The Democratic National Convention shifted into full speed tonight.  Vice President Al Gore gave a great speech.  The tone of his speech was centered on reminding the American people of the circumstances surrounding the end of the 2000 election; "Let's make sure that this time every vote is counted."  He did a great job referencing the fact that the 2000 election was stolen and warning that we need to make sure that it doesn't happen again.  He reached out to Nader supporters, skillfully, by asking them to really pay attention to what has happened to our country under the presidency of GWB.  It is extremely important that Nader supporters realize that a vote for anyone either than John Kerry is a vote for Bush.  You can read the full text of Al's speech HERE.



Jennifer Granholm, Canadian-born Governor of Michigan, gave an amazing follow-up interview after Gore's speech.  I have never heard her be so partisan in my life; she did the Democrats proud.  She made a great pitch for Kerry.  I was impressed with her very much.

President Jimmy Carter took a great swipe at GWB's "military career" by merely stating that John Kerry showed up for his military service.  The speeches are extremely effective against GWB and his failed policies without ever mentioning him by name.  "We cannot lead if our leaders mislead."  Well said, President Carter.  You can read the full text of Jimmy's speech HERE.

CNN kept talking about the blogosphere as if it were an entity like the Internet.  They are taking great pains to call attention to the fact that there are bloggers present at this convention.  It seems to cheapen it a bit for me.  I am not a fan of the mainstreaming of blogging.  In any regard, you can read the CNN Blog here.

A special edition of Larry King Live featured Vanessa and Alexandra Kerry, John Kerry's extremely able daughters.  The only thing I kept thinking while listening to them was how much they could kick the Bush Twin's asses!  It's childish, I know, but true.

I flipped over to Fox News, mostly because I'm a masochist, and found myself completely disgusted by their bullshit rhetoric.  This news channel, "fair and balanced" mind you, was doing nothing but smearing every aspect of the Democratic National Convention.  How they have the nerve to claim that they report "the news" is beyond me.  The interview with Anne Coulter (I don't even want to tell you what I really think about that bitchface) just made me sick.  Then it made me angry.  It's people like her that make me fear for my country.  The Right Wing Agenda fanatics must be stopped for the good of our nation.  I was happy to switch back over to CNN. BTW, Bill O'Reilly is still a flaming asshole.

There was a nice tribute to those lost in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  The delegates all held up lights while Amazing Grace was played on the violin.  It was pretty touching.



Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton opened the prime prime time slot by first speaking on behalf of John Kerry and then introducing President Clinton.  She said "[John Kerry] knows you need to lead the world not alienate it," and I couldn't agree more.  She hailed the bravery of the families of those lost in 9/11 for their insistence on the creation of the 9/11 Commission.  She spoke boldly and eloquently.  God, I can't wait until she decides to run for President.  I hope to see her run some day.  You can read the full text of Hillary's speech HERE.



Anyways she finally introduced President Bill Clinton who emerged while Fleetwood Mac's song Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow played in the background.  It felt just like 1992!  He was greeted with such thunderous applause it's no wonder they put him on Monday night (so as not to overshadow John Kerry on Thursday night).  He hailed John Kerry as "a true New England patriot" likening him to John F. Kennedy who was also from Massachusetts.  He was funny and passionate, smart and witty.  You could tell he was talking straight to the American people.  Holy shizz, this man can give a speech!  It was like church in that auditorium.  All I kept thinking while he was speaking was how fast I would vote for him again!  I haven't picked up his autobiography yet, but you better believe I'm going to get myself a copy.  President Clinton did an absolutely incredible job talking up John Kerry.  You can read the full text of President Bill Clinton's speech HERE. 



Then Patti Labelle belted out a song and that was the end of the first night of the Democratic National Convention.

Earlier today I found myself wondering who was going to watch this or any party convention and why.  I had in the back of my mind that I wanted to watch some of the convention broadcast but didn't really keep it in mind as a priority.  While watching the speeches tonight I actually found my pride swelling at the prospect of Kerry being elected President of the United States of America.  Yikes, this entry is so long because I sat in front of the TV with my laptop typing as events occurred on the screen.  I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to devote this much time to the Democratic National Convention beyond tonight but I will keep tabs on what happens next.  I hope to watch the Howard Dean speech tomorrow and, of course, the John Edwards speech on Wednesday and the John Kerry speech on Thursday.

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