DNC Opening Night Live Blog 2
Posted: September 4, 2012 Filed under: 2012 elections, open thread 82 Comments
Wow. I’m a Lilly Ledbetter fan now. I wonder if we can get her to run for office?
For 10 years, Lilly Ledbetter fought to close the gap between women’s and men’s wages, sparring with the Supreme Court, lobbying Capitol Hill in a historic discrimination case against Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.
Ledbetter won a jury verdict of more than $3 million after having filed a gender pay discrimination suit in federal court, but the U.S. Supreme Court later overturned the lower court’s ruling. Despite her defeat Ledbetter continued her fight until the Supreme Court decision
was nullified when President Obama, on January 29, 2009, signed into law the first new law of his administration: the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
Ledbetter will never receive restitution from Goodyear, but she said, “I’ll be happy if the last thing they say about me after I die is that I made a difference.”
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick just said “it’s time for Democrats to grow a backbone and stand up for what we believe!” He’s giving a barn burning speech right now.
In one of his most forceful rebukes of his predecessor, Governor Deval Patrick said that Mitt Romney “talks a lot about all the things he’s fixed, but I can tell you Massachusetts wasn’t one of them,” according to remarks prepared for delivery Tuesday night.
Patrick’s speech, about an hour before first lady Michelle Obama, sought to rally the party faithful at the Democratic National Convention.
Patrick has been performing a similar role in front of Democratic groups throughout the country, energizing party activists, increasing his visibility, and raising money for his political action committee. Patrick also appeared on cable news Tuesday morning and addressed the state delegation, making a similar argument against Romney.
But Tuesday night was an opportunity to showcase his close-up critique of Romney to a larger audience. He planned to call Romney “a fine fellow and a great salesman,” while adding that “as governor, he was more interested in having a job than doing it.” The lines are typical of Patrick, highly critical without sounding personal or angry, while offering a backhanded compliment.
“In Massachusetts, we know Mitt Romney,” Patrick said.
Patrick then included a list of charges against Romney’s tenure from 2003 through 2007: that Massachusetts was 47th in job creation; that household income was declining; that education was cut “deeper than anywhere else in America;” that “roads and bridges were crumbling;” and that the state had a structural budget deficit.
The speech was a stark contrast to Romney’s vision of his tenure, including turning a budget deficit into a surplus and holding the line on taxes, even as he increased some fees.
It sure is a difference looking and sounding political convention than last week.
Rahmbo also spoke some. Here’s the text of his speech.
Folks are waiting for FLOTUS and San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro. (FULL TEXT: Julián Castro’s convention speech )
Tammy Duckworth was great. You can listen to her here.
peej
Carissa
ecocatwoman
mablue2
Mama Lopez
peggysue22
quixote
skydancingguestblogger
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
Deval Patrick delivered a barn burner!
Deval Patrick was the best speaker so far. Remember back in 2008 when Obama used parts of he;s speeches. Patrick is a better speaker than Obama, even though his voice isn’t as good.
I agree. I found his pitch a little annoying but the quality of his speech won me over. That was awesome!
Nobody Puts Tammy Duckworth in a Corner
Her opponent in her race for Congress, Rep. Joe Walsh, calls Obama a “tyrant” and belittles her military service. Bring it on.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/08/tammy-duckworth-versus-joe-walsh-congress
Deval Patrick for President! Obama should do so good.
Maryland Gov Martin O’Malley is talking now and really engaging the audience.
Great smiles on the Castro brothers!
Great speech. I’m tearing up. We’ve not heard the last from Julian Castro.
He’s excellent.
A star is born!
Sorry, I didn’t realize there was a new thread, I got carried away.
Julian Castro is quite interesting. He’s a very good speaker.
Easy to do.
Castro is really taking it to Romney, with a velvet glove.
“Governor Romney has undergone an extreme makeover. And it ain’t pretty.”
I love the way he did the Mitt Romney says no thing. Right up to health care.
Yep, brilliantly.
And he’s much better looking that Paul Ryan – this from a senior citizen. I know it’s trivial, but compare the eyes.
Actually, I’ve fallen in love, love the way Julian expresses himself – his every thought – his telling us all what it is to be chicano in a barrior, and how they picked themselves up and accomplished something that Mitt Romney doesn’t get…………….De San Antonio Tejas.
He’s wonderful. I can see why he got the keynote.
His daughter is stealing the show. Look at her posing! Adorable!
He’s given kudos to his mother. I’m in love too.
