I remember being shocked to see Sen. Ted Kennedy come out on stage and deliver this speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver last year. He had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor that spring, and had only undergone surgery a couple of months before. This speech, and the accompanying introduction and tribute video, occurred exactly one year ago to the day of Kennedy's death. more ›

For all the hubbub about Virginia being one of the keystones of the new Democratic revolution, it's still important to remember that the states still boasts a fairly wide conservative base. A fairly wide conservative base whose leadership has obviously mastered the art of using iMovie to splice together a montage of Tim Kaine speeches, postcards, "I've Been Everywhere," and huge text overlays. Take that, lefties! more ›

AJ Schnack returned to SILVERDOCS last night with the world premiere screening of his latest, Convention. Schnack received the festival's Cinematic Vision Award a few years back for his About a Boy, an elegiac tribute to Kurt Cobain featuring taped interviews with the singer combined with filmed images of the places where he lived and grew up. It was an acquired taste as a film, but even its detractors couldn't deny it's simple beauty. For his latest feature, though, Schnack was required to take a far more journalistic approach, as he set out to cover the behind-the-scenes workings of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. more ›

Last week we brought you extensive coverage of the D.C. delegation's activities at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Now that the Republican National Convention is underway in St. Paul, can you expect the same kind of reporting? No, but it's not for lack of trying. more ›

In case you missed Friday's special episode of The Daily Show, check out the video excerpt above to catch D.C. Council member Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) being interviewed by John Oliver on the floor of Invesco Field on Thursday night. Bowser's short appearance begins around the 46 second mark. Oliver and his crew taped the segment shortly before Barack Obama gave his acceptance speech in Denver, and it appeared as though Bowser and several other members of the D.C. delegation had no idea who Oliver was when he approached her.
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The experience of attending Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's acceptance speech at Invesco Field in Denver on Thursday night was, simply put, staggering. From the very long lines to board a shuttle bus, to the exponentially longer security lines to get inside the stadium, just the process of getting to your seat took about two hours. Once inside however, the effect of such an imposing, enormous arena having been turned into a political spectacle was undeniably impressive. The sheer scale of the thing was difficult to take in. Veteran journalists who have covered a dozen conventions could be overheard on the stadium floor saying things like, "I've never seen anything like this." It was easy to believe them. more ›

WTOP's Mark Plotkin was kind enough to invite DCist's Sommer Mathis to appear on the Politics Program this morning to discuss the D.C. delegation's role at the Democratic National Convention. Washington City Paper's Mike DeBonis is also appearing on the show, and Sommer will join in at 10:30 a.m. more ›

As promised, Dan Rather stopped by today's voting rights luncheon hosted by D.C.'s shadow delegation in downtown Denver. The veteran journalist shook hands and posed for pictures, and though he didn't make a speech to the crowd, he did answer a reporter's question about D.C. voting rights by explaining that he was very familiar with the issue, having lived in Georgetown for eight years. more ›

I'm waiting for the luncheon to begin, and while I have yet to spot the actors scheduled to be here, Shadow Sen. Michael Brown says former CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather might be on his way here as well. Rather and Brown know each other through a mutual friend, and the veteran newsman is a proponent of D.C. voting rights, according to Brown. The shadow senator said he couldn't be sure Rather would make it to the event, but that he had said he would come. Brown also said he and Rather have definite plans to sit together at Invesco Field tonight to watch Sen. Barack Obama accept the Democratic nomination for president — though whether they'll actually sit in the D.C. delegation's section wasn't clear. more ›

We're heading over to a quickly thrown together luncheon hosted by the District's shadow delegation (Shadow Sen. Michael Brown said it was coordinated over the course of four hours) that will apparently feature Hayden Panettiere of Heroes, some other yet unnamed actor who has appeared on The West Wing, and minor character actor David Keith, whose most recent major role was over 25 years ago, in An Officer and a Gentleman. more ›

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Drama during the roll call! As head of the D.C. delegation, Mayor Adrian Fenty was supposed to be the one to read the District's vote into the record at the Democratic National Convention -- but Fenty didn't turn up until at least 10 minutes after D.C. was called upon to cast its votes. D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton subbed for the absent mayor, giving impromptu remarks harkening back to the voting rights themes from her speech on Tuesday while doing so. (In fact, since a lot more state delegates were actually here during the roll call, Norton got many more cheers from the crowd than she did when she was at the podium yesterday). more ›

3:42 p.m.: I just arrived on the floor of the Pepsi Center to watch the roll call at the Democratic National Convention, and went directly to the seat I've been using all week when I'm sitting with the D.C. delegation. I'm supposed to be able to sit in this particular seat because it's the only one that reaches the ethernet cable allocated to me as the official blogger for the District's delegation. But when I arrived, D.C. Democratic Party chair Anita Bonds told me she would not allow me to sit in this seat tonight, since she wants to seat District government officials in this row "according to their importance." Right now I'm sitting in the row below, where I can still reach the cable I need, but this seat appears to be technically in the Connecticut section. I'll hang on to my spot as long as I can, but note to organizers of the State Blogger Corps: next time, make sure you tell the heads of each delegation that their blogger must have access to the internet, or else this whole experiment is kind of a waste. UPDATE: To be fair to Bonds, the seat in question was located adjacent to D.C.'s podium in the arena, and had I been sitting there, I would have appeared on camera during the roll call vote. Bonds did just offer to let me move back up now that the vote has been cast. more ›

