Tag Archive: Yale on the Trail: Democratic National Convention

  1. LIVE: Hillary’s big night

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    My stellar view from my seat inside the Pepsi Center made blogging about Tuesday’s speeches a real treat.

    By Thomas Kaplan

    DENVER — Welcome to day two of the Democratic National Convention.  We are live from the Pepsi Center, where Senator Hillary Clinton LAW ’73 will address delegates — and a national television audience — at approximately 8:30 p.m. Mountain time.  Our live blog is after the jump. (more…)

  2. I chose the Anderson Cooper flavor

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    Outside the Pepsi Center this afternoon: Free vanilla ice cream (your choice of one scoop or two), with whipped cream and red, white and blue sprinkles, all courtesy of Wolf Blitzer and company.

  3. Norton: Obama will give D.C. the vote

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    By Thomas Kaplan

    DENVER, 4:39 p.m. — Like many other Democrats, Eleanor Holmes Norton GRD ’63 LAW ’64, Washington’s non-voting member of the House of Representatives, came here this week to push for change.

    But Norton has one specific change in mind: to give residents of the District of Columbia a vote in Congress.  And electing Senator Barack Obama as president will help that cause, Norton said in a speech this afternoon at the Democratic National Convention

    “Forty-five years ago this week, Martin Luther King Jr. inspired us to act on the principle that all Americans must have equal rights. Democrats will finish King’s unfinished business for equal voting rights for the citizens of our capital,” Norton said. “King’s vision that change is best achieved when wrapped in unchanging principles is the hallmark of Democrats — from Martin Luther King Jr. to the next President of the United States, Barack Obama.”

    Norton, who has served in Congress for nine terms, was Yale’s Class Day speaker in 2005.  Her full speech is after the jump. (more…)

  4. Dean to speak at Invesco

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    By Thomas Kaplan

    DENVER, 11:09 a.m. — It turns out we haven’t seen the last of Howard Dean ’71 this week.  The Democratic National Committee chairman will speak Thursday night before Senator Barack Obama accepts the Democratic nomination for president, convention organizers announced today.

    Other speakers will include several congressmen as well as Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, Jr., Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, former Vice President Al Gore and Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Democratic National Convention Committee said in a news release. More than 75,000 people are expected to be on hand at Invesco Field for the occassion.

    In another addition, Senator Amy Klobuchar ’82 will speak again tonight at the convention as part of a segment featuring women in the U.S. Senate. She and several other senators are slated to appear between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Mountain time, according to the DNCC.

  5. A photo tour of the Pepsi Center

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    By Thomas Kaplan

    DENVER, 10:45 p.m. — Little did I know how excruciatingly boring a political convention is during the many hours not shown during primetime. So this afternoon I had some time to explore the Pepsi Center, the arena where the Democratic National Convention is being held this week.

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    View of the floor from the nosebleed seats.

    More photos after the jump. (more…)

  6. Stalking famous people, day 2

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    By Thomas Kaplan

    DENVER, 6:05 p.m. — Yesterday was a failure in my ongoing quest to chronicle the pseudo-celebrities who have flocked to the Democratic National Convention. But today, there have been a few promising developments.

    First, walking around the club level of the Pepsi Center is essentially like shooting fish in a barrel when it comes to famous people. The floor comprises luxury boxes (where the big-shot politicians and celebrities sit) and the television studios for all the major networks. The Pepsi Center was almost empty when I walked around this afternoon, but at nighttime, I assume one loop around the club level will provide a bounty of celebrity sightings.

    Until then, I will have to be content with having found John Oliver, a correspondent for The Daily Show, snookering unsuspecting delegates into granting him interviews as they headed inside the arena.

  7. Klobuchar: ‘Time to elect a president America can trust’

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    DENVER, 6:00 p.m. — When Amy Klobuchar ’82 was elected to the Senate two years ago, she packed up an old shower curtain and a dinnerware set from her days in Jonathan Edwards College.  Then Klobuchar, her husband and daughter piled into their Saturn and made the long haul to Washington.

    But Senator John McCain, Klobuchar says, would have just hopped aboard his private jet.

    The Minnesota senator packed that dig into her brief speech today at the convention, while also praising Obama and musing that it is time for change.

    The full text of her speech is after the jump.

    (more…)

  8. Elis on the stump

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    By Thomas Kaplan

    DENVER, 3:10 p.m. — This is the first presidential election in 24 years missing an Eli from the top of a ticket, but that doesn’t mean the Democratic National Convention will be totally bereft of Yale graduates.

    Most notably, Senator Hillary Clinton LAW ’73 and her husband, Bill, are scheduled to speak this week. A number of other politicians with Yale ties are also on the speaking schedule this week, too, though not all will speak during the portions of the convention broadcast in primetime on television.

    Elis scheduled to speak this week include:

    MONDAY: Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean ’71; Senator Amy Klobuchar ’82 of Minnesota; and Senator Sherrod Brown ’74 of Ohio

    TUESDAY: Senator Hillary Clinton LAW ’73 of New York

    WEDNESDAY: Former U.S. President Bill Clinton LAW ’73 and Senator John Kerry ’66 of Massachusetts

    The News will report live from the Pepsi Center each day this week during their speeches.

  9. And we’re off!

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    DENVER, 3:01 p.m. — With three bangs of his gavel, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean ’71 officially opened the convention.

    “During our national convention, we will demonstrate to all Americans why we need Barack Obama and Joe Biden in the White House,” he said. “Looking out from this podium tonight, I see this diverse assembly of Democrats as a testament to the strength and unity of our party and the fruition of our 50-state strategy.”

    Interestingly, attendees to the convention appear to take a very similar approach as do students at the Yale-Harvard game. As Dean set the convention into action, only a smattering of seats in the Pepsi Center were filled. Most delegates did not seem to be in a hurry to file in, either.

  10. McCain aide to Elis: Stop swooning over Obama

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    By Thomas Kaplan

    DENVER, 11:14 a.m. — This may be the Democratic National Convention, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few Republican interlopers in town. And one of them has a message for Elis.

    Former Hewlett-Packard chief Carly Fiorina (left), a senior aide to Senator John McCain, convened a press conference Monday with four supporters of Senator Hillary Clinton LAW ’73 who have recently thrown their support behind the presumptive Republican nominee.

    And in an interview afterward, she said Elis should think about making the switch, too.

    “I understand that Obama is an exciting and impressive figure. He certainly is,” Fiorina told the News. “He is a celebrity — there’s no question —and I understand how intoxicating that is to many people.”

    But Fiorina, a Stanford and M.I.T. alumna, said Elis should be smart enough to look beyond that effect.

    “Yale students in particular are taught to examine the facts and not let their emotions run away with them,” she said. “And I think the facts around his rhetoric versus his record are quite stark, and I think the facts around these two candidates’ service and track record is quite evident as well.”

    (more…)

  11. Now that’s better

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    By Thomas Kaplan

    DENVER, 11:15 a.m. — My plane ride may have just been like any other, but here in Denver, it is another story.

    I entered the baggage claim area a few minutes ago and heard a ruckus from the corridor behind me. Passengers from another plane were ambling toward the baggage carousel. They were shouting.

    As they turned the corner, the sounds became clear. ”Fired up!” an older woman bellowed. “Ready to go!” a person next to her responded. Over, and over, and over again.

    It begins.