Road to the DNC — Taking the Offensive in Denver

by John Adams

As a staging ground for the November election, the 2008 Democratic National Convention is promising. We have a strong, capable Presidential candidate with a devoted following, and excellent appeal to new voters and independents. We have a powerful message that resonates broadly with the American people. And we face a feckless, stumbling Republican nominee who promises more of the Bush Administration’s abuse of our Constitution and our people.

So is the Convention just a formality?  Is the election ours to lose?

Absolutely not.  Indeed, it would be lunacy to think so.

In Phoenix on August 10, Governor Janet Napolitano and Jim Pedersen, Co-Chairs for the Arizona Delegation to the DNC, hosted a Sendoff for the Delegates. They charged us with sending a clear, strong, and resolute message to the American people in Denver, that it’s time to:

• Take our country back, and restore government to the people.
• Power the Democratic ticket, from top to bottom, to victory in November.
• Elect Barack Obama as our next President.

And critical for our victory will be taking the offensive in Denver against John McCain and the Republican Party.

Although my sense from inside the Arizona Delegation indicates that Party Unification — after a hard-fought series of Presidential primaries — is well on track…it’s not something we should ever take for granted.

Nor should anyone underestimate the determination of the criminals and charlatans who have given us eight years of George W Bush…this gang will do all they can to retain their power and privileges. We can expect swiftboat attack after swiftboat attack for the next three months. We need to counter these attacks vigorously.

Perhaps the greatest danger of all is Voter Apathy. We’ll need not only to marshal the great strengths we already have, but a great deal of hard work as well, to ensure our voters know the choices facing them, have faith in their own ability to enact change, and go to the polls this November to vote for that change.

We are going to face these and other unforeseen challenges as we move into and through the Convention.

The Democratic National Convention has become less a place for bargaining than a place for launching the battle for the general election. It will be especially so this year.

The night of the past eight years will continue unless we act to end it. The Democratic National Convention offers an opportunity to make our case to the American people.

To win in November, we must take the offensive in Denver against John McCain and the threat to American security and prosperity of four more years of disastrous Republican rule.