Edwards and Clinton keeping their Iowa delegates

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All is lovey-dovey at the Iowa State Convention:

Team Obama's leadership is pushing unity and wants to let Team Clinton and Team Edwards [keep] the number of people they earned at the county conventions.
...
Dave Redlawsk says the Edwards group has identified the people it wants to send, and the campaigns are in agreement to honor the delegate split as elected at the county conventions. - John Deeth Blog

No word yet on the add-on superdelegate. Iowa First Lady Mari Culver is named as add-on superdelegate. Former Governor Tom Vilsack was named a Pledged PLEO by the Clinton campaign.

And in South Dakota, the final add-on superdelegate of the year was named: Mark Anderson, president of the South Dakota AFL-CIO.

State Fair cattle sales may be lower due to convention

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We told you that the annual State Fair Train from Denver to Pueblo was canceled due to the convention. That may not be the only effect that the convention brings to the Colorado State Fair.

Party politics could hamper the kids' big payday at the Colorado State Fair Junior Livestock Sale this year.

With the Democratic National Convention scheduled in Denver the same time as the 136th annual expo, there's been lingering concern that some of the top youth livestock bidders from the Denver area won't attend this year's sale.

The concern centers on the Denver Rustlers, a buying group consisting of some of Denver's top business people, movers and shakers.

"No, the market for the Colorado State Fair will not be affected by the Democratic National Convention," General Manager Chris Wiseman said Wednesday at the monthly meeting of the Fair's board of commissioners. "We spent the last month talking to our buyers. We're feeling better about the Junior Livestock Sale this month than the last one." - Pueblo Chieftan

I can see Rush and Gunny Bob screaming that the Democrats are taking money from the hands of poor rural farm kids.

Delegates... leave your deep fryers at home

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The South has been a huge political headache for the Democratic Party for the better part of the last half century. In the last 10 presidential elections, for example, the South was pretty solidly behind the Republican presidential nominee.

So, you would think the Democrats, with their 50-state strategy instituted by national chairman Howard Dean, would be a little more accommodating to the Southern delegates to the party’s presidential convention in Denver in August.

You would think. But you would be wrong, at least as far as food is concerned.

As part of the effort to make the 2008 national convention the greenest ever, the Democrats’ catering guidelines include one that strikes at the heart of Southern cuisine: no fried food.

No fried chicken. No fried catfish. No fried green tomatoes. No fried okra. No fried anything. - Austin Statesman

I love Mayor Hickenlooper but according to the article he's mandating that all foods should have at least 3 of the following colors: red, green, yellow, purple, blue and white. With this and his mandate that volunteer fanny packs have to be union-made in the USA and organic you have to wonder at what point he's taking the greening thing a little too far.

Wayward delegate to fight for her seat

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More on Wisconsin Clinton delegate Debra Bartoshevich, who previously stated she's voting for McCain in the fall, and so became the focus of a rules challenge. She's sticking to her statement and trying to keep her delegate status:

A Democratic National Convention delegate pledged to Hillary Rodham Clinton says she hopes to fight off an attempt by Wisconsin Democrats to take away her credentials because of her past statement that she would vote for John McCain if Clinton wasn't the nominee.

"Keeping national delegate status is very important to me," Debra Bartoshevich said Thursday. "I believe that Hillary is the better candidate of all of them."
...
She told the newspaper she felt Clinton was being treated unfairly and she questioned Obama's experience. She also said she had signed up with "Citizens for McCain," encouraged by her sister, who has served in Iraq and backs the Republican.
...
She got a copy Wednesday of the formal credentials challenge filed by the state party, which, among other things, said she violated party rules by expressing support for the presumptive nominee of the opposing party and failing to honor a pledge of intent to vote for the party's presidential ticket in the fall.

Seems pretty clear. She either needs to state she's supporting Obama, or give up her seat. I mean, if she truly supports McCain, why would she want to go to Denver anyway?

The Big Tent

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The Big Tent will be the blogosphere's home away from home at the Democratic Convention:

The Big Tent will be the place to be for new media journalists, bloggers, reporters, and non-profit leaders covering the Democratic National Convention in Denver this summer.

We're creating a 9,000 square foot, two-story structure that will house the work space for journalists, bloggers and new media, a Digg Stage with prominent national leaders, as well as a Google Retreat with a YouTube kiosk where you can make your own YouTube videos. The Big Tent will be open throughout the Democratic National Convention, Aug. 25- 28.

In the New Media Lounge, your pass will be a ticket to to enjoy all the benefits of the blogger / new media lounge, including free WiFi, work space, television-coverage, as well as free food and drinks. And you get to hang out with some of the top bloggers, new media journalists, and non-profit leaders in the country.

