D-DAY

Our Sussex Cty for Kerry group had the July meeting last week, the subject was the environment, so I had a large part in preparing the agenda and delivering it.  It was a great meeting, the group grows larger every month, and the contacts I'm making with other progressive folks in the area are really psyching me up.  The weekend was spend on voter registration near the movie complex that is still playing F9/11, and this is a process that I am enjoying immensely.  We are using the federal reg forms and so are able to register people from almost all states, which is a big plus, as this is a high tourist area and we get lots of out-of-staters.  Because we are using these forms, not state forms, we're also able to be partisan and feature Kerry/Edwards materials at our table.  Registered voters are stopping for buttons, bumper stickers, flyers, etc.  Donations are also high.  The positive response outnumbers the negative by a high margin.

Yes, I'm a happy camper - the Red Sox won yesterday, the action is revving up in Boston, Teresa Heinz/Kerry is in fine feisty form, and I registered a lot of young voters this weekend. 

Indeed, the Democratic Convention starts today in Boston and I'm really wishing I still lived a few T-stops from downtown right now.  More interesting stuff will be happening outside of the Fleet Center than in it, is my guess, as many progressive groups will be hosting events of their own in various venues around town.  But I'm in Delaware, not Boston, and I couldn't afford to go up there and spend the week, so here I am watching from afar.  Old Hickory has a good entry about the convention today, and he's right when he says that conventions are for poliltical junkies as flames for moths, windshields for bugs, etc.  I know it's a show, I know it's scripted, I know every moment is planned, every move is watched, every balloon that falls is counted like sparrows by God - but I still can't help myself.  I'll be watching all week. Thursday night I'll be watching at a big party the county Dems are having at the beach: food, booze, live band, big screen TV, call-in from John Edwards, all donations accepted, thank you very much.

Because I am spending most of my time either in local political action, or watching the convention (or reading blogs about it) I won't be posting much this week is my guess.  An interesting new factor for this year's conventions is that blogs are getting credentialed to attend, and there will be a lot of info online that you may not find elsewhere.  The wonderful site  cyberjournalist has a listing of blogs  credentialed for this convention, also media outlets that will be blogging as well as other forms of news outletting.  I will be checking in with some of these during the week myself.  This is the official site for the convention itself, and it will be hosting a bunch of stuff, video and audio, online as well.

For hometown blogging with a political flavor, keep reading my friends at:  DeProfundis,  Old Hickory's Weblog, Progressive Musings, WhoCaresWhatIThink?, 2004 Presidential Election, Tank Gurl's Two Cents, Random Thoughts.   Yep, they're all "liberal" journals, those of you who want the other side - you know where they are.