Jeff Mazur's blog

Scenes from the afternoon and evening at Invesco Field, as Democrats prepared to nominate Barack Obama and Obama accepted that nomination.

Taken a few moments ago at Denver International Airport...

Gold medal American gymnast Shawn Johnson makes her way through the airport to catch a flight to Los Angeles. ­

Scenes from Wednesday night at the DNCC, where Bill Clinton and Joe Biden took the stage...

This morning at the Missouri delegation breakfast, delegates heard from Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Jay Nixon as well as Congressman Emanuel Cleaver. 

Nixon addressed attendees by talking about what a great year it has already been, as he has "retired" a Republican Governor in Matt Blunt, a Republican Treasurer in Sarah Steelman, and is poised to retire a "George Bush, John McCain supporting Congressman" in Kenny Hulshof.  

Nixon went on to tell a now-familiar story about how he got his start in public service while he was a child in the home of his two public servant parents.  Nixon then reiterated a much touched-upon theme of the week, by seizing on the importance of this election and of electing Barack Obama.­

At Wednesday's DNCC Missouri delegation breakfast, three members of the Carnahan family addressed the delegates and special guests...

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"No way, no how, no McCain."  --Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton reaches the podium, as viewed from the Missouri delegation.­

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer reminds us...

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The podium area on the convention floor is growing so packed, as are the aisles and delegation seating areas, that convention Staff and fire marshals have actually closed off access from the concourse into the floor area at several spots, including at the Missouri delegation section entrances.

Many appear excited to be as close as possible as Hillary Clinton uses her Tuesday night speaking spot for a full-throated and vehement reminder to delegates of the importance of electing Barack Obama.

At about 8:19pm Mountain Daylight Time yesterday, in the heart of DNCC prime-time, Senator Claire McCaskill took the Pepsi Center stage after being introduced to the ­capacity crowd by her children.  Below are a few photos from the convention floor.

House Armed Services Chairman and Missouri legend Representative Ike Skelton was the keynote speaker at Tuesday's delegation breakfast.  

Skelton spoke of the historic nature of this convention, and he should know: he informed those assembled that he attended his first Democratic National Convention in 1940.  He went on to implore the Democrats in the room to continue the hard work and perseverence that had brought them to this point.  Skelton urged, forcefully:

"Do NOt underestimate your own importance in Missouri or in the nation."

The prime time hours of the DNCC have been a high-charge affair thus far, with Teddy Kennedy rousing the crowd after a heartfelt intro by Caroline Kennedy and tribute to his accomplishments and leadership.

And Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill is still to come, up any minute now...

The delegation phone just rang.  Coming up soon?­

The center of Denver's DNCC blogosphere is without a doubt The Big Tent, a venue hosted by DailyKos and ProgressNow.  The Big Tent provides workstations, wi-fi, food and beverage and plenty of opportunity for folks whose paths usually only cross in packet form over network cables to congregate and trade tips.

I'm sitting there as I type this, and there is blogging going on all around me (photo left).  Quite a scene.

But at the DNCC, even at the center of the ordinarily decentralized progressive blogosphere, one can't go far without running across celebrities of the political variety.­

Senator Claire McCaskill visited with the Missouri delegation for breakfast this morning, and her speech was attended with all the national and state media attention that one would expect for a woman about to speak in a key primetime role on the first night of her Party's national convention.  Below are some snapshots from the event and the media scrum that it generated...

Caught up for a few minutes yesterday afternoon with State Auditor Susan Montee and her daughter Amanda.  As you can tell from the photo at left, the Montee women harbor a generational divide on a key technological issue: PC vs. Mac.  Twenty-two year old Amanda rocks a Mac book while her mom travels PC-style with a Sony vaio ultraportable.

But while the duo might have different taste in computers, both agree on the most critical issue facing Americans.  Each is a die hard Barack Obama supporter.  

Susan and Amanda Montee are both delegates to the Denver convention.  Auditor Montee won a party leader/elected official delegate spot at the DNCC, while Amanda was elected as an at-large delegate at the state Democratic convention.­

Even after the famed St. Louis brewery's recent purchase by Belgian brewing giant InBev, Anheuser Busch is still visible on the political scene, serving up appreciation to its home state's delegates by toasting them with an evening of beverages at the Missouri delegation hotel.  Thirsty partygoers in off the streets of Denver after an evening of high-altitude revelry certainly seem to appreciate the gesture.

Way to be, AB.