Live-Blogging at the DNC: Thursday August 28, 2008

DENVER, CO-

6:34 p.m. MST

Greetings from Denver once again. Tonight is the final night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention, and in roughly ninety minutes Barack Obama will take the stage to formally accept his party's nomination for president of the United States.

It is an historic occasion any way you slice it, and the feeling inside Mile High Stadium is completely electric.

Earlier, I was down on the convention floor as will.i.am was performing his YouTube mega-hit, "Yes We Can." The scene around me was incredible. Spike Lee, standing on a chair, holding a video camera, leading the crowd in a sing-along. People crying. Waving flags. Hugging one another. Cheering.

To those who would strongly oppose the Obama candidacy, this sort of scene would probably seem like a freaky horror show.

To those in the middle, and those who are full-fledged supporters of Barack, it was glory.

Stevie Wonder just finished performing "Signed, Sealed, Delivered." The Obamaniacs in attendance were on their feet and dancing. The stadium is at capacity.

Al Gore has just been introduced. The crowd is now stomping its feet, roaring its approval, and my computer is rattling in my lap. Gore has his hand on his heart, thanking the adoring crowd. Gore, the Nobel laureate. Gore, the redeemed tragic hero of Left-Wing nation.

Gore is hitting McCain-Bush, asking America if it wants four more years of Republican policy.

I believe in recycling, but that's ridiculous.

The crowd goes wild.

The sun is setting over the Rocky Mountains and the weather here in Colorado is absolutely perfect.

I am sitting to Al Gore's left, up about a hundred rows on the left side of the stadium. An expansive view of the floor. An expansive view of the stadium. Below I can see the various media tents: MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, you name it.

Tonight's DNC liveblog is unfolding a bit differently than on the previous three nights.

At the Pepsi Center, I was up in press row, surrounded by journalists.

Here at Mile High, I am operating on battery power, sitting amid the crowd with my computer on my lap. To my left, a woman named Marie Davis from Foster City, CA. To my right, Marcia Marley, from Montclair, New Jersey. American flags are everywhere.

Gore is wrapping up his remarks. Standing ovation. A sea of waving flags.

The crowd is doing the wave. The entire stadium is shaking. Obama is due up in an hour.

Back in a moment with more...

 

7:06 p.m. MST

Michael McDonald has just finished singing "America the Beautiful." Tens of thousands of American flags waving in the summer breeze.

An "O-BA-MA!" chant is ringing up from the floor. The floor is where the party is. The floor is where the delegates are. The floor is where a lot of the really hardcore supporters are. The floor is where the celebrities are. The floor is where Spike Lee is. Spike Lee is fired up tonight, as well he should be.

We're now at some sort of commercial lull. An Obama video clip has come to a close, and nothing is happening. The predominant sound in the stadium is that of energetic conversation.

Now here comes the "Rocky" theme song.

Susan Eisenhower takes the stage in a bright red dress, looking like she just stepped off the set of Leave It to Beaver.. Reminiscent of Nancy Reagan.

The major difference: Eisenhower has shifted allegiances and is now supporting a Democrat.

Today the devisions in our country are deep and wide...

We have knowingly saddled our children and grandchildren with a staggering debt. This is a moral failing and not just a financial one...

Our nation's discourse has turned into a petty squabble...

Eisenhower ends her remarks to cordial applause, and the DNC transitions into a logical salute of American military personnel. Wesley Clark gets a huge ovation.

All of the military men and women on stage are strong supporters of Obama. The Democrats continue to make a play for the national security vote, for the military vote.

 

Now Joe Biden takes the stage to a foot-stomping standing ovation. A girl on my left keeps screaming, "JOOOOOOOE!"

The sun has set behind the mountains, but the sky is still light. Not a cloud.

Biden is projecting much better tonight. Speaking up. Speaking forcefully. Continuing the extended introduction of Obama.

Last night I complained that Biden had talked too softly. It seems he was made aware of this. Biden is practically shouting into the microphone. A big improvement. A quick study. Fire in the belly. Passion.

He introduces a series of "ordinary citizen speakers" who will now make the case for an Obama presidency. Teamsters, teachers, et cetera.

Barack Obama will take the stage in thirty minutes.

Please stay tuned....

 

7:35 p.m. MST

The Obama team has screened these ordinary citizen speakers very well. Each has been successful at the podium. Each has generated significant applause. Each, I would suspect, was carefully pre-screened to fit a particular theme and to appeal to a particular demographic.

Ah, politics.

The stagecraft of it is endlessly mortifying fascinating.

The decision to distribute American flags to all in attendance seems like smart politics and good common sense. Makes for good television. The extraordinary sea of American flags. The Democrats making a play to beat the Republicans at their own game.

Message: We are America, too.

Message: Barack Obama is an American, with American values and a deeply American biography.

Marcia, the woman sitting to my right, was at Boston in 2004 for John Kerry's convention. I just asked her if Kerry's convention was awash like this in miniature American flags. She said she didn't think so.

By rolling out these "ordinary folks" and playing a strong (and wildly) overt American theme, the Obama camp is clearly making a play to convince the undecideds that Barack Obama is indeed one of them.

