One of the most important tasks a delegate to the Democratic National Convention completes is the approval of the national platform for the Democratic Party.  Every four years, a committee gets together and drafts a document that accurately reflects what it is the Democratic Party stands for along with the vision the party offers for America.

In keeping with its efforts to have the most open and inclusive convention in recent memory, the Democratic National Committee announced today that voters in all 50 states will have the opportunity to take part in Platform Meetings to help shape the Democratic Platform.

"From the beginning, we said we were going bring down the traditional walls of the Democratic Convention and make this event more accessible and include as many people as possible," said Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean. "This process will empower Americans in all 50 states to make their voices heard as they help write the document that embodies our Party's values and vision for the future. Barack Obama will bring real change to Washington, and as we write the Democratic Platform, there will be a clear choice between more of the same failed policies of the Bush Administration with John McCain or real change with Barack Obama who will make the American people, not the special interests, the priority again."

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) and its affiliate, the Transportation Communications Union (TCU) Wednesday voted "present" in the highly unusual balloting among AFL-CIO union leaders to endorse a candidate for President of the United States.

"Blue-collar Democrats are born skeptics," said IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger. "Their skepticism grew during this campaign. And to turn skeptics into supporters takes more than a perfunctory knock on the door of the House of Labor."

TCU President Bob Scardelletti and Buffenbarger agreed that now is not the right time for an endorsement.

"We look forward to a productive conversation with Senator Obama about policies that can resonate with blue-collar Democrats," reiterated Buffenbarger. "As they demonstrated in state after state, blue-collar Democrats respond overwhelmingly to a candidate who will fight to improve their lives. And they are just not there yet. Nor are we."

In keeping with its commitment to make the 2008 Democratic National Convention the most accessible and technologically-savvy event of its kind, the Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) announced today that Comcast Corporation will produce simultaneous, online streaming coverage of the Convention in Spanish at DemConvention.com and make available a broad range of Convention content through its signature On Demand service. The DNCC also announced that Comcast has been named the Convention's Official Cable Television and Video-On-Demand (VOD) provider.

"We set out to 'bring down the walls' of the Pepsi Center and make this year's historic Convention as inclusive and accessible to as many people as possible," said Leah D. Daughtry, CEO of the DNCC. "Comcast is helping us bring the Convention to a growing number of computer screens and televisions throughout the country and around the world."

From the Comcast Media Center, based in the Denver metro area, Comcast will provide live, gavel-to-gavel Spanish-language interpretation of all Convention activities from the Pepsi Center to be streamed online at DemConvention.com from August 25-28. This marks the first time a national political Convention has been completely simulcast in Spanish and made available to a worldwide audience. In addition, Comcast will place highlights, including key speeches and Spanish-language content from each night of the Convention, on its national VOD platform, available to over 16 million Comcast Digital Cable subscribers in 39 states and the District of Columbia. Comcast will also make this VOD Convention content available for distribution on other cable systems throughout the nation.

Comcast will also edit, manage and archive Convention coverage for distribution online, on cable television and via global satellite uplink.

Two years ago, former Secretary of State Cathy Cox earned the ire of many in the GLBT community when she released a statement expressing her disappointment in a Fulton County Superior Court judge's ruling striking down Georgia's gay marriage ban.

"I am disappointed that Georgia's constitutional amendment defining marriage as a sacred union of one man and one woman has been overturned, Cox said in a May 2006 statement. "I strongly support Attorney General Thurbert Baker's decision to appeal this ruling to the state Supreme Court. Should his efforts fail, I agree that the General Assembly should meet in special session to pass a new resolution that could be voted on in November."

Eventually, the Georgia Supreme Court upheld the state ban on same-sex unions but not before leading members of Georgia's GLBT community declared Cox, who was running for the Democratic Party's nomination for Governor, dead to them [Source: 5/18/2006 Atlanta Public Affairs blog "Cathy Cox Is Dead to Me"].

Cox went on to lose the Democratic gubernatorial nomination to Lt. Governor Mark Taylor and even had gay and lesbian supporters demanding she return contributions made by them to her campaign [Source: 12/29/2006 Southern Voice article "A roller-coaster year for gay Atlanta"].

Now there are some who wonder if Barack Obama may suffer a hemorrhage of GLBT support similar to what happened to Cathy Cox in 2006 should he tap former Georgia Senator Sam Nunn as his vice presidential nominee.

