My San Jose Mercury News colleague Mary Anne Ostrom just blogged this explanation about why California passed on the roll call vote:

State Democratic Party Chair Art Torres said he had to declare “pass” in the roll call of states, because, well, he wasn’t ready.

In the end, the California delegates voted 273 to 166 for Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton. He said by the time he rounded up all the votes of the massive 441-member delegation, made more difficult because alternates had to fill in for state legislators called back to Sacramento, the roll call was well under way. He counted 439 votes. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (broken foot) and State Sen. Carole Migden (in Sacramento because there is no state budget) were absent, and because they are superdelegates, alternates cannot vote in their place.

And by the time he called the convention secretary to report California’s vote, he was informed it was too late. They were moving on to Illinois in a choreographed dance that ended up allowing Clinton to “declare together right here, right now Barack Obama our next candidate.”

“I missed my day in the sun,” Torres feigned. He denied California’s pass was part of any plan not to announce the California vote. For what started as a pro-Clinton delegation, he said Obama’s large majority vote tally from the delegation was a “strong showing.”

In what appeared to be stage craft designed for East Coast television viewers. Clinton took over the microphone just after the start of the East Coast broadcasts of the network news.

The roll call was halted and Obama was nominated by acclamation after an agreement was reached between the Obama and Clinton camps.

Hillary Clinton herself moved that the roll call be stopped and that the convention nominate Barack Obama.

“With eyes firmly fixed on the future, in the spirit of unity and with the goal of victory…let’s declare together right here, right now Barack Obama our next candidate.”

And Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi informed the convention, Obama has accepted the nomination.

And then “Love Train” was blasted through the hall.

“Don’t you know that it’s time to get on board
And let this train keep on riding, riding on through”

Yes, the third night of the convention is a good time to get on board.

Democrats have just nominated Barack Obama as the party’s nominee for president of the United States.

It may have been confusing to those watching to see California pass when its turn came to voice the results of its 440 delegate vote during the roll call. (I don’t have the California results yet, but I’m working on it.)

The roll call is one of the enduring traditions of political conventions, a time when every state has a few minutes in the spotlight.

But it’s all part of the plan. Nothing in a modern convention happens by accident, or so it seems.

California, Illinois and other big states passed in order to avoid tipping Obama over the requisite number of 2,025 votes until New York Sen. Hillary Clinton could stand up before the roaring crowd. In a deal apparently finalized today, Clinton moved that the party suspend the roll call and nominate Obama by acclamation.

Here’s a short clip of California’s response to the roll call.

California delegates under the age of 30

The California delegation to the Democratic National Convention includes 49 people under the age of 30, the largest contingent of young people in the nation.

Organized by the California Young Democrats, the delegates gathered for a group picture at the California delegate breakfast.

Several delegates for Hillary Clinton say they received emails earlier tonight advising them that she will meet with her delegates at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday with the expectation that she will subsequently release them to vote for Barack Obama.

The delegates were also told they would receive paper ballots Wednesday morning, although it’s unclear whether or not there will still be a floor nomination and roll call vote on the floor as her supporters sought.

Earlier tonight, Clinton seemed to deliver a very clear message: “I Support Barack Obama,”

If this all sounds confusing, it is. This flap over the convention process has gone on for days.  Everyone is talking about it despite party leaders’ assurances that there is no story. And the delegates are locked into a no-win situation where the party has failed to give them a way to resolve conflicting options gracefully.

And tomorrow night, President Bill Clinton will go on stage and we’ll see what he says about it, too.

Sen. Hillary Clinton sent her delegates and supporters  a clear and unequivocal message 5 seconds into her speech tonight at the Democratic National Convention: Get behind Barack Obama. It should tamp down at least some of the speculation about the former presidential candidate’s intentions.

“I am here as a proud mother and as a Democrat … and as a Barack Obama support,” said Clinton. (See MORE for the full transcript.)

The crowd jumped to its feet and loudly cheered her, a sign of unity despite the dissatisfaction among some of her fans about how she was treated in the campaign and the appropriate level of respect she deserved at the convention. Some of the Clinton delegates feel the party is gagging them in the name of unity

Her speech came at the end of a relatively dull set of speeches except for what appeared to be an off-script rally from Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who managed to break through the evening’s largely monotonous drill.

