2:14 I'm here in Gainesville at the For the People rally being put on by all sorts of groups, and slowly but surely folks are beginning to trickle in. I'm holding back on my straw poll vote, see where the chips are falling... Obama seems to have the early lead. Rev. Nelson is doing the sound check, and now the band is coming up.
2:25 This may be one of the most wired and technologically advanced DPG events ever... Grayson is overseeing live streaming and there are several folks up here in the blogosphere (we're up in the sound area, so it's a particularly fitting term here!)
2:43 Jane Kidd is wrapping up her pep talk, and although we've heard these things before, I guess there's no such thing as too much positive reinforcement.
Jim Nelson has now come up to speak, and I'm sure we're in for that great Jim speech! Edwards and Obama are now running very close in the straw poll...
3:02 Wyc Orr (hope I got his name right), is up now after a great speech by Jim. Not familiar with Mr. Orr but he is giving a great speech, love his voice. "There is nothing worse than a bland liberal," he said, and damn if that ain't the truth.
"We believe that the government is an instrument for the common good." Preach it!
The candidate tables are getting some action...
Hopefully I'll have a photo of Mr. Orr up shortly.
3:16 Mr. Orr is still speaking... Call me crazy, but I wonder why we haven't seen more of him. He just had another applause and cheer line, and he is giving a great speech.
Nice to see an actual elected official here, wonder where Commissioner Thurmond is today? (He might be here, just haven't seen him.)
No fair 'Nita changing her 'do, I had to look multi-times to make sure!
Mr. Orr has just finished his speech after giving a big shout out to Tommy Irvin. Splendidly done sir!
3:37 Lots going on. James Marlow is up now denouncing I-3 - glad to hear it. Carol Jackson briefly addressed us and correctly noted that it's the first we've heard of her since the chair elections...
Nice to hear from Governor Richardson, if only via taped message... wish his speeches were more like this!
James Marlow is finished, and Denise Freeman is now at the podium.
3:50 The kibitzers at the Young Dems table say "Time to wrap it up, Denise"... Juliana says she's yelling at us, it IS a bit loud... Not complaining about the speech content, really, just a bit long. Not at all sure what the deal with red dresses is today...
Maybe it's something about the devil in the blue dress? She's wrapped it up (well *a*l*m*o*s*t*). Ok, now we're blessed and we're done. Tommy Irvin is coming up!
3:57 Dodd, Biden, and Gravel are finally on the board in the straw poll, with one vote apiece.
Tommy is done. Unfortunately I've missed the name of our current speaker; Colonel someone (not Sanders, heh heh). Feels like we're in a bit of a lull here.
4:05 Ben Purcell is this man's name. No offense to Mr. Purcell but I'm not sure where the narrative of his trials in Vietnam fit in here. Hopefully our next speaker will be a bit more dynamic.
4:11 Col. Purcell has just finished speaking. The straw poll votes are in - the final count is Biden 1, Clinton 34, Dodd 1, Edwards 55, Gravel 1, Kucinich 8, Obama 41, and Richardson 16. That's 157 votes cast - that's a very nice number of attendees! I'm surprised Kucinich did so well compared to Biden. Oh well. Those percentages are Clinton 21%, Edwards 35%, Obama 26%, Richardson 10%, and Kucinich 5%.
4:17 Oops, Col. Purcell is NOW finished; it seems that the display next to the Young Dems table is also his. Michael Thurmond is indeed here and he is beginning to speak. This should be a nice change.
Shout out to Rep. Randall Mangham, who just stopped by the Young Dems table with a donation!
4:38 More stuff. The Obama campaign disappointed me a bit with their video - guess the video itself was ok, but not geared toward this type of event. Richardson's was personalized and was great.
We're hearing a video from the Clinton campaign right now, and while it isn't personalized either, it's a lot better, with Bill giving a great overview of Hillary's campaign and her credentials. Obama's didn't have a lot of substance, and I've heard that he doesn't have a lot of substance period - guess we'll see whether he can come up with some before people notice that it's missing. Before that, we had Timmeh (Timmeh... lol!) talk about the Young Democrats and make us look great...
4:49 Dale Cardwell is now up at the podium...
