DNC meeting will re-air at 3:45 today on C-Span.

[madfloridian]

I caught parts of it. Sounds like Dean must have gone after Bush pretty powerfully.

http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2006/08/dnc_in_chicago_5.html

"DNC In Chicago: Dean Says Bush Has Failed The World
DNC Chair Howard Dean today tried to make one thing clear to his GOP rivals: If they want to fight the '06 midterms on nat'l security, Dems are ready.

Presenting a dark and threatening image of the world under Pres. Bush's foreign policy, Dean said voters should rebuke a "failed" Bush/GOP agenda this fall by electing Democrats.

"Iraq is sliding into civil war," Dean said in his address to the DNC general session this morning. "Iran is about to obtain nuclear weapons. North Korea has four times more nuclear weapons than they did when Bush took office. The Taliban is comign back in Afghanistan partly because we don't have enough troops there, partly because they're in Iraq. And five years after 9/11, Osama bin Laden is still free."

Dean said the "occupation" of Iraq "comes at great cost" to American voters, "a majority of whom oppose the war and agree with the Democratic position that we should begin a phased redeployment of our troops by the end of the year." "

There are videos and write-ups at the DNC blog and on the front page.
http://www.democrats.org/blog.html

And more from the Hotline which is the only blog covering it very much at all.

http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2006/08/dnc_in_chicago_2.html

DNC In Chicago: "We're Gonna Win (Maybe)!"
Caution, you're entering a spin zone.

"Strategists leading the Dems' campaign to retake Capitol Hill gave DNCers a detailed overview of the '06 landscape, in which they agreed with DNC Chair Howard Dean's opening assessment that "if the election were held today, we'd have a terrific shot at taking back the Senate and we would take back the House."

In other words, officials said, Dems remain better positioned in the House than in the Senate, where they have yet to identify a sixth realistic pick-up opportunity (prospects include VA, TN and AZ, none of which currently features a Dem frontrunner)."

However near the end of Dean's speech I hear him urge caution in being overly optimistic.

[movonne]

1. Is that c-span 1,2 or 3 and is this eastern time or pacific time??? He

does not want people to be overly confident or some may not vote...

[madfloridian]

2. It was on C-Span 1, so I assume there...my time is Eastern.

So I quoted ET. They announced it at the end of the meeting.

Yes, in context that is what he meant.

I doubt anyone will watch, it is easier to bitch about what the party is not doing. I just thought I would post it anyway, since NONE of the dem bloggers are covering it at all.

Why aren't they covering it? I don't know. I see some diaries about it that drop quickly. But no front pager at a Dem blog is touching this meeting with a 10 foot pole. I don't know why. It is our party, after all.

The media is not covering it, the TV is not mentioning it. So the DNC has its own videos up. We need to be our own media.

Hey, whatever happened to the Democracy Alliance?

[madfloridian]

3. Double post. Mods may delete.

So I quoted ET. They announced it at the end of the meeting.

Yes, in context that is what he meant.

I doubt anyone will watch, it is easier to bitch about what the party is not doing. I just thought I would post it anyway, since NONE of the dem bloggers are covering it at all.

Why aren't they covering it? I don't know. I see some diaries about it that drop quickly. But no front pager at a Dem blog is touching this meeting with a 10 foot pole. I don't know why. It is our party, after all.

The media is not covering it, the TV is not mentioning it. So the DNC has its own videos up. We need to be our own media.

Hey, whatever happened to the Democracy Alliance?

[madfloridian]

4. I have an idea. Don't watch it.

Let's just bitch about the party and everything it does. Much easier.

And for sure don't watch the videos at the DNC website, or read the posts about how the meetings went.

Just don't do it and say you did.

[Cha]

5. Kick for Dean and it's always

a good idea not to be too optimistic when it comes to Dems winning..don't want to jinx it!

[madfloridian]

6. Also there was a community service project in Chicago.

http://www.democrats.org/a/2006/08/democrats_in_ch_1.php

"The first item on the agenda after landing in Chicago was to head out to the Greater Chicago Food Depository for a few hours of community service. When I heard this was our project for this meeting, I envisioned a soup kitchen-esque operation. Boy, was I wrong!

The Greater Chicago Food Depository serves the entirety of Cook County. Over half a million people receive assistance through this amazing organization, and 37% of those are children.

