Former President Bill Clinton is up next.

Who remembers this?  Back in September 2000:

President Clinton announced Wednesday that the federal budget surplus for fiscal year 2000 amounted to at least $230 billion, making it the largest in U.S. history and topping last year's record surplus of $122.7 billion.

While it seems that we are working better at defining the debate more to our advantage, we are still using terminology that can be seen as advantageous to McCain.  McCain is seen as a strong military-style leader (I know this shouldn't be the case, but it is), and as long as we use the Republican framing, this race is far too close for comfort.

Nancy Pelosi is facing "tough questions" via Digg on CNN.

Check it out.

Update:  And they're done.  It was cool, though.  The Internets really work!

It's still not even primetime coverage time, but the real political junkies are tuned in and chatting away...

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Our national dark night will soon be a glorious brand new day.

On this historic night, when America has taken one giant step forward, we must not forget those among us who are still battling for equality and the civil rights that most Americans enjoy.  

Del Martin, the long time lesbian activist passed away.

http://www.cnn.com/...

They're really moving through the speakers this afternoon here in Denver. Here's the thread to keep up, if you can. And here's the schedule for the rest of the evening.

Jeff Merkley
Candidate for US Senate from the State of Oregon

Tom Allen
Candidate for the US Senate from the State of Maine

5:00 PM – 6:00 PM (LOCAL)
Remarks
The Honorable Richard M. Daley
Mayor of Chicago, Illinois

The Honorable Robert Wexler
Member of the US House of Representatives, Florida

Video - The Course of Our Nation
Brittany Washington
A student at Howard University in Washington, DC from Los Angeles, California

Women of the US House of Representatives
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the US House of Representatives
Permanent Chair, Democratic National Convention
The Honorable Rosa DeLauro
Member of the US House of Representatives, Connecticut
The Honorable Nita Lowey
Member of the US House of Representatives, New York
The Honorable Hilda Solis
Member of the US House of Representatives, California
The Honorable Louise Slaughter
Member of the US House of Representatives, New York
The Honorable Maxine Waters
Member of the US House of Representatives, California
The Honorable Kathy Castor
Member of the US House of Representatives, Florida
The Honorable Lois Capps
Member of the US House of Representatives, California

Remarks
The Honorable Elijah Cummings
Member of the US House of Representatives, Maryland

Mark Docherty
Veteran and a firefighter from Sterling Heights, Michigan

The Honorable James Clyburn
Member of the US House of Representatives, South Carolina
The Honorable Manuel Diaz
Mayor of Miami, Florida
The Honorable Jay Rockefeller
US Senator, West Virginia

Live Performance
Melissa Etheridge accompanied by Phillip Sayce (guitar)

Award-winning singer/songwriter
Video - First Time Delegates: Renewing America's Promise

6:00 PM – 7:00 PM (LOCAL)
Remarks
The Honorable Harry Reid
US Senator, Nevada
Senate Majority Leader

CSM Michele S. Jones, US Army (Ret.)
First female command sergeant major of the US Army

The Honorable Patrick Murphy
Member of the US House of Representatives, Pennsylvania
Joined by Iraq war veterans

The Honorable Madeleine Albright
Former Secretary of State

America’s  Town Hall - Economy
Moderator: The Honorable Joe Sestak
Member of the US House of Representatives, Pennsylvania
Panelists: Kathy Roth-Douquet, CSM John Estrada, Collin McMahon,
Representative Ellen Tauscher/California

Remarks
The Honorable Evan Bayh
US Senator, Indiana

Xiomara Rodriguez
Nevada delegate and retired member of the US Coast Guard

The Honorable Jack Reed
US Senator, Rhode Island

The Honorable Tom Daschle
Former US Senator and Senate Minority Leader, South Dakota

7:00 PM - 8:00 PM (LOCAL)
Remarks
The Honorable Bill Clinton
Former President of the United States

Beth Robinson
Stay-at-home mom from Hampton Roads, Virginia

The Honorable John Kerry
US Senator, Massachusetts

Lt. Gen. Claudia Kennedy, US Army (Ret.)
First woman to achieve the rank of three star general in the US Army

Rear Admiral John Hutson (Ret.)
President, Franklin Pierce Law School in Concord, New Hampshire

The Honorable Bill Richardson
Governor of New Mexico

Video – Changing The Course of Our Nation
John Melvin
Iraq war veteran from DeWitt, Iowa

Veterans Video and Remarks
The Honorable Chet Edwards
Member of the US House of Representatives, Texas

8:00 PM – 9:00 PM (LOCAL)
Remarks
Tammy Duckworth
Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs
Helicopter pilot and wounded Iraq war veteran

Vice Presidential Nominating Speech
Quincy Lucas
Delaware woman who volunteers to work on domestic violence issues.  

