Yale on the Trail

By Thomas Kaplan

DENVER — Sen. Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for president on Thursday, vowing that “it’s time for us to change America” after what he called the failed presidency of George W. Bush ’68.

Before countless Elis in front of their televisions and an energized crowd of tens of thousands at a football stadium here, the 47-year-old cast himself in sharp relief to the presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, on policy matters foreign and domestic.

Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, called on the American people to muster the courage to restore what he called an American promise fallen under siege by the Bush administration. [Read more →]

By Thomas Kaplan

DENVER, 5:22 p.m. — The Obama campaign has released excerpts from the speech to be delivered this evening by Senator Barack Obama, the Democrative presidential nominee.  In remarks entitled “The American Promise,” Obama critiques the “failed presidency” of George W. Bush ‘68 and — guess what — calls for change.

“America, we are better than these last eight years,” he said. “We are a better country than this.”

More excerpts are after the jump. [Read more →]

By Thomas Kaplan

DENVER, 4:20 p.m. — Is the Democratic party unified? The Clinton camp says so.

Terry McAuliffe, the campaign chair for Senator Hillary Clinton LAW ‘73, stood outside a luxury box in the Pepsi Center on Wednesday night, smiling for photographs and shaking hands with supporters, the weight of the long campaign seemingly dissolved.

“We’re all coming together today because you know what, the issues are too important,” he said in an interview with the News. “We’re going to stick together.”

So did the Clintons’ speeches unify the party?  “I think they went beyond that,” McAuliffe said. “If those two speeches didn’t do it … just spectacular.”

Olympics gymnastics gold medalist Shawn Johnson is here at Invesco Field and just appeared on the podium to rehearse the pledge of allegiance. (Photo: The Associated Press)

DENVER, 2:15 p.m. — Courtesy of the Democratic National Convention Committee, here is the schedule for the festivities at Invesco Field. DNC chair Howard Dean ‘71 speaks at 5 p.m. local time. [Read more →]

By Thomas Kaplan

DENVER, 12:22 p.m. — We’re here in the press box at Invesco Field, where 75,000 people will watch Senator Barack Obama accept the Democratic nomination for president sometime this evening. The gates open to the public at 1 p.m., although Obama will not take the podium until around 8 p.m. local time.

More photos after the jump. [Read more →]

By Thomas Kaplan

DENVER, 1:49 p.m. — Every once in a while as he walks through the United States Capitol, Congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio is pulled aside by a security guard. “They say, ‘Who do you work for?’” Ryan said.

But the 35-year-old Democrat doesn’t mind. His relative youth, he says, is a political advantage — and something that should encourage other young Democrats to seek public office.

“A young candidate brings certain intangibles to the table,” he said. “A million people told me, ‘You’re too young to be corrupt; I’m voting for you.’ It could be that simple.”

Ryan was among several prominent young politicians, including Nebraska Senate candidate Scott Kleeb GRD ’06, who urged their fellow young Democrats to consider public office at a panel discussion at the Democratic National Committee’s Youth Caucus.

“In our lives, for our families, for our future and for this country … right now is our defining moment,” Kleeb said. “We have to get involved.”

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright at the Pepsi Center on Wednesday night.

DENVER, 12:15 a.m. — In the time between speeches by Bill Clinton LAW ‘73 and Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware, I had the chance to roam around the suite level at the Pepsi Center, where most celebrities and high-powered politicians sit during the convention.

It was a celebrity-stalking feast. Among the highlights: Forest Whitaker, Charles Barkley, Ashley Judd, Madeleine Albright, Al Sharpton and Brian Schweitzer. More photos after the jump. [Read more →]

By Thomas Kaplan

DENVER, 9:23 p.m. — Keynote? What keynote?

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer stole the show from former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday.

If you’re going to watch a single speech from the convention by someone without the last name Obama, Clinton or Kennedy, this could be the one. Out of nowhere, Schweitzer brought down the house with a distinctly Montana-flavored address last night, which included what may wind up going down as the best one-liner of the entire convention:

We simply can’t drill our way to energy independence, even if you drilled in all of John McCain’s backyards — including the ones he can’t even remember.

Watch his speech here.

(Photo: The Associated Press)

By Thomas Kaplan

DENVER, 6:15 p.m. — Former U.S. President Bill Clinton LAW ’73 will speak here in about an hour, and, as with last night, all the attention is on his speech. We’ll be in the Pepsi Center to bring it live to you.

7:26 p.m. | “America must always be a place called hope,” Bill says. He’s done! I made it! The guy next to me is very excited. “Write in your blog: He hit it! He hit it! He hit it!” he said. A few people leave the section now that Clinton is off the podium, and I take one of their seats. Good thing, too; the fire marshal comes to inspect no more than 30 seconds later.

7:24 p.m. | The fire marshal is still in the adjacent section, struggling to remove a few stragglers. Keep stalling, stragglers! Bill is almost done!

7:23 p.m. | Clinton now compares himself to Obama. Remember, Bill says, that I was once called too young, too inexperienced. “Sound familiar?” Bill asks. “It didn’t work in 1992 because we were on the right side of history. And it will not work in 2008.” Nifty line. The guy sitting next to me approves. “Throw it back at him, Bill,” he exclaims. “Throw it back at him.”

