Posted by AzBlueMeanie: The latest ad from the Arizona Democratic Party.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: If you want to watch the DNC Convention speeches and other activities, you have to watch it it on C-Span.  This is the only gavel-to-gavel coverage of the speakers and events at the convention – without commentators. The networks and cable networks only cover the headliner speeches.  The rest of the time, … Read more

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

He was not the keynote address speaker, but he should have been.

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer delivered a red meat speech but with a sense of humor and theatrics that had the convention delegates fired up by the time Hillary came out to give her speech.  I really like this guy.

Governor Schweitzer offered some great lines of his own"

"[W]e face a great new challenge, a world energy crisis that threatens our economy, our security, our climate and our way of life. And until we address that energy crisis, our problems will only get worse. For eight long years, the White House has led us in the wrong direction. And now Senator McCain wants four more years of the same.

Can we afford four more years? [No!] Is it time for a change?  [Yes!] When do we need it? [Now!] And who do we need as the next President of the United States of America? [Obama!]  That’s right. Barack Obama is the change we need!

* * *

We need to break America’s addiction to foreign oil. We need a new energy system that is clean, green and American-made. And we need a president who can marshal our nation’s resources, get the job done and deliver the change we need.

* * *

After eight years of a White House waiting hand and foot on big oil, John McCain offers more of the same. At a time of skyrocketing fuel prices, when American families are struggling to keep their gas tanks full, John McCain voted 25 times against renewable and alternative energy. Against clean biofuels. Against solar power. Against wind energy.

This not only hurts America’s energy independence, it could cost American families more than a hundred thousand jobs. At a time when America should be working harder than ever to develop new, clean sources, John McCain wants more of the same and has taken more than a million dollars in campaign donations from the oil and gas industry. Now he wants to give the oil companies another 4 billion dollars in tax breaks. Four billion in tax breaks for big oil?

That’s a lot of change, but it’s not the change we need.

* * *

Even leaders in the oil industry know that Senator McCain has it wrong. We simply can’t drill our way to energy independence, even if you drilled in all of John McCain’s backyards, including the ones he can’t even remember.

That single-answer proposition is a dry well, and here’s why. America consumes 25 percent of the world’s oil, but has less than 3 percent of the reserves. You don’t need a $2 calculator to figure that one out. There just isn’t enough oil in America, on land or offshore, to meet America’s full energy needs."

For a transcript of his speech Governor Brian Schweitzer – Democratic National Convention

Watch the video (below the fold – for technical reasons)

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Hillary Clinton had two tasks last night.  First, to put to rest the "Democrats are divided" talking point of the RNC/McCain campaign that the stenographers in the McMedia have been repeating for months (they are shameless).  And second, to rally the troops and inspire them to win this election for Barack Obama.

Hillary Clinton delivered, hitting a homerun out of the park!  It was a magnificent speech. The convention was electrified, and more importantly, unified.

Some of the major highlights from Hillary’s speech:

My friends, it is time to take back the country we love.

Whether you voted for me, or voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose. We are on the same team, and none of us can sit on the sidelines.

This is a fight for the future. And it’s a fight we must win.

I haven’t spent the past 35 years in the trenches advocating for children, campaigning for universal health care, helping parents balance work and family, and fighting for women’s rights at home and around the world … to see another Republican in the White House squander the promise of our country and the hopes of our people.

And you haven’t worked so hard over the last 18 months, or endured the last eight years, to suffer through more failed leadership.

No way. No how. No McCain.

Barack Obama is my candidate. And he must be our President.

Hillary then shamed and challenged the so-called PUMAs:

I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?

We need leaders once again who can tap into that special blend of American confidence and optimism that has enabled generations before us to meet our toughest challenges. Leaders who can help us show ourselves and the world that with our ingenuity, creativity, and innovative spirit, there are no limits to what is possible in America.

This won’t be easy. Progress never is. But it will be impossible if we don’t fight to put a Democrat in the White House.

Hillary then laid out the litany against John McCain:

Now, John McCain is my colleague and my friend.

He has served our country with honor and courage.

But we don’t need four more years … of the last eight years.

More economic stagnation …and less affordable health care.

More high gas prices …and less alternative energy.

More jobs getting shipped overseas …and fewer jobs created here.

More skyrocketing debt …home foreclosures …and mounting bills that are crushing our middle class families.

More war … less diplomacy.

More of a government where the privileged come first …and everyone else comes last.

John McCain says the economy is fundamentally sound. John McCain doesn’t think that 47 million people without health insurance is a crisis. John McCain wants to privatize Social Security. And in 2008, he still thinks it’s okay when women don’t earn equal pay for equal work.

With an agenda like that, it makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities. Because these days they’re awfully hard to tell apart.

Hillary finished big by putting this election into its proper context and perspective:

We are Americans. We’re not big on quitting.

But remember, before we can keep going, we have to get going by electing Barack Obama president.

We don’t have a moment to lose or a vote to spare.

Nothing less than the fate of our nation and the future of our children hang in the balance.

I want you to think about your children and grandchildren come election day. And think about the choices your parents and grandparents made that had such a big impact on your life and on the life of our nation.

We’ve got to ensure that the choice we make in this election honors the sacrifices of all who came before us, and will fill the lives of our children with possibility and hope.

I just want to say "Thank you Hillary." 

For a transcript of Hillary’s speech Transcript: Hillary Clinton’s Prime-Time Speech

Watch the video (below the fold – for technical reasons)

Pat Cannady has discovered something: being a delegate from John McCain’s home state of Arizona has its advantages. "Everyone wants to talk to us! They say, ‘we hear you have a chance of going blue!’" Maybe that’s how she ended up watching the emotional speeches of Ted Kennedy and Michelle Obama in prime seats, two … Read more

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: This billboard can be seen on the I-94 greeting motorists arriving from the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport, home to the Republican National Convention. (h/t B&C.com) Hopefully the manufacturer of this "Larry Craig Bobble-Foot Doll" promotion for the St. Paul Saints (minor league baseball team) from earlier this year had the foresight to produce … Read more