No not THAT Gore, silly.

Lesley Gore, of the sixties "girl group" era.

No, not THAT Clinton.  Barack Obama is in serious talks with George Clinton, of Parliament/Funkadelic fame, to be his Vice Presidential running mate.

Let me start off by saying this: it won't break my heart, or even mildly upset me if it doesn't happen.

But right now, I am susceptible to the idea of an Obama/Clinton ticket.

I think the contrast between the two conventions will be an absolute game changer.  The Democratic National Convention next week (next fucking week!) is liable to be one of the great exhuberant moments in American political history.

It is going to be a momentous occasion, bolstered by the massive energy carrying the party right now in the face of an imperiled republic, whom, despite all noted concerns; is facing unnoticed threats to its very existence seen less than a handful of times prior in its history.

In preparation for the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Denver, it's best to map out a small, but effective little guide to first timers and those watching from home.

Revised and updated from original posting at SquareState: Are We Confused Yet?

For a couple of weeks now, I've been railing about the lack of a "donation" link on the Democratic National Convention website, especially given the much-publicized fund raising shortage by the convention "host committee".  I mean, our presumptive candidate is a master at web-based fund raising.  The Chairman of the DNC, the Good Doctor Dean, started the trend during his own primary run back in 2004.

I sent an e-mail to the "information" link on the web site asking: why?

And I received an "out of office" auto-reply.  Actually, it wasn't an "out of office" reply: that's just what the re: line read.  It actually was a "we're far too busy to reply to e-mails" auto reply.

Again — WTF?

Breaking: 7 DNC leaders endorse Barack Obama.

Since June 7 many superdelegates have switched endorsements, and some uncommitted superdelegates have made choices (or not).  When combined with new add-ons (here), and including Hillary (who after all said, "I endorse"), Obama now has 506.5 503 superdelegate votes.

Arkansas, California, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Texas, West Virginia
Unity, by golly

If it didn't sink in during Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's endorsement of his candidacy this past weekend, it surely must now that the elected officers of the Democratic National Committee - vice chairs Lottie Shackelford, Linda Chavez Thompson, Rep. Mike Honda, Susan W. Turnbull, secretary Alice Germond, treasurer Andrew Tobias and finance chair Philip Murphy - have together officially endorsed Sen. Barack Obama to be the next commander in chief.

Puerto Rico goes 38-17. And Obama got two new supers today. The new number of delegates needed to win the nomination is 2117. Obama has 2071 in the bank, and he is guaranteed a minimum 17 pledged delegates in MT and SD, plus 9 more superdelegates that have said they will endorse him after June 3 (including the 6 Pelosi Club members). So that leaves only 20 additional delegates for Obama to win. That can come from other superdelegates, from doing better in MT and SD, and from the 13.5 Edwards delegates.  I predict he'll get it all by June 4.

Did you see that Obama picked up another national delegate in Nevada on Saturday?  The campaign’s tactical organization at the county- and state-level conventions continues to deliver results.  Can they do it again in Texas on June 7?

Since the Texas two-step primary/caucus, the Obama campaign has claimed to have won 38 delegates in the Texas caucuses, in addition to 61 in the Texas primary (a total of 99 to Clinton’s 94). On the other hand, The Green Papers (and hence DemConWatch) has been showing Obama with 37 caucus delegates ever since the Texas County Conventions on March 30.  This appears to be because his percentage of state convention delegates that were chosen at the county conventions is just short of the threshold to earn that 38th delegate.

Curious, I emailed Stephanie Leavitt, the Deputy Finance Director of the Texas Democratic Party, to find out the number of delegates to the Texas State Democratic Convention on June 5-7.  The answer is ...

In the wake of the MS-01 win last night, can there be any doubt that Howard Dean has remade the Democratic Party with his 50-state strategy? Believe me, as an Idahoan, I can say it's meant a world of difference to have a party chairman who actually cares about each state and territory. And today, Dr. Dean announced the 50-state blog strategy of one blog representing each of our states and territories, chosen from a pool of 400 applicants. Dean said:

"The Internet has played a critical role in connecting Americans to elected officials and candidates seeking office.  The DemConvention State Blogger Corps will continue to foster this dialogue - in all 50 of our states and our territories too - as we head towards this year's historic election and elect a Democrat to the White House."

Most of the blogs won't be new to Kossacks. See the list below the flip. Congratulations to all the selected blogs!

Tonight on television, I saw some discussion about the debate over the votes in Florida and Michigan. Florida and Michigan officials--acting in their role as guardian of the taxpayers--are adamant that no state money should be paid for revotes in accordance with Democratic Party rules.  Democratic Chair Howard Dean--acting in his role as the guardian of the Democratic Party treasury--is adamant that no DNC money should be paid for votes in Florida and Michigan.

I think it is important to defeating John McCain that Michigan and Florida be given a voice in the selection of a Presidential nominee.  I believe that my candidate, Barack Obama, will win the nomination whether or not Michigan or Florida have a valid vote for President, but I feel confident that his nomination will be worth much more if Michigan and Florida have a voice at the Democratic National Convention.  

Wisconsin and Hawaii will not have the only delegate allocations next week.  On February 21, the results of the Democrats Abroad primary will be announced in Geneva.

The Democrats Abroad primary was held February 5–12 by mail, Internet and in person at one of the DA centers set up in 33 countries. About 6 million US citizens living overseas were eligible to vote. Democrats Abroad will have 22 delegates to the Democratic National Convention, each having a half-vote.  14 are pledged half-votes and 8 are unpledged.

Christine Schon Marques, International Chair of Democrats Abroad, is receiving all of the ballot results via air courier. She herself is one of the eight DA super-delegates, which have already been named. Two have endorsed Clinton, three have endorsed Obama, and three are uncommitted, including Ms. Marques.

The turnout around the world was relatively large, as enthusiastic as any in the U.S., and mostly voting for Obama, as press covering the world has reported ...

Update: Cross-posted at MyDD
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...prepare to be met not only by legal authorities, but by non-violent Democratic Party members who are 1000% resolved that the Convention will take place without threat or duress to its convening members.

Many of us were around in 1984 when we were VERY pissed about how the superdelegates broke. We dealt with it, because that was the rule when the primary season commenced. And we bitched about it after that primary season ended.

I have been a Democrat in my soul since 1976, after watching the Watergate hearings in diapers, seeing Tricky Dick board Marine One on TV in disgrace, reading a Time magazine interview with James Earl Carter, brought a fresh hope in America(for a seven year old. I served in the U.S. Navy under a Republican Commander-in-Chief (Ronald W. Reagan) who I disagreed with. I have been a registered Democrat since the day after my 18th birthday in 1987 and have voted in every election I have been eligible to vote in. My first vote for President, 1988, was for Jesse Jackson. And Barack Obama's candidacy is nothing like Rev. Jackson's. With that in mind I am considering putting in my nominating papers (avail Feb 1 in my state) along with a pledge of support and running as a delegate, from the 3rd Congressional District in the BLUEgrass State to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, with my support pledged to Sen. Barack Obama.