Democratic Convention Officers Named

On Saturday, the Rules Committee of the of the Democratic Convention met in the Colorado Convention Center. There, in a bit more than an hour, they officially nominated and approved the Convention officers for this year's convention in Denver as well as approved establishing a commission to examine the problems with the caucuses and primaries this year.

After being introduced by DNC Chairman Howard Dean, the Convention CEO, the Reverend Leah Daughtry, and former Congresswoman Mary Rose Oakar, Sunita Leeds, and former Governor David Walters, the three co-chairs of the Rules Committee, each spoke briefly.

Even if she hadn't been introduced as "Reverend," Daughtry quickly made her preaching background clear, rousing the crowd of representatives from each state with "it's an exciting year for Democrats" and how, in less than a week, "our party will have made history" with the nomination of Sen. Barack Obama.

Walters took a moment to stress the importance of the Rules Committee and rules in general, reminding onlookers that "rules are foreign to the current administration" and that "Bush cares about the rules of the land as much as he cares about the rules of grammar."

Oakar, in what is sure to be the first of many tributes this week, asked for a moment of silent prayer for Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones on her passing last week.

Leeds expressed gratitude (and that of grassroots Democratic activists everywhere) for Chairman Dean's 50 State Strategy and for the current strength of the Democratic Party.

Anyway, the officers named Saturday include (the entire list and more is at the above link) -

Permanent Chair - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Co-Chairs - Governor Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, Mayor Shirley Franklin of Atlanta, and State Senator Leticia Van de Putte of Texas

Vice Chairs - Governor Christine Gregoire of Washington, Congressman Robert Wexler of Florida, Mayor Michael Coleman of Columbus, OH, and Maria Elena Durazo, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO


On Sunday, the Convention's Credentials Committee is scheduled to meet. I don't expect much action there, but at least there is a *slight* potential for some. (Writers, even amateur ones, find vast amounts of subject matter by observing conflict :) )

I missed the opportunity at Saturday's meeting to speak with Nathan Gomez, an Arizona representative to the Rules Committee. However, at Sunday's Credentials Committee meeting there are supposed to be three Arizonans there, Sharon Covey, Adelita Grijalva, and David Waid. There should be a chance to check in with at least one of them to see how the week is shaping up for them.

I have a couple of pictures, but they're pretty boring - shots of an empty room, shots of a filling room, and distant shots of a couple of the speakers. Nothing with Arizona ties (boring or otherwise), so I'm not going to waste blog space by uploading them.

Later!