And in the Public Space, you can participate in panel discussions with top national leaders on a range of hot topics. There will also be workshops on blogging, community organizing, and new technologies.

The Big Tent will host sponsored happy hours each day from 4 to 5, followed by live coverage of every minute of the Democratic National Convention until 9 p.m. each night.

Hosted by Daily Kos and other sites, and sponsored by Google (and more sponsors to come), this will be a great resource and gathering space. As Kos says:

This will be the hangout. I've got convention blogger passes, but other than Obama's acceptance speech, I plan to be at the Big Tent living it up.

MySpace and MSNBC announce "Citizen Journalist" contest

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A commenter asked yesterday Is it possible for the "ordinary citizen" to attend the Democratic Convention? The answer is yes... but only if you win a contest!

Want a free trip to one of the Presidential Conventions?

MySpace IMPACT, msnbc.com, and NBC News are choosing two citizen journalists to attend the Democratic and Republican conventions. Create a two minute video demonstrating why you are the right person for the gig: Why will you get the scoop no one else can? How are you going to stand out in the crowd?

A panel of VIP judges including the team from "Morning Joe" on MSNBC will select five finalists later this summer and the winners will be selected by the MySpace community. One winner will attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver, CO August 25-28, 2008; one will attend the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, MN, September 1-4, 2008. Both will have the opportunity to post content on the Decision08 community and be featured on MSNBC.

Click here to view contest rules and suggestions.

Convention Captains Program Announced to Get Colorado Residents Involved

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"Colorado is proud to host to the Convention, which will shine a spotlight on all the things that make our state so great. I am pleased that the DNCC has made a long-term, sustained effort to involve the entire Rocky Mountain region in this historic event," Gov. Ritter said. "The Convention Captains program will provide an opportunity for every county in the state to be a part of this historic event."

Convention Captains will organize and host watch parties where families, friends and neighbors can come together in counties throughout Colorado as Barack Obama accepts the Democratic nomination for President of the United States on Thursday, August 28. Each Convention Captain will be issued a "playbook" arming them to serve as a local ambassador for the four-day event and providing them with helpful tips for planning and hosting a successful watch party and other events to engage their community in the Convention.

"There is no question that the great state of Colorado will play a crucial role in the general election come November," said Convention Co-Chair Governor Sebelius. "The 'Convention Captains' program will highlight our efforts to engage new communities in this region and really provide a platform to showcase what our Party has to offer. After all, the goal of this program is to reach beyond the Convention hall, just as Barack Obama has done throughout the primary season by bringing new people in to the political process." DNCC Press Release

The first set of Convention Captains was announced today. All of Colorado's counties will be represented by a Convention Captain.

Announced Convention Captains

Adams County		Nicole Hanlen
		Jim Joy
Arapahoe County		Patrick Anderson
		Jennifer Herrera
Boulder County		Deb Gardner
Clear Creek County		Sandy Russalesi
Denver County		Jennifer Jacobson
Eagle County		Fred Schmidt
		Nancy Schmidt
Elbert County		Teri Baird
Jefferson County		Tom Satriano
Larimer County		Charlotte Miller
		Erma Muehlbach
Mesa County		Audrey Berry
Weld County		Joe Perez

Mississippi Dems skipping convention

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Some high-profile Democrats from Mississippi have announced they're too busy to attend the 2008 Democratic Convention:

Reps. Gene Taylor, D-4th District, and Travis Childers, D-1st District, are delegates. But they don't plan to go to Denver to vote for their party's presidential nominee. It's customary for Taylor, one of the most rebellious Democrats in the House, to skip his party's conventions.

Childers, winner of a special election to fill the House seat formerly occupied by Roger Wicker, is following suit. Childers, a conservative Democrat like Taylor, is running to keep his seat from Republican Brad Davis in the fall.

"We have got our plate full," said Brad Morris, Childers' chief of staff. "I don't see us getting involved in another race."

Congress will recess for the Democratic and Republican conventions. But Morris said his boss' duties won't allow him to take a week off to go to Denver. "Not when we have constituents who need help," Morris said.

Another leading Mississippi Democrat who likely will skip the convention is former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, who is running against Wicker for the Senate seat Wicker was appointed to occupy after former Sen. Trent Lott retired.

"He's not a delegate, he's not an alternate," Musgrove campaign chairman Tim Phillips said. "We're putting Mississippi first."

Childers and Musgrove will be very dependent on African-American turnout to win in the fall. The reason for that high turnout will be in Denver the last week in August. It's not clear that snubbing the convention is the best way to go here.

