After getting home from work last night, I watched the closing 1/3 - 1/2 of the DNC's unity dinner (meaning most of Clinton's speech, all of Kerry's and roughly 20 minutes or so of handshaking.)  What struck me more than anything were the repeated allusions to John McCain.  Not only did Clinton mention him by name during his speech, but the video that introduced Kerry spent close to 30 seconds on a visual of Kerry and McCain walking alongside each other, closing with an image of Kerry slapping the Arizona Senator on the back.  As a progressive, it didn't do a whole lot for me, but as a political pragmatist, I thought it was exceptionally shrewd - even if the rumors of McCain serving in positions ranging from Kerry's VP to Secretary of Defense or Veteran Affairs are wholly unfounded, the allusions to the Senator tacitly reinforce the idea that McCain, and by proxy, the moderate Republicans whom he's the defacto leader of, will be given a voice in a Kerry administration.

The gay community scored another victory today, when Multnomah County (essentially Portland, OR) determined that denying gays the right to marry violated the Oregon constitution.  The Oregonian reports that Mary Li and Becky Kennedy, and Eric Warshaw and Stephen Knox were the first lesbian and gay couples to be awarded licenses.  The decision was the culmination of a series of closed door meetings between Serena Cruz and Lisa Naito (two of the county commisioners) and Diane Linn (chair of the county board).

The Democratic Party of Oregon will be hosting a roundtable discussion with Terry McAuliffe this monday.  I'm sure a lot of the site's Oregonian readers have already gotten invites, but for any who haven't, the forum is open to all Oregon Democrats.

We were a battleground state in 2000, and all indications are that we will be again, so if you live in the Portland metro area and can make it, please do.

Cut and pasted details are as follows:

When Carol Moseley Braun endorsed Howard Dean on January 15, many speculated that she'd earn a cabinet post in a Dean administration as a result - potentially as Secretary of Health and Human Services or as Ambassador to the UN.  Few, if any, thought she'd be named as his running mate, believing that, unfair as it might be, her ethnicity and gender ruled her out for any real consideration.

But now, with Dean's campaign on the ropes, someone at Democratic Underground has suggested just such a scenario, and based on the fact that Dean has virtually nothing to lose and everything to gain, I'm struck that such an announcement could be lightning in a bottle.  In a single press conference, Dean could divert media attention from Kerry, energize his base, and excite African Americans and women.  While naming a running mate before attending the convention would be unorthodox, the Dean campaign has been unusual since it's beginnings, and indeed, has been criticized since the Trippi firing for, if anything, becoming too similar to the Washington establishment it's railed against.

It would be a gamble, and it's only speculation that both Dean and Braun would even agree to such an arrangement, but if they did, could it be the hail mary pass that would make Dean the new comeback kid?