Statement of Senator Barack Obama on FISA Compromise

"Given the grave threats that we face, our national security agencies must have the capability to gather intelligence and track down terrorists before they strike, while respecting the rule of law and the privacy and civil liberties of the American people. There is also little doubt that the Bush Administration, with the cooperation of major telecommunications companies, has abused that authority and undermined the Constitution by intercepting the communications of innocent Americans without their knowledge or the required court orders.

"That is why last year I opposed the so-called Protect America Act, which expanded the surveillance powers of the government without sufficient independent oversight to protect the privacy and civil liberties of innocent Americans. I have also opposed the granting of retroactive immunity to those who were allegedly complicit in acts of illegal spying in the past.

"After months of negotiation, the House today passed a compromise that, while far from perfect, is a marked improvement over last year's Protect America Act.

"Under this compromise legislation, an important tool in the fight against terrorism will continue, but the President's illegal program of warrantless surveillance will be over. It restores FISA and existing criminal wiretap statutes as the exclusive means to conduct surveillance - making it clear that the President cannot circumvent the law and disregard the civil liberties of the American people. It also firmly re-establishes basic judicial oversight over all domestic surveillance in the future.  It does, however, grant retroactive immunity, and I will work in the Senate to remove this provision so that we can seek full accountability for past offenses. But this compromise guarantees a thorough review by the Inspectors General of our national security agencies to determine what took place in the past, and ensures that there will be accountability going forward. By demanding oversight and accountability, a grassroots movement of Americans has helped yield a bill that is far better than the Protect America Act.

"It is not all that I would want. But given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay.  So I support the compromise, but do so with a firm pledge that as President, I will carefully monitor the program, review the report by the Inspectors General, and work with the Congress to take any additional steps I deem necessary to protect the lives - and the liberty - of the American people."

Coming on the same day Illinois Sen. Barack Obama released his Georgia-inclusive campaign ads, Insider Advantage is out with a poll that shows Democrat Obama tied with Republican John McCain in the Peach State.

McCain: 44%

Obama: 43%

Barr: 6%

Undecided: 7%

Source:  InsiderAdvantage / PollPosition Survey

The survey, with a sampling size of 408 registered likely voters, has a margin of error of +/- 5%.

If these numbers hold up, the Democratic presidential nominee could be competitive in Georgia for the first time since 1996 when President Bill Clinton lost the state by less than two percentage points.

60 Second Ad "Country I Love" to Air in 18 States (including Georgia)

The Obama campaign today announced the release of its first television advertisement for the general election.  The sixty second ad, entitled "Country I Love," will begin airing in eighteen states across the country tomorrow to highlight how our shared values have shaped Senator Obama's life.

In the spot, Senator Obama speaks to voters about the core values this nation was founded on and how they have guided him to work hard for his education, to bypass jobs on Wall Street to work as a community organizer, and to lead the fight for America's families and veterans as an Illinois and United States Senator.

The ad presents Senator Obama's record of passing laws to reform welfare, to cut taxes for working families, and to ensure America's veterans have the health care they deserve.

The ad will air in Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Virginia.  

[EDITOR'S NOTE]:  Georgia's seeing some action!  Oh hell yeah!

Yesterday, a Republican on a Republican-leaning blog posed the following question to me:

"What, exactly, are we getting from Democrats, the MAJORITY party in Congress?"

The answer to that question is Democrats are constantly and consistently introducing and passing legislation that addresses the major issues of American society today including reducing our country's reliance on foreign oils, making our country more energy independent, and investing more into renewable energy resources.

Since the Democratic Party became the majority party in Congress, nine bills have passed the United States House of Representatives dealing with lowering gas prices and promoting energy independence.  Of those nine bills, four have become law while the other five have been held hostage by Republican opposition in the Senate and veto threats from the White House [Source:  "Rising Gas & Energy Prices," Speaker.gov].

Yesterday, four of Georgia's Republican members of Congress, led by Lynn Westmoreland, signed a pledge that reads, "I will vote to increase U.S. oil production to lower gas prices for Americans."  In response, a better pledge was offered:

"I will vote to enact laws that reduces America's reliance on foreign oil, invests in renewable energy and energy efficiency, and cracks down on gas price gouging and oil price fixing."

As of 10AM this morning, none of Georgia's GOP congressional delegation have signed the pledge, so one must examine their votes to see if they support putting Georgia and the rest of the country on a path towards energy independence.