Well, I’m headed off to check out the parties. I scored a ticket to a gig at a brewery sponsored by the New Democrats Alliance, whose chairwoman is Rep. Ellen Tauscher of Alamo.

But here’s a quick clip of the crowd reaction to Clinton. You’ll no doubt see endless video of this speech on the TV stations, so I kept it short.

Read more for Clinton’s full speech: Read the rest of this entry »

David Seaborg, a Clinton alternate delegate from Walnut Creek and the son of the late Glenn Seaborg, a Nobel Prize winner who discovered plutonium, was told his three submissions to the Democratic Party’s national platform made it into the document.

“I have great news!” said Seaborg Tuesday afternoon when I caught up with him at a reception for Californians at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

The party is scheduled to adopt the 94-page platform this week.

Seaborg has been lobbying for more than a month for three platform planks: (1) strong greenhouse gas emission reduction language; (2) protection of the world’s most biodiverse habitats and (3) nuclear nonproliferation agreements with the international community.

“I have to examine the document to check out the precise wording but I’m very optimistic,” Seaborg said.

Seaborg, who runs a nonprofit for rainforest protection, hopes to use the platform language as leverage in his ongoing lobbying of Congress for federal environmental legislation.

Mothers of East Bay delegates are Ana Marie Bustos Sr. of Oakleyk, left, and Charu Kapre of Hercules. The women were photographed at a delegate welcoming party at the Democratic National Convention on Sunday, Aug. 24, 2008, by Contra Costa Times reporter Lisa Vorderbrueggen, Their daughters are Hillary Clinton delegates Ana Marie Bustos and Kranti Kapre.

Today is the 88th anniversary of women’s suffrage and delegates to the Democratic National Convention celebrated women today with dozens of events.

Click here to read my story in the Contra Costa Times. Pictured on the right are moms of two East Bay delegates; their daughters wanted to share the experience with their mothers.

In a few minutes, Sen. Hillary Clinton, the woman who has gotten closer to the U.S. presidency than any other woman in American history will speak to the delegates on the floor of the convention. Her supporters eagerly await her comments; there has been considerable confusion about how her delegates’ votes will be officially recognized.

Also, click below for a video of Rep. Ellen Tauscher talking about the Day of the Woman. I found her at a reception this afternoon for Californians in downtown Denver.

Take a look at a story I helped my colleague San Jose Mercury News reporter Mary Anne Ostrom write about the bloggers’ “Big Tent” at the convention.

It’s literally a tent erected in a parking lot for bloggers denied credentials to the Democratic National Convention. We visited on Monday and the place was packed.

A talented Mercury News designer produced a great video to go with the piece, and I’ve also pasted below links to my Flip video shots of the outside and inside of the tent.

California feminist and women’s rights attorney Gloria Allred is clearly not “getting over it,” as party leaders have asked.

Allred, a Clinton delegate, is wearing a gag at this morning’s California delegation breakfast. Okay, it’s a hotel napkin. She’s protesting the party’s refusal to hold a Clinton delegate meeting, as she has requested. They also won’t let her speak at the breakfast.

“Just because they won’t hold a meeting doesn’t mean I will be silenced,” Allred said.

Michelle Obama, wife of presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama, charmed and wooed delegates in the final moments of the convention’s first night, telling the personal story of her and her husband’s courtship and a wife’s view of the man she loves.

But the Obama’s two young daughters veered off script, which is not allowed unless you are under the age of 10.

Onw of the girls asked,”Daddy, where are you?” at the end of their mom’s speech when the magic of technology brought Barack into the Pepsi Center via live satellite feed. Barack was in Kansas City at the private home of a local family introduced as the Gerardos.

The delegates loved the speech, which Michelle delivered flawlessly. Regardless of your political views, Michelle is unquestionably a modern woman who balances work, motherhood and now, a husband running for president.

Here is a quick clip of the moment when she walked out on stage. (Somebody spent a lot of time making these signs!)