speech (As seen on TV)

By Jim Dallas

Not being in Boston, I've had to watch everything on TV.

I tuned into ABC last night to watch the Edwards speech. First off, and most importantly, Peter Jennings was being a real dick last night; the pre-speech commentary was mostly a string of Republican anti-Edwards talking points. And then Jennings seemed largely bored at the conclusion of the speech. The SCLM strikes again.

Now, on to the speech itself. It was good, and very well delivered given the fact that Edwards was just recently sick. I think I agree with Josh Marshall that Edwards was at "about 75%"; but not so much because of the delivery but because, as far as I can tell, there didn't seem to be a very clear theme to the speech. Put another way, I liked it, but I spotted a few areas where, had I written it, I would have done it differently.

Also, I was perplexed by the phrasing of one of Edwards's applause lines, to wit:

"And by doing all those things, we're going to say no forever to any American working full-time and living in poverty. Not in our America, not in our America, not in our America."

Now, the way it came across on TV was "we're going to say no" to the people (as in, "minimum wage workers, go cheney yourself.") Not, "we're going to say no" to the idea of people working minimum wage and living in poverty, which is clearly what was intended. It took a moment or two for me to realize what he was saying.

It doesn't have to be that way!

All in all, Edwards is still one of the best speakers in America today, and I'm proud that he is our vice-presidential nominee.

Photos

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Photos from Tuesday start here.

Photos from Wednesday start here.

Also for you Houston folks, I might be in a piece on FOX 25 tonight at 9 pm.

As a side note, today I finally got up before 8 am and made it to the Texas Delegation Breakfast. There were a number of Congressmen there, some speaking (Gene Green, Ken Benson, and Ciro Rodriguez (who Party Chair Soechting endorsed in hoping he won the recount battle going on in that district against Democrat Henry Cuellar).)

New Mexico Governor and convention Chair Bill Richardson spoke to our delegation, thanks us for helping his state's economy with our Senators. The guy is actually really funny, much better today than his speach yesterday on the floor. Maybe he's better with smaller crowds. Either way, he actually recognized me on the floor of our Breakfast as the delegation's youngest, which was pretty awesome.

I'm off now to the official GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered) lunch with Glen, Mark, and the Austin people. Texas is proud to have two of the seven Transgendered delegates at the convention, (one is from Austin, Christina).

Over the Top

By Byron LaMasters

America, we have a nominee tonight. I had a DCCC party for bloggers to get to, but I stayed at the Fleet Center to watch an important part of history occur. Soon after John Edwards spoke, the official nomination process began. Alabama yielded to Massachusetts in order to allow John Kerry's brother and sister read announce Massachusetts' delegates unanimous vote for Kerry. Then Alaska yielded to North Carolina to cast their votes for John Kerry. Finally, around 11:30 PM EST, the Minnesota delegation came up to vote. They yielded to Ohio, where John Glenn announced that Ohio's delegates had put Kerry over the top. Yup. The Florida of 2004 is Ohio. And if John Kerry wins Ohio, it's highly probable that he'll win the White House.

USA! USA! USA!

By Byron LaMasters

George W. Bush's supporters chanted it in the 2002 election rallies to drown out anti-war hecklers. Well.. Democrats can do it, too. A great salute to our veterans here in the Fleet Center tonight.

Will Kerry Make an Appearance?

By Byron LaMasters

He's in town. Al Gore made an appearance four years ago. Will Kerry? I wouldn't be surprised if he joins with Edwards after Edwards gives his speech, but we'll have to see...

Kucinich Sightings

By Byron LaMasters

Just came back up to take my seat and sure enough, there's Dennis Kucinich signing books. I was going to see if I could ask him a few questions, but he got a phone call and the security guy didn't look too friendly, even if he worked for a guy supporting a Department of Peace. Oh well.

That's all for now...

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Hate to say it, but that's all for tonight. My battery is going out in the middle of Bill Richardson's 'so-so' speech. I'll update tonight if I can, and the past couple of days will slowly come back online. There are some great little stories I have to tell, and there might be some exciting press that the Texas delegation is going to create tomorrow thanks to an idea of mine. Think fundraising....on the floor!

Bob Graham

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Now, Bob Graham, the first candidate to drop out of the presidential primary, is speaking. After Sharpton, it's a huge drop-off in energy. It's sad, because I know people in Florida liked him a lot, and he's a good man. But it's just really an example of why he never took off in the polls. Bob Graham is in serious need of some Joe-mentum.

Karl: He's approaching Dick Gephardt levels of interest here.
Nick: He's surpassed it.

Oh, and Rob Reiner just walked by the Texas delegation as well as Ron Kirk (who ran for Senate two years ago in Texas).

I'm here blogging live on the floor, around the other young Texas delegates (Nick Lawrie, 24 and Matt Glazer, 21) and Matt and I and Christina (one of Texas two Transgendered delegates) have our laptops with stickers on them. That of course, drew a photographer out of the woodwork. Normally they only go for the people with big silly hats.

Sharpton

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

I was right, Shapton has grabbed the crowd's attention. And in less than 15 seconds he managed to give out one of his infamous zingers. You do have to give him credit, he can rouse an audience and make you understand and believe in him. He's managed to get the entire audience on it's feet twice, thrice 8 a dozen times already.

"This is not about a party, it's about living up to the promise of America."
"Mr. President, read my lips, out vote is not for sale.

Lieberman Appears

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Dennis Kucinich just finished speaking on the floor. While he was the man who stayed in the race until about a week ago, and has been gathering a number of delegates across the states, his reception still was not heralded as the big unifying speech that Dean's was last night. It's a bit of a shame, but still, the party in my opinion owes him less than it does Dean and I think the organizers accepted that. Texas (having 75 'stealth' Dean supporters in other delegate roles) has only 1 maybe 2 Kucinich 'stealth' delegates. The Kerry campaign was actively trying to squelch that movement. (You can always tell when Kucinich is excited because he starts hopping around at the podium).

Soon we will be moving on to Al Sharpton. I have a feeling that he will get a greater reception with more people listening than Kucinich. It will indeed be an interesting night pre-Edwards. I think today has been a bit more negative in tone than the last two days. I hoping Edwards lifts it up at the end.