Somehow I missed Ted Strickland, but I guess he delivered a barnburner too.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/zekejmiller/strickland-mitt-romney-has-so-little-economic-pa
“Mitt Romney Has So Little Economic Patriotism That Even His Money Needs A Passport”
Strickland was great. Among other things, he spoke about how the auto bailout was so important to Ohio. And he had that wonderful southern Ohio accent I recognize so well.
“Barack Obama is betting on the American worker,” Strickland added. “Mitt Romney is betting on a Bermuda shell corporation. Barack Obama saved the American auto industry. Mitt Romney saved on his taxes.”
Wow, “instead of a mop I could hold this microphone”.
I loved that too.
I’m going to cry now….
His daughter is doing the hair flip while she looks at herself on the big screen.
Jeez, she’s so cute!!!!
By My Name: Julian Castro “Mom I’m even more Proud of You”……………….there is hope, for all of us.
Gave me chills.
Castro was really good. I can see why he was keynote speaker. Great story and a fine speaker.
Michelle up now. She follows some really incredibly energizing speakers.
I didn’t know her dad had MS. I wonder why he didn’t get himself a dressage horse like Ann Romney, to treat his MS?
Something about the cost perhaps?
Her dad was rich. Whoops. i thought you meant Ann Romney’s dad
Me either, my sister has MS and i have not been very gracious toward the Romeny’s because I felt like they used it
PD: I have no experience wth beloveds who have chronic debilitating syndromes like MS, and never fully appreciated the issues associated wtih it, however since my sister has entered Alzheimers, I’m starting to appreciate fully what you are going through. It’s the same with Beata – until a best friend was diagnosed with a brain tumor, it was something that someone else experienced. However, the Romney’s aren’t exactly very gracious about people outside their circle who experience these medical issues, are they, so why do they use her situation trying to attract votes? It seems rather callous to me, but then again, I don’t have a vote.
I want to hit the “like” button. Where is it?
I think the night overall has been pretty memorable and a great contrast to the Rpub. convention which I could hardly watch. The forward and backward thing really stands out for me. Repubs do want to take us back. Back to a time when minorities knew their place and men made all of the decisions at home because the little lady shouldn’t have to bother her pretty little head on these matters.
I have heard about her arms, but damn, they really are, just wow!
Unless she thanks the women who came before and broke the trail — AND that she is really a feminist — I don’t get a damned about her. Because as someone who grew up in mixed ethnic neighborhoods and went to mixed racial schools I know exactly what she is — and she isn’t a friend of women ANYWHERE.
And Romney/Ryan are? There comes a time when one has to chose which is the least distasteful. Do you honestly think Ann Romney is a better choice? Because, when push comes to shove, those are your choices.
Thankfully I don’t have to vote for her.
But I have to be honest — Mrs. 0 is a terribly self centered woman — just like Ann Romney is.
4 years ago Mrs. 0 wanted to scratch Bill Clinton’s eyes out and called both Clintons — racists. Mrs. 0 has not changed from that person.
So now she is up there being presented as someone “wonderful” — and she is still that woman who wanted to scratch Bill Clinton’s eyes out and called him a racist. Which was so stupid — because now the real racists are coming out from under the rocks.
But then Mrs. 0 isn’t running — and she still won’t work for the ERA or anything remotely “feminist”. She isn’t even a Betty Ford. So sad — she could have been so much more.
I don’t like lying — I want to hear the truth.
She has slick speech writers — and she can put on a false front. And she still wants to be paid!!!!!!!!!!!!! For what? No one is electing her.
Ann Romney is of course a self centered rich girl — a typical CEO corporate wife.
Both women have a staff to make them look so perfect — neither are — both are very self centered women. But again — we don’t vote for them.
So unless Mrs. 0 — comes out strongly for the ERA and Women’s rights are Human Rights — why should anyone care what she says? She is as useless as Ann Romney and Ann’s horses.
And NO way in hell will I ever vote for Romney.
I’m just speaking the truth — perhaps I read too much of the Black Agenda Report — about the Corporate Boards Mrs. 0 sat on.
I once road in one of those cars where I worried about the bottom falling out. I still married the guy but it didn’t last. Maybe that car was a metaphor for our marriage.
I’ve had a series of cars like that. My last two used cars were a lot better.
What a contrast to the Republican speakers who praised selfishness and looking down on others.
BB, I agree, what a contrast.
It’s amazing the difference. When one looks at the audience – the difference in audience participation. Hate to bring race into it, but it’s obvious.
