| Texans are still aglow from Mayor Julian Castro's keynote address last night. Delegates from across the rest of the nation also seem eager to compliment Texas on promoting a leader to the national stage who isn't a complete and utter disaster.
Overall, energy is high, and delegates are clearly having fun attending caucus meetings and panel discussions. In addition to the official events at the convention center, there are panels and speakers over at The PPL, and plenty of parties, gatherings, and events thrown by progressive organizations. Our Texans are certainly having a good time, as evidenced by how few people were at our delegation breakfast before 8:00 a.m. today!
Here's a quick run-down of what's going on today, and what to expect tonight.
Blogger Briefing with Sandra Fluke: The now-famous Georgetown Law student who spoke up in favor of women's health and helped make a mockery of the GOP in the process stopped by our daily blogger briefing today. She framed the election as a really important choice for women not only on reproductive health issues, but economic ones as well. Mitt Romney refuses to say whether he supports fair pay for women, and has at least admitted he won't "make things worse." That's just downright inspiring. Not.
I asked Fluke if in her travels she thought the message about women's health was getting out past the hyper-informed folks who follow politics closely. She said yes, and that women understand what's at stake and are taking this threat to our healthcare access very seriously. Fluke noted that on the trail she also stresses issues beyond birth control and abortion, including Republican opposition to reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, and Ryan's support of personhood laws that would make parts of in vitro fertilization illegal. Fluke didn't mince her words: "This election is about information. If you know [Romney] vetoed a bill that would give victims of rape access to emergency contraception in the ER, it's a clear choice."
Texans on the Stage Today: While our delegation is still full of pride over Mayor Castro's speech last night, several more Texans will take the stage and speak to the assembled convention tonight.
Congressman Al Green will be speaking shortly before 6:00 p.m. Texas time along with other members of the Congressional Black Caucus. After 7:00 p.m., Cecile Richards will take the stage as the cornerstone of the section of tonight's program about women's health. During the 8:00 hour, University of Texas graduate Austin Ligon, Co-Founder and Former CEO of CarMax, will speak about how President Obama rescued the American auto industry. After President Clinton wraps up his remarks, the nomination process will begin, and Texas will vote to nominate President Barack Obama. Should be a long, fun night!
 Odds and Ends: Just so you don't feel like you're missing out...
* Our boisterous Texas delegation showed so spirit during Mayor Castro's speech that they caught the eye of the Tumblr Elections blog.
* The Texas Tribune has a good piece on Linda Chavez-Thompson's address to the Latino Caucus today. I spotted LCT on the floor with our delegation last night and she was in high spirits!
* Julian Castro's daughter Carina has already become a hair-flipping Internet sensation.
* Last but not least, here's a photo of our BOR crew here in Charlotte, hanging out at the Texas delegation party last night. Consider it a caption contest and weigh in on our Facebook page.
We'll start our coverage of the convention proceedings from the arena tonight around 5:30 p.m. Our embedded live-blog will kick off around 7:00 p.m. Check back for more from our merry band of Texans in Charlotte! |