So far we haven't heard much on those issues that got the net roots so angry. We're hearing about health care, and Candidate Cardwell might really want to go with that on his website. We've also heard a *lot* about the money angle, which is a laudable but ultimately quixotic campaign promise. "I'm no professional politician" - well, he's preferable to at least one professional politician already in this race...
5:00 Rand Knight is now speaking. We're winding down here and folks are dribbling out into the lobby, but we still have a decent number in the main room. Rand is doing a pretty good job of selling his candidacy, and Praise the Lord we have Specifics (tm). (Still way too early for this blogger to make a decision on the race.)
5:05 Well, we were winding down, but things are never wound down when Herb Butler is at the podium! The microphone is just not enough to contain Herb and his ongoing rage at Zell Miller, and I only wish more people were here to hear this great F Zell speech :-)
5:13 Ok, NOW we're winding down. The Flack Attack has been recognized for making the event possible and the band is coming back on stage. We're basically done here and I think it was another good event. I think the DPG is recovering from some really crappy times - to quote Life of Brian, we're not dead yet!!
Comments (17)
Rev. Nelson just got through energizing the crowd here at the Georgia Mountain Center. Faithful Democrats are starting to fill in as the program gets underway full throttle...
Rev. Nelson just got through energizing the crowd here at the Georgia Mountain Center. Faithful Democrats are starting to fill in as the program gets underway full throttle...
Wow. Those straw poll results really make me want to leave a William-esque comment about the direction of the Georgia Democrats. But I'll wait for William to do it. Except he won't, because Edwards won. Damn.
damn. wish i hadn't missed this.
My guy is first in the second group but seems to be picking up steam ever so slightly.
Georgia Democrats need to nominate someone like Richardson cause he can win the south and he is amazing if a little verbose.
Was a fun event! Thanks to Patty & Jon & crew for a LOT of hard work and making the event very stream/tech happy.
Now for my totally personal movie ratings.
Obama - 1/2 of 4 stars. Wasn't made for this type of event. He spent 1/2 of the film talking about how to get a copy of it to other people. Um, a copy of what!?
Richardson - 2 or 4 stars. Not the best quality, but definitely more tailored to the audience and more dynamic than he is normally.
Hillary - 3 of 4 stars. Getting Bill to narrate was brilliant. A LOT of various photos of HIllary emphasizing education/kids & healthcare. Not to mention her hair transformations over the years.
No on else had videos that I saw.
Btw, THANK YOU, to everyone who bought tickets for the Young Democrats Travel Voucher prize drawings to help get young people to National Convention in July - details on www.georgiayds.org.
I was GREAT to see Carey, Jon, Matt, Denise, Angela, list goes on and on. They need to rename this the North Georgia Family Reunion. Kinda what it felt like to me. :)
Wow. You guys are brilliant.
Just getting home from the rally and checking the blog. Ataru and gang did some amazing work today! I think I'm going to cry.
I can't believe how far we've come in such a short time. And HUGE thanks to Grayson for making the UStream possible.
Kudos to Patty, Jon and the N. Georgia folks for putting on a fantastic event. It did feel a lot like a family reunion.
It was a great day.
"Call me crazy, but I wonder why we haven't seen more of him. He just had another applause and cheer line, and he is giving a great speech." You're not crazy. Wyc (for Wycliff) Orr is a Gainesville attorney and former member of the Georgia House of Representatives. But above all, he is an impassioned Democrat and a great Party spokesman. I am proud to be able to say he is a good friend of mine.
On August 16, 2006, the following column by Wyc appeared in the AJC:
"Why would we ever go back?" asks Gov. Sonny Perdue in a new TV re-election ad.
With this query, the governor has focused voters on a subject that Georgia Republicans would do well to avoid: the past.
As that quintessential Southerner, William Faulkner, reminded us, the past is not only not dead, "it's not even past." And nowhere is Georgia's political past more alive and evident than in our state's explosive growth and progress under Democratic government over the past four decades, particularly compared to other Southern states under largely Republican leadership.
While Georgia continued under exclusively Democratic governors and legislatures until 2002, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina had long since "gone Republican" in varying degrees. Between 1970 and 1994, each of those states had elected at least two Republican governors, frequently with legislatures to match.