Media representatives not happy with protester proximity

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National media representatives are upset that an area designated for protesters during the Democratic National Convention is right next to press tents on the Pepsi Center's grounds.

They fear too much noise and commotion and the threat of tear gas if demonstrations get out of hand.

"Imagine trying to do your job with hundreds of people screaming, blowing whistles, beating drums and trying to get the attention of the media," said Associated Press reporter Andrew Taylor, chairman of the Standing Committee of Correspondents, which represents congressional reporters on Capitol Hill.

"This is basically insulting," he said.

City and federal authorities are under a court order that mandates protesters be within "sight and sound" of delegates. On Monday, they announced plans to place the 50,000-square-foot public demonstration zone in Pepsi Center Parking Lot A.- Denver Post

This picture was taken from where the protest area will be in the Pepsi Center parking lot.

As you can see this will definitely be within "sight and sound" of the delegates.









Here's an aerial view from the Pepsi Center which gives you a better idea on how close the protesters will be to the arena.

From Google Maps it looks like it's around 500 feet from the protest are to the front door of the Pepsi Center

To get a more detailed view click here

Convention "Podium Guy" Retires

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There's a lot of institutional knowledge when it comes to running the Democratic Convention: People who work or volunteer for the convention every 4 years, regardless of who the candidate is. We've written in the past about Director of Media Operations Wally Podrazik, who's on his ninth convention.

Another key organizer who also started in 1976 is retiring:

Since 1976, one Democrat has been a ubiquitous and calming presence for every politician and activist who ever spoke at the national convention. Michael Berman, now the president of the Duberstein Group, Inc. and a longtime Democratic activist and patron, was a volunteer. It became a specialty of his, something he would take the time to do every four years. He was the podium guy, developing and managing the schedule. In 1988, he built the first media liaison team designed to help broadcasters get the kind of guests they needed for prime time. In '92, '96, '00 and '04, Berman reprised his role as chief scheduler. "After a while, everyone kind of listened to me because I had been around so long," he says.
...
In May of 2007, Berman said he informed convention chief of staff Leah Daughtry that he would not accept her invitation to join the show this year.

"This all occurred long before we had any idea who the nominee would be," Berman said. "In politics like life, it is important to know when it is time for someone else to have their turn."

Berman is a friend of the Clinton's, so there was some concern that the Obama team had forced him out, but that was clearly not the case, with his notice to Daughtry over a year ago. With Matt Nugen running Obama's convention operations, you would expect very little friction as the DNCC and the Obama team combine forces to plan the convention.

RBC Meeting - No cameras this time

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Just 25 days ago, the whole political world was obsessed with the DNC RBC meeting to discuss the Florida and Michigan situations. Today, it was a little calmer as the RBC met by conference call.

There were two challenges brought before the RBC today. The challenge from Texas was originally thought to be a significant challenge to the Texas primary/caucus two-step. But it turned out to be a challenge to 1 Obama delegate due to irregularities at the Senate District Caucus. This challenge was referred to the Credentials Committee.

The second challenge is more interesting. From Wisconsin, it's a challenge to Clinton delegate Debra Bartoshevich. Bartoshevich has said she will vote for McCain, which should disqualify her from being a delegate. This challenge was also referred to the Credentials Committee. Expect her to change her tune or lose her seat.

Finally, the delegate slates for 9 states, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Virginia, were not compliant with gender equality rules.

One more thought. Looking back on the May 31 RBC meeting, it is amazing to realize that the race was over 5 days later, when word filtered out that Clinton was dropping out. In retrospect, it seems clear that the important thing coming out of the meeting was a decision, any decision, and it didn't matter what the decision was. Taking Florida and Michigan off-the-table was key to paving the way for Clinton dropping out, removing any excuse for her to stay in the race in order to make sure the two state delegations were seated.

Update: Colorado has too many male delegates:

The head of Colorado's Democratic Party has a problem to solve today - undoing a mistake that saw one too many men elected as delegates to the national convention in Denver.

Party rules require that every state's delegation be split evenly among men and women. But Colorado, with 70 total delegates, currently has 36 men and 34 women.

That means that Pat Waak, chairwoman of the state Democratic Party, has the unenviable task of removing a male delegate and making him an alternate, then choosing one of the alternates to fill the spot.

In the end, an alternate may be replaced as well because that group also must be balanced by gender.

Congresswoman Diane DeGette introduces "Denver's Finest" video series

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Congresswoman Diana DeGette represents Denver, Colorado in the U.S. House of Representatives. She is looking forward to the Democratic National Convention and has created a this series of Web videos to give attendees the inside scoop on "Denver's Finest".