Now they have Springsteen's "Born in the USA" on the PA system. The crowd is doing the wave. Everyone around me is clapping along with the music. The man sitting behind me just said: "They got the wave going."

Everyone stands and cheers as the wave rolls through my section.

I remain seated with my computer in my lap, typing frantically.

Obama is up in fifteen minutes.

Gotta change my computer battery.

Back soon with more....

 

7:56 p.m. MST

Obama's speech tonight is called "The American Promise."

The anticipation, the expectations...both are sky-high.

Beyond sky-high.

Everyone is waiting for Obama to step up to the podium and make history. Everyone is wondering if Barack Obama could possibly top his keynote address at the 2004 convention in Boston. The pundits are likely going to be judging him against the greatest speeches in American history.

Dick Durbin has just taken the stage to introduce his friend and colleague once again. (Durbin introduced Obama in 2004 at Boston Garden.) He steps up to the podium:

We know that Americans hunger for change...

We see it in the eyes of the young people who work night and day, eat cold pizza, sleep on the floor, because they want to believe...

We have gathered here this week to dedicate ourselves to that new day...

With this election, the greatness of American can return....

 

I just took a deep breath and looked around the stadium.

Flashbulbs popping.

Every seat filled.

Blue sky overhead.

This is American history.

 

The stadium lights go dark and now begins a video tease.

A collective "Awwwwwwwwwwwwww" as a baby picture of Obama flashes on the big screen.

The David Strathairn voiceover:

His childhood was like any other, but it was his search for self that defined him...

His grandfather fought in Patton's army...

His grandmother worked on a bomber assembly line...

Obama, talking about his late mother: "The only time I ever saw my mother really angry was when she saw cruelty."

We are getting the full Obama biography, the one that political junkies and news watchers of all stripes know so well by now.

His classmates would field offers from big law firms and Wall Street, but he felt compelled to serve...

And in Washington he would remember why he was running, and who he was fighting for...

The audience in Mile High Stadium is silent. The video is doing its job. The full Hollywood production.

Obama is now narrating:

"One person's struggle is all of our struggle..."

"And that's the country I believe in..."

"That's what's worth fighting for..."

And now...

Out strides Barack Obama to a massive, thunderous, stadium-sized standing ovation.

Flashbulbs popping like diamonds all over the stadium.

Flags waving.

Feet stomping.

Obama at the microphone. Waving. Offering thanks.

 

America, we are a better country than the past eight years...

Enough!

We are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look like the last eight...

And now Barack makes...a Dick Van Patten joke?

Eight is enough.

It might just be corny enough to stick.

 

Obama seems to be making a strong play on bread and butter, middle class domestic issues. Playing to broad themes but attempting to match it with more specific rhetoric.

He now makes his promise to offer tax relief to companies that keep jobs at home, while eliminating tax breaks given to corporations that ship jobs overseas.

I will cut taxes for 95 percent of all working families...

We will finally end our dependence on foreign oil from the Middle East...

(The crowd goes wild.)

Obama continues to hammer economic issues.

Marcia, the woman on my right, just turned and said: "This is better than 2004."

 

And now Obama shifts into foreign policy issues:

If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament and the judgment to serve as the next commander-in-chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have.

The crowd is on its feet.

John McCain likes to say that he'll follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of hell, but he won't even follow him to the camp where he lives.

Another standing ovation.

You don't defeat a terrorist network that operates in eighty countries by occupying Iraq...

You can't truly stand up for Georgia when you've strained our oldest alliances...

We are the party of Roosevelt...

We are the party of Kennedy...

Don't tell me that Democrats won't keep us safe...

(Noteworthy: Obama didn't say, "We are the party of Clinton.")

 

Another standing ovation as Obama delivers a rousing line about restoring America's standing as the last, best hope of the world.

An older African-American gentlemen sitting behind me shouts out: "GO 'HEAD!"

The crowd roars.

 

I've got news for you, John McCain: We all put our country first...

We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country...

Don't tell me we can't uphold the second amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals...

I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk...

If you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare voters...

You make a big election about small things...

I realize that I'm not the likeliest candidate for this office...

I don't fit the typical pedigree...

What the naysayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me---it's about you...

A huge standing ovation.

Obama closes by acknowledging Dr. King and the 45th anniversary of the "I Have a Dream" speech.

I'm running out of battery power, so I'll have to close quickly.

Michelle and family are joining Senator Obama on-stage. Fireworks just exploded and scared the living crap out of everyone in the stadium. The crowd is on its feet.

 

Was the speech a success? Did it top 2004? Did it make history?

I'll leave that to the television pundits.

Right now, I've got to sign off.

Thank you so much for tuning in all week.

This was so much fun.

Cheers,
BL

Comments

[jrenwah]

Live blogging - very exciting. it was a little like being there. What a trip to be there in the room with all that electricity and excitement flying around. Excellent coverage.

[Greg Boose]

Brad - you did a great job all week. I couldn't imagine capturing all that in such an explosive atmosphere. Thanks for keeping your head down and your fingers moving.

My wife was crying during Obama's speech...