This just in from the DNCC for media and bloggers planning to attend the Denver Convention in August: The final media walk-through is June 19. Details below:

DENVER - The Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) will host a media walk-through for national, local and online media outlets, including bloggers, interested in covering the 2008 Democratic National Convention on Thursday, June 19, 2008 at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Registration and a continental breakfast will be available beginning at 8:00 AM MST, and the program will begin at 9:00 AM with remarks from Colorado Governor Bill Ritter. A more detailed itinerary will be distributed to registered outlets closer to the event.

Working members of the news media interested in attending should register via email at MediaRSVP@demconvention.com and provide attendee name(s), name of news organization and complete contact information. The deadline to register for the walk-through is June 5, 2008. Registration is required to attend.

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The Democratic National Convention Committee, through DNC Chair Howard Dean, has announced the selection of credentialed blogs for the "50 state blogger corps" for the Democratic Convention. They include one blog from each of the 50 states. To be eligible, the blog must concentrate on the politics of its state. National blogs and video and niche bloggers will be selected at a later date.

Congratulations to Colorado's Square State Blog for being selected as the credentialed state blog for Colorado.

For the first time, state bloggers will be seated on the convention floor with their state's delegates.

Aaron Silverstein at Square State has this interview with Chair Howard Dean about the credentialing of bloggers.

24 hotspots in and around Denver have been selected by the DNC to host the Sunday night parties for the delegates at the August Convention.

Illinois's delegates will hold a party at the Denver Art Museum. New York's delegates get the Pinnacle Club at the Downtown Grand Hyatt. Florida and Michigan get zip -- because their delegates have been stripped as a penalty for holding their primaries early,

What about Colorado's delegates? Their party will be held at the Governor's mansion.

Here's an interactive map showing all 24 party venues and the hotels that will house the various state delegations.

The late night video is Glenn Frey: Party Town, 1982. This is an open thread. Party on.

Update: For those who don't want to read through the live-blog below, the shorter version is the DNCC is making efforts to accommodate more bloggers than in 2004. Enabling a state blogger to sit with the delegates from their state is a big improvement, but it only applies to one blog per state, and doesn't apply to non-state bloggers.

Also, the credentials are only for events at the Pepsi Center, not for events at the Convention Center where other events and meetings will be taking place. I don't think this should deter anyone. In Boston in 2004, our media pass got us into events at the hotels and events outside the Fleet Center. Nothing really happens at the Pepsi Center until late afternoon. [More...]

Just in from the DNCC:

We’re hosting a conference call on Tuesday to talk logistics. We’ll answer your questions about the credentialing process and we’ll give you a more clear picture of what to expect in August. Join us. And if you have friends or colleagues who plan to blog the Convention, please extend the invitation. We’re eager to see more bloggers apply for spots in the Press Gallery – but the application deadline is approaching.

CONFERENCE CALL DETAILS:
Tuesday, April 1, 2008 at 3:30pm ET

RSVP with your name, the name of your blog, and URLs to OnlineTeam-at-DemConvention.com. We’ll e-mail you the call-in number prior to the scheduled call.

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By Big Tent Democrat

What a fine mess Donna Brazile and Howard Dean have created. BTW, she should be removed from commenting on CNN about this primary campaign given the fact she is part of the story, and an ugly part.

Jerome Armstrong has the details:

Speaking as someone who sent Howard Dean to the DNC to decentralize the power of that committee to the states, it was a terrible leadership for him to have allowed the Rules & Bylaws Committee to tangle the presidential nominating selection process by selectively attempting to strip two states of their delegates, while continuing to ignore the fact that Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina broke those same rules.

What's that? Yes, read the rules. . . . Yes, you read that right; under Rule 20.C.1.a., Florida, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, and South Carolina would have all lost their super delegates and had their pledged delegates reduced by half since they all violated Rule 11.A.

However, Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina weren't punished fairly. In fact, they weren't punished at all. And what about Florida & Michigan? Well, we all know what happened to them.

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NOTE - Comments are now closed

John McCain on the campaign stump Saturday:

"You can count on me to protect the rights of the unborn in this country, " McCain told voters in Birmingham. In Atlanta, he vowed to appoint judges who are "clones" of conservative Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.

That just about says it all. So, which Democrat can beat John McCain in November? Hopefully, either one.

Hillary Clinton released a statement today asking her delegates to support the seating of the Michigan and Florida delegates at the DNC in Denver.

She also says she will abide by the no-campaign pledge the candidates signed and expects the other candidates to do so as well.

"I believe our nominee will need the enthusiastic support of Democrats in these states to win the general election, and so I will ask my Democratic convention delegates to support seating the delegations from Florida and Michigan. I know not all of my delegates will do so and I fully respect that decision. But I hope to be President of all 50 states and U.S. territories, and that we have all 50 states represented and counted at the Democratic convention. "I hope my fellow potential nominees will join me in this.

"I will of course be following the no-campaigning pledge that I signed, and expect others will as well."

Source for numbers: MSNBC vote tally by county and Nevada Dems.

Hillary won in other counties besides Clark. She also won in Lincoln, Lander, Lyon, Mineral and Nye. I feel like that's getting lost in the discussion.

Mother Jones has a new article about Mike Huckabee, Huckabee Hides His Full Gospel?

The question is, if elected President, how much would Huckabee inject his faith into his policy?

Huckabee won't release his sermons, but there's plenty of other clues. This comment he made while Governor in 1997 is pretty telling:

[T]hat year, Huckabee refused to sign legislation to assist storm victims because the measure referred to tornadoes and floods as "acts of God." Putting his name on such legislation, Huckabee explained, "would be violating my own conscience" due to the bill equating "a destructive and deadly force" as "an act of God."

If you're a blogger (particularly on state issues) and want to get media credentials for the August 25 to 28 Democratic Convention in Denver, the process begins today.

Big media goes through the Congressional Galleries. Bloggers go through the DNCC's Press Gallery. The basics are here -- 50 blogs on state issues, one from each state, will get credentialed first. National and niche bloggers will go into a second pool of applicants.

DNCC PRESS GALLERY: all other news organizations including blogs community newspapers, the publications of membership organizations, quarterlies, college media, production houses and media service organizations. Please visit the DNCC blog for more information on the blogger credentialing process.

DNCC Press Gallery
1560 Broadway
Denver, Colorado 80202
Phone: 720-362-2008
Email: dnccpressgallery-at-demconvention.com
www.demconvention.com

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It's official. The DNCC has announced the hotels the various state delegations will be staying at for the Democrats' convention in August. Here's the list (no link yet, received by e-mail):

STATE/TERRITORY HOTEL
Alabama - Doubletree Denver Stapleton
Alaska - Four Points Sheraton Denver Southeast
American Samoa - Radisson Southeast
Arizona - Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center
Arkansas - Marriott Denver South at Park Meadows
California - Adam's Mark
Colorado - Grand Hyatt Downtown
Connecticut - Marriott Denver Tech Center
Delaware - Marriott South at Park Meadows
Democrats Abroad - Red Lion Denver Central
District of Columbia - Crowne Plaza, Downtown
Georgia - Doubletree Denver Stapleton
Guam - Sheraton Denver Tech Center
Hawaii - Marriott Denver South at Park Meadows
Idaho - Sheraton Denver Tech Center
Illinois - Marriott City Center, Downtown
Indiana - Sheraton Denver Tech Center
Iowa - Courtyard by Marriott, Downtown
Kansas - Doubletree Denver Tech Center
Kentucky - Hilton Garden Inn, Downtown
Louisiana - Radisson Stapleton Plaza

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