You can see the rest of the videos at the DNCC Website

$50 Million Approved for Convention Security

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Finally some good news involving money and the convention.

Federal officials have told the city they approved the $50 million in federal funds to offset any security-related costs for hosting the Democratic National Convention, a top aide to Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper said Tuesday.

Katherine Archuleta, the mayor's liaison to the convention, said she learned the news during a telephone conversation with federal officials Monday.

"They want to give the money to us as quickly as possible," Archuleta told Denver City Council members during their weekly meeting with Hickenlooper.

The money will be used to reimburse expenditures related to providing security for the convention, Aug. 25-28. Because the Republican and Democratic national conventions are deemed national special security events, federal funds are provided for security, and the expenditures are approved by the Department of Justice. Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul, home of the GOP convention in September, each will receive $50 million.

It took 2 years before Boston was fully reimbursed for security at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

Oregon Senate Update

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Amazingly, Gordon Smith seems to think that the way to win is to get Barack Obama's endorsement. Failing that, he needs to pretend he has it.

Obama has endorsed Merkley.

But watch the Smith ad, and see if you see a familiar face....

Update: Here is the Obama campaign's response to the ad...

“Barack Obama has a long record of bipartisan accomplishment and we appreciate that it is respected by his Democratic and Republican colleagues in the Senate. But in this race, Oregonians should know that Barack Obama supports Jeff Merkley for Senate. Merkley will help Obama bring about the fundamental change we need in Washington,” said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.

General Election Tracker - June 24

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This is the DemConWatch General Election Tracker, a summary of the best election projections on the web. Please also check out our Senate Tracker, and the House tracker will be introduced later this month.

Update 6/24: DCW Obama Index (explanation below) goes up 1 to 299. Various projections moved pro-Obama and pro-McCain. (Previous erroneous comment about OpenLeft removed - wrong data was included).

Map showing consensus of sources. This table will show a state Blue or Red if a majority of the sources show it Leaning or Solid for that candidate.

<p><strong>><a href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/campaign08/electoral-college/'>Electoral College Prediction Map</a></strong> - Predict the winner of the general election. Use the map to experiment with winning combinations of states. Save your prediction and send it to friends.</p>
Unanimous solid states, not shown in the table below:
Solid Obama: CA, DC, HI, IL, MD, NY, RI, VT - 131 EVs. (Note, newly added RCP has CA as Obama-Lean. For now, I'm not adding CA to the table - we'll see if RCP stays at this projection)
Solid McCain: AL, ID, KY (added), OK, UT, WY - 36 EVs

The sources are sorted by each projections Obama Index. The states are sorted by the number of electoral votes.

DCW General Election Tracker
State	EVs	538.com	Elect. Proj.	Open Left	EV. com	RCP	RM	CNN	NBC	FHQ	....
Date		6/24	6/24	6/24	6/24	6/24	6/24	6/18	6/5	6/22
Obama (O)		183	187	169	172	91	200	153	153	153
Obama-Lean (OL)		123	97	107	40	147	84	58	47	54
Tossup (T)		86	80	91	170	137	14	133	138	129
McCain-Lean (ML)		110	70	46	51	70	66	69	84	71
McCain (M)		33	104	125	105	93	174	125	116	131
Obama Total		306	284	276	212	238	284	211	200	207
McCain Total		143	174	171	156	163	240	194	200	202
Obama Index		344	319	309	299	291	287	280	276	275
Texas	34	ML	M	M	M	ML	M	M	M	M
Florida	27	T	T	T	T	T	ML	T	T	ML
Pennsylvania	21	OL	OL	OL	T	OL	OL	OL	T	T
Ohio	20	OL	OL	OL	T	T	OL	T	T	T
Michigan	17	OL	OL	T	T	T	OL	T	T	T
Georgia	15	ML	ML	ML	T	ML	M	ML	ML	ML
New Jersey	15	O	O	OL	OL	OL	O	OL	OL	OL
N. Carolina	15	T	T	T	T	T	ML	ML	ML	ML
Virginia	13	OL	T	T	T	T	ML	T	T	T
Massachusetts	12	O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O	OL
Indiana	11	T	M	ML	ML	T	M	ML	ML	T
Missouri	11	T	T	T	T	T	ML	T	ML	T
Tennessee	11	ML	ML	M	M	M	M	M	M	M
Washington	11	O	O	O	O	OL	O	OL	OL	O
Arizona	10	ML	ML	M	M	M	M	M	M	M
Minnesota	10	OL	OL	OL	OL	OL	O	T	OL	OL
Wisconsin	10	OL	OL	OL	O	OL	OL	T	T	T
Colorado	9	OL	T	OL	T	T	T	T	T	T
Louisiana	9	ML	ML	M	ML	ML	M	ML	ML	M
Kentucky	8	M	M	M	M	M	M	M	M	M
S. Carolina	8	ML	ML	ML	ML	M	M	M	M	ML
Conn.	7	O	O	O	T	OL	O	O	O	O
Iowa	7	OL	OL	OL	OL	OL	OL	T	T	OL
Oregon	7	OL	OL	OL	T	OL	O	OL	OL	OL
Arkansas	6	ML	ML	M	ML	M	M	ML	ML	M
Kansas	6	ML	M	ML	M	M	M	M	M	M
Mississippi	6	ML	ML	M	ML	ML	M	M	ML	M
Nebraska	5	ML	M	M	M	M	M	M	ML	M
Nevada	5	T	T	T	T	T	T	T	T	T
New Mexico	5	OL	OL	OL	OL	T	OL	ML	T	T
W. Virginia	5	T	ML	M	ML	M	M	ML	M	M
Maine	4	O	O	O	O	OL	O	OL	OL	O
NH	4	OL	O	O	O	T	OL	T	T	T
Alaska	3	T	M	ML	T	ML	M	M	M	ML
Delaware	3	O	O	OL	OL	O	O	O	O	OL
Montana	3	T	M	ML	ML	ML	M	ML	ML	ML
N. Dakota	3	T	M	T	ML	M	M	M	ML	T
S. Dakota	3	T	M	M	M	M	M	M	M	M
		538.com	Elect. Proj.	Open Left	EV. com	RCP	RM	CNN	NBC	FHQ	....