Michelle is one helluva speaker. One wonders why it’s not her in the Whitehouse driver seat – oh forgot, she’s female.
I am really impressed with this speech by Michelle.
She certainly drove the point home!
I could do without that prayer at the end. I think it’s extraneous. Just me of course.
A lot of good people hold religious beliefs. Those beliefs shape their vision of social justice and give them strength to fight the good fight. Hillary Clinton is one of those people. I see nothing wrong with ending the night with a lovely blessing. St. Francis is not the same as Pat Robertson.
Very moving speech by Michelle. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house. I teared up.
It was a strong first night. Well done.
She did a great job.
Saw on twitter that Michelle wrote her own speech, worked on it for month.
That was impressive speech and even more impressive since she wrote it.
Michelle did an excellent job, in fact every speaker I heard (which was most of them because I switched between MSNBC & PBS) was very good. I loved Ledbetter (that Alabama accent was a hoot), Strickland ?, Duckworth, Patrick and Castro (I asked my partner after Castro spoke if she thought we’d live long enough to vote for him. He does look like presidential material). By contrast the RNC looks like even more of a failure.
There are two of those Castros and, if current population trends keep up, I may get to vote one of them in the Gov mansion when TX goes blue. Course, I’ll have to live another election cycle or two for that to happen. If the hispanic vote would turn out huge, TX could be a swing state next cycle.
I hope you’re able to vote for him, Ralph. I was very impressed with the guy.
Ralph, did he say his brother is a U.S. Senate candidate?
I think he said Juaquin is running for the House.
Thanks….I’m having trouble tonight keep my houses straight. 🙂
Thank you, Sky Dancers, for another excellent night blogging.
Thank you!
It really helps your spirits to share a night with friends. At least that’s how I feel.
I do too. I’m so glad I got my internet back in time.
HT, ” You’ve gotta have friends” and here we are, we’ve found each other. Happy dance.
PD, for you and for me.
Gee, I dance to much like Snoopy. feeling uncomfortable, now.
PD, do not feel uncomfortable. Snoopy made me feel free back in the day, and I’ve never forgotten that feeling. I recall back in the early 70’s going to a Charlie Brown movie with a close friend. We felt very odd because we were the only adults without children, so we attached ourselves to a birthday party and pretended we were there with kids, so we wouldn’t be laughed at. Now, when the latest Muppet movie was released, I went by myself, bought popcorn and a pop and sat by myself enjoying the movie (my laugh was the loudest). Other people were wondering what the heck this gray haired granny type was doing in the audience by herself, but I didn’t care. I really enjoyed myself. Snoopy is right up there with the Muppets. Enjoy him, and enjoy your connection to him and dance the happy dance.
HT that’s a great story, it sounds like something my sister and I would pull! We once went to Sears and tried on all the clothes in the color orange, made pictures, sent them my sister (the one with MS) orange is her favorite color. We’re a little crazy. I don’t feel like I should judge, ha
First night of the convention went just great. I’m surprised how well, in fact.
If I was a repugnantCon, I’d be a bit worried considering their convention was a notch below clusterfuck.
Not a problem, they don’t think about other people’s opinions. They have super pacs and the Adelson/Koch money. Why worry? Those “you people” are too lazy sucking off the teat of government to get off the couch and vote, didn’t you know? /end snark
How you doing Mouse?
Doing good HT, how about you?
Well, I’m getting old, but not down and out for which I can be grateful. BTW, did I ever mention that I’m glad that you found your way here? I used to be a regular lurker at Smart’s blog, but it’s all republican all the time now. I saw that you had disappeared, and thought like so many others you had quit for good reason (cough Zal and NES cough). Yet, I still missed your pithy comments, so am very glad that you have re-appeared here. I never visit the Smart blog now. Sad that.
HT…..I’m glad I found my way here too! I’ve been lurking here for a long time and when I saw that JWS was going the way-of-the-ratfucker, I called them out, said goodbye, and moved on to the skydancers. Everyone here has been great.
Dak, BB, JJ and others are excellent writers. Dak’s rant yesterday was perhaps the bests blog post I’ve ever read. I forwarded it to everyone I know.
It’s also good to be with people who are like minded, I found out the hard way that debating and/or having a reasonable conversation with a GOP/TP ratfucker is like swimming up a waterfall, impossible.
Glad you’re here too HT, us old liberals have to stick together.
You’re making me blush Mouse.
Dak, you are too modest. My momma always told me, if you got it, flaunt it!! You got it sister.