Greetings from Bloomington

I’ve arrived at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul,or, more exactly I’m at the La Quinta Inn in Bloomington, 15 miles away. This the headquarters for the Iowa delegation.
Monday’s convention schedule has been abbreviated, thanks to Hurricane Gustav. The convention will gavel in for just a few hours in the afternoon to take care [...]

Gustav Scrambles GOP Plans

From Politico:
ST. PAUL, Minn. – President Bush is unlikely to make it to the Republican National Convention, and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) may deliver his acceptance speech via satellite because of the historically huge hurricane threatening New Orleans, top officials said.
And from The Washington Post:
ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug. 31 — With Hurricane Gustav gaining power [...]

Getaway Day

I’m still in Denver for a few hours, but I’m wearing a Minnesota Twins T-shirt, a sure sign that I and the rest of the political world will now turn our attention toward the Twin Cities and the Republicans.
Unfortunately, the Twins will still be in the middle of a season-crushing road trip when I get [...]

Clintons Behaving Gladly

Journalism used to be called the first draft of history. Now, with our screens filled by a mob of cable TV pundits, it’s more like the first draft of hysteria.
Take the coverage in the lead up to and in the initial days of the Democratic National Convention. It was filled with hand-wringing about how giving Bill and [...]

Iowa Delegates Vote

Iowa DNC Roll Call Vote: Obama 48, Clinton 9

Meanwhile, back home

Legislative Republicans are starting to turn up the heat on the need for a special session to address flood needs. Here’s this morning’s GOP news release:
Republican Reps. Call for Special Session to help Flood Victims
(DES MOINES)-A group of Republicans representing areas affected by the summer floods and tornadoes have today called on the governor to [...]

Hillary Scores

What is it about near-misses and great speeches?
That was the best speech I’ve ever seen Hillary Clinton give. Sure, there were cliches and some fluff, but it was forceful and got the job done. Obama’s probably in better shape now than he was before she stepped to the mike, and that’s really all the nervous [...]

Chet’s Up, Here’s the Text

Culver’s Dermocratic convention speech, prepared for delivery:
The long journey to this historic convention began on a cold winter’s night in the great State of Iowa!
So, I’m honored to join you – nearly seven months and seven hundred miles from the site of that first contest, as we unite to make Barack Obama the next President [...]

Photographic Evidence

This is a photo of yours truly live-blogging at this morning’s Iowa delegation breakfast. Sure, that could be any hotel basement, but it’s not. It’s in Denver. I swear it. The photo was snapped by Radio Iowa’s O.K. Henderson.
I just scream “new media” don’t I?
I’ll be at it again tomorrow morning on gazetteonline.com, around 8:30 [...]

Blogile Dysfunction in Denver

Monday afternoon I walked into the Pepsi Center, site of the Democratic National Convention, secure in the assumption that I had desk space and Internet access. Unfortunately, one out of two was bad.
Desk yes. Internet, no.
Iowa Democratic party folks told us we’d have access. Qwest, the big telecommunications sheriff in this cow town, said otherwise. [...]