Before we headed into the massive warehouse we heard a little bit about the organization's mission. First and foremost the mission of the Depository is to provide food for hungry people while striving to end hunger in their community. In partnership with 600 qualified nonprofit member pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, seniors and children programs, the Depository and their volunteer force feed Chicago's neediest.

DNC staff, members and even a few executive directors all made the trip to the depository today. Our task was simple, to take cartons of strawberries that had been donated and sort the good from the bad, and even the ugly. We then repackaged the good strawberries which were headed out on trucks for distribution tomorrow.

It was an amazingly efficient operation. As we worked alongside some Chicago natives and plucked the good strawberries, we heard some great stories from fellow volunteers. The couple I stood next to was taking a day off of work to perform their community service. Their company allows them to take a few days each year in order to give back to their community. I thought that was pretty fabulous."

[madfloridian]

7. On now, but don't watch.

Bitch about Democrats instead.

[madfloridian]

8. I sure hope no one watched Dem Reunion video they just showed.

It might have inspired.

And please for goodness sake don't go watch it at the DNC blog either.

[Sparkly]

9. Doctor Dean is ROCKIN'!!!!

:woohoo:

[madfloridian]

10. Dean's speech started about 3:15...

It is very inspiring, so I hope no one is bothering....more fun to attack.

NO coverage on the DNC meeting on Democratic forums...that should be a standing rule. No bloggers should cover it either.

[madfloridian]

11. Thanks for an inspiring speech, Howard Dean.

The meeting is not being mentioned by Daily Kos, by MyDD, by any Democratic leaning blog that I can find. Any post about it drops at once...Hell, I am having to keep this one going nearly alone.

So no one was watching your speech, or the others who spoke...they are too busy talking about Lieberman and trashing Donna Brazile.

Good luck, governor, in taking the country back. You ain't got a lot of help.

[Sparkly]

16. I hope there'll be a transcript

I'd especially like to file his comparisons of expenditures for short periods of time in Iraq vs. what the funds could be doing here at home. That was EXCELLENT!!!

[madfloridian]

17. Renee in Ohio often does one..

If I see it posted at HEP I will post it here.

[Sparkly]

18. Thanks!!

That's definitely a keeper.

[madfloridian]

12. I just had a thought.

I wonder if bloggers and news media who are funded by the Democracy Alliance are not really supposed to talk about the DNC. But then we can't really know that because they don't really disclose who is funded. We know NPI by the NDN by Simon Rosenberg and we know who is on board there. But that's all we really know.

One would think there would not be dead total silence.

Odd.

And I notice this is the only post at DU except for one in GD forum. These two are all that I can find about the DNC meeting. Am I missing something?

[madfloridian]

13. Jim Roosevelt did a good job explaining the new rules..

for the primary.

Someday I hope we can have them so all of us have a voice.

[Sparkly]

15. Me, too...

It's probably a change for the good, but it still seems front-loaded.

[Sparkly]

14. I'm still watching but

Dean's speech was the highlight; the Illinois governor's was good, too.

The rules changes seemed expected to pass. I don't know enough to know whether the decisions were the best or not. I think changes were definitely needed, but I'm not sure these go far enough; I'm not sure why we keep Iowa and New Hampshire as so sacrosanct... (To be completely frank, I think Iowa's caucuses are a little flukey, and New Hampshire tends to "me too" what happens in Iowa. (That's not at all to say that I didn't think Kerry was a good choice -- I did. But New Hampshire, despite all the assurances that they take the responsibility seriously and pay close attention etc., suddenly made some big shifts right after Iowa.)

I'd like to see another New England blue state take its place -- one that's reliably "blue," perhaps -- and I'd like to see a regular election go ahead of a caucus state like Iowa. Just my two cents!!

Other thoughts?

[xxqqqzme]

19. I still think democratic states should be

choosing the candidate. I'm tired of rethugs choosing the democratic candidate and I have no voice, though living in a blue state, because CMC has hyped the vote in 4 red states.

[Sparkly]

20. Jesse Jackson's rockin' it now....

Nobody should be missing this!!

[madfloridian]

21. Dean said we were "occupiers". So did Darcy Burner. Replays at 2:03

I was glad to hear those words used.