Seconding the Nomination – from the floor

Introduction of the Vice Presidential Nominee
The Honorable Beau Biden
Attorney General, Delaware

Remarks
The Honorable Senator Joe Biden
Vice Presidential Nominee
US Senator, Delaware

Benediction
Sister Catherine Pinkerton
Congregation of St. Joseph’s in Cleveland, Ohio

Recess
The Honorable Leticia Van de Putte
State Senator from Texas
Co-Chair, Democratic National Convention

It's official:  Nancy Pelosi entered a motion to nominate Barack Obama by acclamation, it was seconded and carried. Discuss.

I've already written about the experience of walking into the convention hall. So what happens next?

In the New Hampshire delegation at least, people are settled in. A bag of popcorn and a pack of gum get passed around, and in addition to talking about politics, people reminisce about, say, being teenagers.

We'd seen Dana Delaney and Anne Hathaway in the security line coming in, but that was from a distance. Sitting with the delegation, Matthew Modine comes by to promote his Bicycle for a Day project.

But mostly signs are the business of the day. Orange- and yellow-vested people pass out the signs for each speaker, and the delegation's page (a teenager doing a truly impressive job) gets telephone instructions and gives the cue for exactly what line should trigger sign-waving. Wave after wave of signs comes through -- these things had better be post-consumer recycled -- and the page is in a constant struggle against people jumping the gun. This is a particular problem when Hillary speaks, because as soon as people have those signs in their hands they want to be waving them.

And as for Hillary? Yeah, they loved her. There may have been chit chat during the earlier speeches, the sense that occasionally people were listening less to the content than to intonation so they wouldn't miss an applause line (and anyone who could sit through like 6 hours of speeches at one stretch paying total attention should feel free to judge them for that). But not during her speech.

How is McCain doing compared to Bush in the battleground states?
Comparing the latest polling data against the results of the 2004
election gives us a perspective.

John Dickerson, Slate.com's chief political correspondent, was less than thrilled with Hillary Clinton's DNC speech last night.  

Contrary to the long list of political and media pundits, Dickerson felt she left quite a bit off the plate.  What she served was a 5 course meal minus 4 courses.  

In the end, she may have not given enough reason for her supporters, whether they be delegates, fundraisers, or more to the point, her voters, to get behind Barack Obama in his campaign for the Presidency of the United States of America.  

More after the jump...

One of the great things about the existence of the state bloggers at the DNC this year is that in contrast to all the stupid traditional media narratives about disunity, we have reporting from people seated with the individual state delegations, giving their takes on the crowd response.

I was with the New Hampshire delegation last night, and I can say that there was not one sign of disunity there despite the primary having been so heated. The same people who were in tears as Hillary Clinton began speaking and roaring with applause constantly throughout her speech were enthusiastically waving Obama signs and chanting his name throughout the entire evening.

Here are some other reports from bloggers sitting in the middle of the crowd of delegates.

Calitics:

If there was any doubt that we would get a barnburner on unity tonight from Hillary Clinton, put that to bed. The California delegation went crazy for Clinton, waving Hillary signs that were distributed just ahead of Chelsea's introduction and even holding a few homemade signs like "18 million cracks". Obama/Hillary/Unity signs are spreading through now.

Goldy:

A stunning lack of disunity... that was my immediate reaction watching the crowd respond to Hillary Clinton’s speech tonight at the Democratic National Convention.  No doubt there are Clinton delegates who remain unconvinced, and no doubt many will cast their ballot for Clinton come roll call, but if folks were expecting any drama tonight, they’ll just have to make due with the uplifting kind.

Accustomed to watching conventions on TV I almost feel as if I’m missing the show sitting on the floor in person, so I’ve no idea how Clinton’s speech came off to the millions of Americans watching, but she was a hit here in the building.

Turn Maine Blue has pictures of the sign-waving crowd.

This is going to be a non-diary, so I apologize in advance, but I'm not the gal who can't admit when I'm wrong, so here goes:

My grandfather was a politician. Not a governor or member of Congress or anything like that, but it's how he made his living for most of his adult life -- he was sheriff, treasurer, probate clerk. He died before I was born, but to the end of her life my grandmother identified strongly as a political wife.