7:22 p.m. | Yep, one section away. It’s almost over.

7:20 p.m. | Uh oh. I see the fire marshal coming out of each tunnel to see if the aisles are clear in the section above. They’re about two sections away at this point.

7:13 p.m. | “Barack Obama is ready to be president of the United States,” Clinton promises. I guess the wounds to the Clinton ego have healed over.

7:07 p.m. | Clinton strikes the same tone as his wife did last night. “I want all of you who supported her to vote for Barack Obama in November,” he said.

7:05 p.m. | “I’m here first to support Barack Obama,” Clinton says. Huge ovation. “That’s it,” a man next to me exclaims. “That’s all you have to say.”

7:01 p.m. | We’re in, although sitting in a stairwell. Bit of a fire hazard, but we’ll cross our fingers that the thousands of American flags passed out in the crowd are not flammable.

6:48 p.m. | The bowl of the Pepsi Center has filled up, and thousands of people are roaming the corridors, mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. I feel pity for the ushers who are stationed outside each entrance, desperately trying to keep people out of sections that are already full. It’s like: No, sir, I’m sorry you’ve traveled 2,800 miles just to hear this six-minute speech, but you’ll have to be content watching it on a television next to the frozen-lemonade stand.” Perhaps the most undesirable job in the world.

DENVER, 6:07 p.m. — Representative Rosa DeLauro of New Haven addressed the Democratic National Convention today. One of a handful of House members to speak, DeLauro only had three paragraphs’ worth of time on the podium, but she made it count, challenging Senator John McCain on the issue of fair pay for women.

“The Supreme Court ended a woman’s right to challenge discrimination, and when Congress tried to change it, John McCain didn’t even bother to show up to vote,” she said. “Barack Obama was there. He voted yes. As president, he will continue saying yes to equality for women because he knows that women can’t afford more of the same falling wages and income.”

The full speech — all 130 words of it — after the jump. [Read more →]

By Thomas Kaplan

DENVER, 1:27 p.m. — On Monday, in a recap of observations from my first full day at the Democratic National Convention, I wrote:

There is some good news: Yale did not name a provost today. When I was in New Hampshire, Yale made its big announcement about how it would spend more of its endowment. So, just because of my luck, I figure the new provost will be named this week, too.

I shouldn’t have joked like that, as The Yale Daily News has learned that University President Richard Levin will announce Yale’s new provost this afternoon. This may not seem very exciting, but the appointment is actually quite significant; unbeknown to most students, the provost is the University’s second-ranking official and its chief academic and administrative officer after Levin himself. The field for the position is wide open, too, adding to the drama.

We’ll be back to blogging in time for Representative Rosa DeLauro’s speech (actually, we shouldn’t call it that; I’ve seen an advance copy, and I’ve written text messages longer than her remarks) at the convention later this evening.

UPDATE, 3:18 p.m.: Yale College Dean Peter Salovey gets the job, and the University embarks upon a search for a new dean.  Read more here.

DENVER, 12:42 p.m. — Senator Amy Klobuchar ‘82 of Minnesota made her second appearance of the convention Tuesday, highlighting the economic struggles of the middle class in brief remarks during a segment focused on Democratic women serving in the U.S. Senate.

Klobuchar, who is in her first term, told delegates the story of her grandfather, a miner who never graduated high school but saved money in a coffee can to help send Klobuchar’s father to college. The theme was a consistent one: On Monday, she spoke of hauling decades-old dishware in her Saturn from Minnesota to Washington upon her election to the Senate.

“If we are going to protect the family checkbook, we need a president who’ll fight for middle-class tax breaks and affordable health care and education,” she said. “This November, we can’t afford more of the same. Let’s elect a president who looks out for the middle class, not the privileged class.”

Full speech after the jump. [Read more →]

By Thomas Kaplan

DENVER, 12:37 p.m. — Representative Rosa DeLauro, Democrat of New Haven, will address the convention this evening. She is scheduled to speak along with several other members of the House of Representatives between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Mountain time.

Other speakers of interest to Elis include former U.S. President Bill Clinton LAW ‘73 and Senator John Kerry ‘66 of Massachusetts, both of whom will speak between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. Mountain time.

The Connecticut delegation posed for a group photograph at the Marriott Tech Center following breakfast this morning. Can you spot who’s missing?

By Thomas Kaplan

DENVER, 10:48 a.m. — After they had breakfast at their hotel this morning, members of the Connecticut delegation to the Democratic National Convention migrated toward the lobby to take what Senator Christopher J. Dodd called “a family picture.”

Absent, of course, was one of the elder statesmen of that family: Senator Joseph I. Lieberman ‘64 LAW ‘67, who will speak at the Republican National Convention next week. I couldn’t resist asking Dodd whether he missed his old Senate pal.

“Yeah!” Dodd told me. “I do. I wish he were here.”

Others, however, do not. “If he showed his face,” a Texas delegate told The New York Times yesterday, “he’d have to leave town in the back of a trunk.”