Tuesday was Hillary Clinton Day at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. The senator and former presidential candidate gave a rousing speech that most pundits agreed accomplished what she had promised to do: leave no doubt that she is fully behind the candidacy of her former rival, Sen. Barack Obama. more ›

Some D.C. politicians say they're miffed by what they perceive as a snub against the District of Columbia by Sen. Hillary Clinton during her marquee speech at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night. more ›

Voting rights activists and members of the D.C. delegation to the Democratic National Convention held a small rally in front of the U.S. Mint in Denver this morning, but the Mint's location on the edge of downtown made for a not particularly visible event among the throng of other convention-related activities going on here. more ›

DC Vote just sent around an email to all their supporters to remind them of their planned event outside the U.S. Mint in downtown Denver. The rally (protest? gathering?) is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. From the announcement:

We will host a peaceful rally outside the Denver Mint and pass out wooden coins to the public because the mint rejected the DC government's request to imprint the words "taxation without representation" on DC's quarters and because… more ›

Here's the music video that played right before Eleanor Holmes Norton was introduced at the DNC. The go-go style song, "Demand the Vote", was commissioned by DC Vote and written by D.C. musician Joe L. Da Vessel and the band Melodic. The video was directed by Warren Wesley at G-light Films. more ›

With delegations from most other states yet to take their seats in the Pepsi Center, the District of Columbia's delegation did their best to make up for the relatively empty house during D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton's speech by cheering loudly and chanting, "We want the vote!" more ›

D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is set to open the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Unlike Monday, the D.C. delegation has shown up bright and early to watch Norton speak. Most of D.C.'s section of the Pepsi Center is full at just after 3 p.m. Mountain time. more ›

Abraham Lincoln took a stroll along downtown Denver's 16th Street Mall today, encouraging passersby to sign a petition to support congressional representation for the District of Columbia. more ›

One day down and three more to go here in Denver at the Democratic National Convention. Below are some of the top moments of Day 1 for DCist (and a couple lowlights for good measure). more ›

I'm guessing this isn't on TV, but right now the entire Pepsi Center is rocking out to a live house band version of "Are You Gonna Go My Way," while the camera picks out notable folks (there's VP nominee Joe Biden!). The house is pretty packed at this point, and delegates are on their feet, dancing. Also, there's a contest posted on one of the big screens to determine which state or territory has the "best" delegation. So text "DNC DC" to 62262! (In a nice score for the District, "DNC DC" is actually the example shown on the screen for other states to follow.) more ›

It's just about 4 p.m. in Denver. The Democratic National Convention officially started one hour ago. The Pepsi Center is more than half empty. Granted, most of what's going on up on the stage right now is procedural. But still, where is everybody? more ›

DCist is participating in a first of its kind credential program at this year's Democratic National Convention. We're serving as the selected blogger representing the District of Columbia in the DNC State Blogger Corps. Here's how The New York Times described the desirability of our credential:

For bloggers attending the Democratic convention at the Pepsi Center in Denver, two types of credentials are offered. The first is a national credential, which offers the same access granted to members of traditional news media organizations. more ›

The Pepsi Center is located only a little over a mile away from the center of downtown Denver, but for credentialed delegates and media, getting inside the facility is a process that takes about one hour. more ›

At least one protester was detained by police outside the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver just after noon on Monday, as the Democratic National Convention was getting underway. Four people wearing bandanas over their faces, who said they were protesting "capitalism," sat down on the sidewalk in front of the convention center, prompting a swarm of roughly 20 police officers to shut down one lane of traffic and subsequently put one of them in plastic handcuffs. Two of the other protesters told bystanders that they had not been told by police why their friend was being arrested, and claimed they had done nothing wrong. more ›

For most of the year, D.C. Shadow Sen. Paul Strauss is a senator in name only. His elected position doesn't pay him a salary, he has no real standing in Congress, and he spends much of his time trying to educate as many influential people as he can about D.C.'s non-voting status. But at the Democratic National Convention, a shadow senator gets to play make believe. more ›

Don't forget to sign up to follow my updates from the Democratic National Convention on Twitter. Click to follow DCistAtDNC, and keep tabs on where I am and who I'm talking to as it happens. If you don't use Twitter, you can also see my most recent updates in the left hand column of the DCist homepage. And for the most recent posts from Denver, you can click the DCist at DNC tag, a link for which we've temporarily placed on the main menu bar at the top of the page. more ›

The District of Columbia's delegates to the Democratic National Convention gathered early this morning at the Crowne Plaza hotel in downtown Denver for a collegial breakfast before heading out to lobby other delegations to support voting rights for D.C. more ›