About a month ago, as I was talking to my parents about my plans for Denver, my mother said she'd always wanted her father to get to be a convention delegate, but he never had. That was in my mind last night as I walked into the hall at the Pepsi Center to find the New Hampshire delegation -- some combination of regret that he never got to be there and pride that I was, but in this new role that we're all inventing together. (Update, realizing this is a bit unclear: I'm not a delegate, but was there as a state blogger for Blue Hampshire -- so I got to be an extra part of history since this is the first time they've had this kind of blogger access to delegations.)

But I wasn't prepared for the incredible surge of awe and emotion that hit me when I stepped into the hall at the top of the stairs and looked out. It was unbelievable, looking out at the people and the signs and the lights and knowing what they, what we, were all here to do.

The history being made here in so many different ways is worth taking a few moments to appreciate in the cheesiest, most awestruck, and cliched way you can personally muster.

Cross-posted from NorthDecoder.com

Sitting here in the big tent the morning after, I have to say that I loved Hillary's speech.  It was beautiful, And from the perspective of an Obama supporter, I loved it last night.

I think she could have done more though.

Follow me on the flip.

Comedy. After spending the first two days of convention coverage obsessing over the non-existent PUMA onslaught and Party disunity that doesn't exist, the media now tell us that:

Democrats to Shift Focus From Clinton to Economy

On Monday, I tried to get some writing done, but it was impossible -- between media interviews, saying "hello" to cool bloggers and citizen media mavens from all over the country, doing panels, greeting visiting dignitaries, and catching up with people from progressive groups, it was impossible to get much work done.

So I was a bit frustrated.

Today I was in a better frame of mind: there was no way I was going to write during the day, so why pretend? I did more of that stuff above, and actually enjoyed it this time. I decided it wasn't going to take away from my work, but it would be my work. And when everyone cut out to the parties, I would instead head back to the hotel and do the other part of my job -- writing.

Since I don't have a twitter account, I'll collect some random thoughts in this post:

• The tradmed crawling around the Big Tent are asking the same stupid questions they asked in 2004. You'd think they would learned a thing or two the last four years and updated their list of questions. It was depressing that some of the best questions I've gotten have come from foreign reporters.
• The tradmed may be obnoxious, but lots of cool people trotting around inexpensive video gear to put up on their vlogs. Cheap technology and YouTube are wonderful, wonderful things.
• Free all-you-can-drink New Belgium beer at the Big Tent rocks. On Monday, I was all over the Fat Tire. Today I went with the Sunshine Wheat. Damn I love wheat beers, a result of living in German three years. Yum.
• Atrios is right: for all the bitching news media do about the lack of news at conventions, they all still insist on showing up. Is it the parties? Probably. Because they're not really needed.
• If it wasn't for the news media at the convention, bloggers would have far less to write about.
• It has been surprising, on the other hand, seeing how many print journalists are now trotting out video cameras for their papers' websites. We truly are headed to a world were the distinction between "print" and "broadcast" will erase.
• I did a panel today organized by the Hispanic Institute and The Common Good. On the panel, moderated by MSNBC's Dan Abrams, was me, Gov. Bill Richardson, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Harold Ford, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (NY), Tucker Carlson, DeeDee Myers, Faye Wattleton, and Newsweek's Richard Wolffe.
• I was wearing jeans, t-shirt, and sports jacket. I wore a button-down shirt on Monday, but it's too freakin' hot for those. So Tuesday I went with the more casual look. When I arrived, the other panelists were dressed professionally, as is usually the case. I get a kick being the most comfortably dressed person at these kinds of events. It reminds me how lucky I am to do what I do for a living.

  Harold Ford shows up right before the start of the convention, and he's wearing jeans (though with a button down shirt). I'm surprised. He always dresses super smart, tailored suits and all. So I point to the jeans as Abrams opens up the panel and whisper, "what's with those, I'm usually the only one with jeans." He whispers back, "I learned this look from you." I laugh politely. He looks at me seriously, "No, I really got this look from you." I wish I was as persuasive with my politics...

• Bill Richardson answered the first question, then disappeared. I get that some of these VIPs are busy people, but that seemed a bit weird.
• Don't tell my wife, but I've got a crush on Amy Klobuchar. I suddenly want to move to Minnesota. She also stuck around the whole time.
• Tucker Carlson did the typical "concern troll" thing, claiming that Obama would win if only he made eliminating affirmative action a top item on his agenda and campaigned on it. We all laughed at him.

  When I was addressed by Abrams a few questions later, I prefaced the answer to that question with a quick aside: Never trust Republicans bearing advice to Democrats, because they don't have our best interests in mind. The crowd was appreciative and cheered. Carlson fumed: "how open minded", as if being "open minded" meant taking electoral advice from the guys trying to defeat us in an election. What a tool.