In 1960, Georgia's population stood at 3.9 million, Tennessee's at 3.6 million, Alabama's at 3.3 million, and South Carolina's at 2.4 million. Only North Carolina, at 4.6 million, exceeded Georgia.
In the decades since, Georgia outpaced all those states to become our nation's ninth most populous state with more than 9 million residents. Like the proverbial turtle who found himself on top of the fence post, Georgia did not get to this pre-eminent position "by itself."
The invisible hand guiding Georgia's remarkable growth over the last four decades was Democratic, not Republican. But in the past four years, Republicans --- controlling the Governor's Mansion, the Senate and the House of Representatives for the past two years --- have steered Georgia onto an itinerary not unlike some of our neighboring states.
That misadventure has included Republican-bred needless conflict: battles over gay marriage, state-sponsored religion, distrust of Georgians as jurors under the guise of "tort reform," de facto poll taxes in the form of "voter ID" cards, and other such regressive manufactured crises.
The loser? Georgia.
To win, Democratic nominee Mark Taylor must tell this story, emphasizing how Democrats, not Republicans, brought electricity to rural Georgia; a plethora of military installations to the state; education to the illiterate; and ultimately, while long delayed, some measure of justice to the segregated.
The Olympics, Super Bowls, a Democratic national convention, favorable business conditions, rapid improvement of our university system, and booming economic and population growth did not come here without Democratic leadership at all levels.
So, why would Georgians ever go back?
That's easy, governor --- to use that time-honored Georgia saying --- "to dance with who brung 'em."
Shout out to Matt Weyandt, the new ED of DPG, who was also in attendance. Seems like a pretty sharp guy. I am looking forward to the next couple of years.
Ditto what everyone else said, but the car ride for me was the best part..
I know bloggers rock, but do you have to post pictures of my fat rear end???? That's a shot only Glen Richardson could love. Jeez....
Benson definetely gets the "Live Blogger of the Year" award. He types, works the room, and takes photos. Good coverage Benson.
For the People Rally was a success - tho some may 'complain' of the numbers who showed up, it being an off-year and that there were about 300 warm Democratic bodies, I feel it a good turn out. bIG Nods to Patty and the crew, wish Jane could have stayed tho understand family commitments. Jim Marlow was a very pleasant surprise. MARLOW also made most of the GA. 10th candidates (on GPB last night) look hopeless. What..was Paul Broun on valium or something? That was very sad. But, as for the Rally: KUDOS to the Ralph Roddenbery Band who performed in and drove down from Chatt., TN just for this.
Michael Thurmond never has enough time to speak..and it was a delight to hear him and speak with him.
Ms. Freeman makes great points, but should consider 'backing off' a little..or softening up some.
The Col. has a lot to teach us all. It wasn't 'about' present day, but it's a reminder about what people go through when we're at war. 'Viet Nam' vs. 'Iraq'.. On second thought, I believe his talk was very appropriate.
Disappointed in the Obama video, but at least they made a showing. Clinton is a smart gal -
gotta go back to the 10th District stuff...I came away (i.e., the GPB broadcase last night w/ 10th Dist. candidates) thinking: most would be eaten alive on the 'HILL' - Broun should back away, period. Independent party should make some points about 'itself' - and to me, Marlow was the only candidate who actually seems to have the 10th District his top priority.
That military guy seems to want to be President...yesterday.
Great to see the For the People Rally showing up with live feed. I'm still undecided about Pres. - guess I wish Gore would run. BE SURE TO VOTE BEFORE June 12TH FOR THE SPECIAL ELECTION. WE HAVE GOT TO CLEAN UP THE 10TH IN GEORGIA!
my comments were posted today, June 13th..not on June 11th...site owner, please fix the time.
I think that refers to the post above yours.
Are you trying to establish some sort of alibi?
MOTS, are you talking to yourself? Since you're feeling so chatty, how about one of those delicious post of yours?
Not this time. Referring to the above post:
in Athens [TypeKey Profile Page]:
my comments were posted today, June 13th..not on June 11th...site owner, please fix the time.
Posted by in Athens [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 13, 2007 12:19 PM