Notes:
538 - FiveThirtyEight
Elect. Proj. - Election Projection
EV.com - Electoral-Vote.com
RM - Rasmussen
RCP - RealClearPolitics

Here are the states that span 3 categories.

• Alaska: 2 at Tossup, 4 at McCain-Strong. Rasmussen's own poll shows McCain only up by 4, yet they still have AK as Likely-Republican, which we convert to McCain-Strong.
  
• Connecticut: Only Electoral-vote.com having it as a toss-up - that likely won't last. The only poll in the last 3 months showed Obama at +3 in late May.
• Georgia: Electoral-Vote.com moves it to Tossup, based on the InsiderAdvantage poll
• Indiana: Three sources have it as a toss-up, but 2 sources have it as Strong McCain. But new SurveyUSA poll out today gives Obama a 1 pt lead.
  
• Minnesota: With Survey USA out on June 16 with a poll showing Obama only up by 1, CNN's projection of a Tossup doesn't look like as much of an outlier.
• Montana (NEW): 538 now has it as a Tossup. 2 Projections have it as Strong-McCain. Last poll was in April.
  
• New Hampshire: Three projections move this former? battleground state to Obama-Strong.
• New Mexico: Five projections have it as Obama-Lean, CNN has it at McCain-Lean. There hasn't been a poll here since mid-May. Two recent polls show Obama up by 3 and 8 points.
  
• North Dakota - Three have it as tossup - that won't last. Or will it? There hasn't been a state poll in ND since April.
• Oregon (NEW) - One of the few Obama states that seems to be closing, with Obama only up by 3 in the latest SurveyUSA poll. 1 Tossup, 1 Obama-Strong.
  
• South Dakota: 538 has it as Tossup.
• Virgina (New): 538 has it as Obama-Lean, Rasmussen at McCain-Lean
  
• West Virginia: 538 has it as Tossup.
• Wisconsin: Electoral-Vote.com is the first to move this former battleground state to Obama-Strong.

We're purposely ignoring Maine and Nebraska CD splits for now to keep things simple. We'll add them in later if we need to.

What is the Obama Index? The Overall DCW Obama Index is just a straight average of the Obama Index for each projection. What is the Obama Index for each projection? For all projections other than FiveThirtyEight, the Obama Index gives Obama 100% of the Electoral Votes (EVs) in a state that is solid for him, 80% of the EVs for a leaner, 50% of the EVs for a Tossup, and 20% of the EVs for state that is McCain-Lean. (And obviously 0% of the Solid McCain states). For FiveThirtyEight, we use his overall estimate of Obama's EVs. (See below for how we determine FiveThirtyEight's state projections).

FiveThirtyEight state projections determined from state winning percentage (>90%: Strong, 65-90%: Lean, 50-65%: Tossup). Obama Index for 538 based on FiveThirtyEight simulation.