• Klobuchar followed up with a suggestion that the panel vote Tucker off the panel, just like he had been voted off Dancing with the Stars. Did I mention I have a crush on her?
• An audience member asked why the media was obsessed about the Hillary/Obama supposed conflict. Dan Abrams fielded the question and said it was legitimate issue, and that they stood by it, and that since McCain was running ads on it, they couldn't offer good political coverage and ignore it.

  I jumped in (paraphrasing), "McCain has three ads on the theme, you've featured them all, yet their campaign is only actually airing one of them. You are doing the campaign's dirty work, and doing it for free!" The crowd approved.

  Abrams, suddenly under siege, admitted that was a valid critique.

• The crowd also liked the pin I was wearing. Printed up on Monday by Netroots Nation's Nolan Treadway (with help from others?) it says: "Ask me how many houses I own". (Christy took a picture of it.)
• So someone then asked me how many houses I owned. I think I calculated it at three percent of a house. The bank owns the other 97 percent.
• After the event, I was interviewed by a couple of adorable high school students. They asked me what the top three issues for kids should be. I answered 1) cost of higher education, 2) lack of jobs for graduates, 3) McCain talking about a draft, and 4) national service for all high school grads. Yeah, that's four, and yeah, I know some people don't like the idea of mandatory national service.

  I also told them that kids today are better able to integrate their politics into their lives thanks to social networking tools. That makes them more socially aware, more engaged, more tolerant, and more progressive than perhaps any generation before them. I dig the millennials.

• Back at the Big Tent, got to say "hello" to Ned Lamont and Rep. John Hall. Sen. Salazar passed through, pleased as heck that the convention was happening in his home state. Clay Johnson Aikens (not the American Idol guy) of the Sunlight Foundation and I lobbied him on electronic filing for Senate fundraising reports (which presidential and House candidates must do, but the Senate is oddly exempt), and promised to sign on as a co-sponsor to the relevant legislation. I can't believe that legislation is even controversial, but Republican John Ensign has been trying to kill it with a poison pill amendment.
• I wouldn't say Warner did terrible, but it's not good for anyone to come before or after Brian Schweitzer. I'm quite pleased his national profile is rising. He's the face of the Democratic resurgence in the Mountain West.
• But rising to the occasion, Hillary Clinton was perfect. I'm quite convinced she would've been our nominee had she voted against Bush war in Iraq, and she would've been a great nominee. .
• A stole a glimpse at the Cubs-Pirates score. Cubs won! But uh oh, Zambrano got hammered again. Like a good Cubs fan, I'm starting to panic. See? There's little difference between Cubs fans and Democrats. Neither of us are used to winning. And one bad poll/bad outing by your star pitcher, and we start assuming the worst.
• Back to Clinton, did you notice that she wore a Daily Kos-orange outfit? A signal to the PUMAs that their gig was up? Well, she could beat them with a 2x4 and they still wouldn't get the message because it ceased being about Clinton a long time ago...

  I am jealous that women politicians get to be creative in their outfits and use color. I love color. I loved Pelosi's minty green outfit at Netroots Nation. Guys, on the other hand, don't have such flexibility. My own readers panned me when I wore an orange tie on Meet the Press (they didn't like the brown sports jacket either). I cried for days. Either that or I said "Fuck all of you!" I can't remember which it was.

• I hadn't had a chance until late last night to peruse the chatter in the comment threads, and I'm surprised at how many whiners there are about the convention. I think it's been great. Monday night was awesome. Tuesday night was also awesome. I can't predict if Wednesday and Thursday will be awesome, but I'll go out on a limb and predict that yes, they'll be awesome too. (Sadly, that last sentence is better than 98 percent of the political "analysis" offered on television.)
• I could be in better spirits because I don't have to hear the yakkity yaks blabbing away incessantly, talking over speeches like Brian Schweitzer. Damn they love the sound of their own voices. Could they please shut the fuck up and let people digest the proceedings on their own? Do they have so little regard for their audience that they think people need DC- and NYC-based blowhards to tell them what to think?

  And yes, the simple answer is "yes".  

• I listened in briefly to a cop and some convention goers having a nice chat as we tried to get a cab to the hotel. He was saying how uneventful the convention had been, how well-behaved protesters had been, and how everything appeared to be going nice and smooth. Knock on wood, I suppose. I don't know how the TV blowhards have been portraying that stuff, but from my vantage point, it's been quite civil and -- dare I say it? -- even tame.

Maybe I should get a Twitter account, huh?