Denver Day 2 (morning)

Yesterday certainly started with an early morning, and ended with a late late night. But wow, what a day!

It started out with a great Iowa delegation breakfast with several incredible speeches. Scott Brennan started the morning introductions, and passed the mic along to Danny Homan, an active AFSCME member, who spoke on behalf of the Fair Share and Employee Free Choice Acts. The next speaker was the very loved and respected Senator Tom Harkin. He announced that the Library of Congress has certified that he has defeated more sitting republicans than anyone ins US history, and has also been vetoed by Bush more times than anyone else! He talked about the importance of "trickle-up" campaigning--helping the local candidates helps the state candidates which gets the president elected! (I certainly took this to heart after being an IDP canvasser all summer for the local and state candidates!) He then introduced MN Senator Amy Klobuchar who spoke about the importance of party unity.

Senator Klobuchar had much to say about her respect for Tom Harkin, and also had lots of praise for Paul Wellstone. She talked about her immediate admiration for Obama, and his organization and determination in the senate, including the Ethics bill and the Lead Standard acts. She ended her speech by emphaszing the first 6 months of the next administration, where troops need to be supported, healthcare needs to be reformed, and something needs to be done with climate and energy. When those six months happen, we need to be saying "I was a part of that;I changed this country", not "I blew it."

GREAT great way to start a political day!