DENVER, Aug. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — With certification of all delegates for the 2008 Democratic National Convention now complete, the Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) announced today that 44.3 percent of the delegates elected to attend the Convention in Denver represent minority communities, 50.1 percent are women and 31.4 percent are either seniors or youth, making this the most diverse Convention in Party history.

“Opening the door of the political process to people who have never taken part in the past has been the bedrock of our planning for this Convention since we arrived in Denver one year ago,” said Leah D. Daughtry, CEO of the DNCC. “Twelve months and 56 primaries and caucuses later, it’s only fitting that our delegates represent that same core value and Barack Obama’s unparalleled ability to bring more new people in to the electoral process than ever before. Young and old, first-timers and Convention veterans, all representing a broad spectrum of backgrounds and communities, this is a delegation that will bring America’s voices to Denver.”

According to statistics compiled by the Democratic National Committee (DNC), more women, African Americans, Asian and Pacific Islander Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics, GLBT delegates and delegates with disabilities will attend the Convention than ever before.

“In just days, delegates will come together in Denver to conduct the most important business of the Convention – nominating Barack Obama as our Party’s nominee for the next President of the United States,” said Alice Germond, Secretary of the DNC. “As we gather in Denver to change the course of our nation, we will truly represent the strength and diversity of our Party and our country.”

The DNCC also announced the oldest delegate to the Convention is Sophie Masloff, 91, from Pennsylvania. Ms. Masloff is an unpledged delegate. The youngest is David Gilbert Pederson, a 17-year-old at-large delegate from Minnesota — one of two delegates under the age of 18.

Seniors, age 65 or older, make up 16.9 percent of the total delegation and delegates age 36 or younger comprise 14.5 percent.

Delegates and alternates to the Democratic National Convention are selected over several months by various methods outlined in each state’s delegate selection plan. In most states, the selection process begins with the state’s presidential primary or caucus and concludes in late spring at state party meetings and conventions. The certification of all delegates, alternates, standing committee members and pages is managed by the Secretary of the DNC.

Each state has several types of delegates based on both how the delegate is selected and whether that delegate is pledged or unpledged. The number of delegates allocated to each state, the District of Columbia, Democrats Abroad and the territories (Puerto Rico, American Samoa, U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam) is based on a formula that incorporates the state’s population and Democratic voting strength.

For more information on the makeup of the delegation to the 2008 Democratic National Convention, visit http://www.demconvention.com/diversity.

It took only one day. The DNC released a press statement this morning directing people to the this Youtube video. The video contains some overgeneralized and superficial factoids designed to link john McCain and ‘evil lobbyists’ who have represented the interests of America’s enemies.

This is not news. John McCain’s campaign staff being heavy with lobbyists is old news. A month ago, I wrote a post called “GOP Human Landmine” about the problems McCain and the Republican parties problems finding high level party members without ties to the K Street lobbying firms. I’m not a big fan of what lobbying has become in Washington. The K Street Project phenomenon, frankly, scares the hell out of me.

The problem I have with this aspect of both party’s national committee’s efforts to use the Internet and sites like YouTube to tear down each other’s candidates are two fold.

First, like Aesop’s fable, The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf, all this superficial soundbite noise will result in people just shutting down. This kind of broadside attack, without real details or context, make it almost impossible for individuals to understand its relative importance in the grand scheme of things. Are these factoids a last jab at a problem that McCain’s campaign is already addressing or is this new information that has far reaching implications for the future? It’s impossible to tell from the context of a YouTube.com video’s page. The more this tactic is used, the more inured voters will become and when the RNC or DNC want to communicate something of real relevance the voters will give it a glance and move on.

Secondly, this kind of generalized video cuts both ways. It’s not a well researched piece of journalism or even a detailed glimpse of the inner workings of a campaign. Its a trigger word heavy collection of short sharp sentences without context. I am not going to debate the individual merits of these online campaign ads but just watching this one raises questions in my mind.

Here is the script:

John McCain says he’ll take on lobbyists.
But, his inner circle is full of lobbyists:
Charlie Black, Chief Campaign Advisor
Doug Goodyear, Convention CEO
Tom Loeffler, National Co-Chair
Rick Davis, Campaign Manager
Randy Scheunemann, Top Foreign Policy Advisor
And who have they represented?
Anti-Western Political Parties…
Mob-Connected Russian Oligarchs…
The Saudi Royal Family…
Companies doing business in Iran…
The Brutal Myanmar Junta…
…and some of history’s Most Brutal Tyrants.

John McCain and His Lobbyist Friends: The Wrong Choice for America’s Future

This reminds me of those elementary school tests with two columns of words or names and the student must draw lines connecting each word on the left with its mate on the right. The YouTube page does not contain anything to help the viewer establish a context such as the fact that it was Doug Goodyear’s firm that represented Myanmar’s government.

The DNC’s press statement does include more context information but 99.9% of the voting population will never see that. As of noon today, June 6th, the DNC website has yet to include this press release. If you have a PR Newswire account you can see it there.

The main thing that bothers me about this ad is that it fails to point out that these people mentioned are individuals but the criticism is aimed at the companies for which they work. I don’t think any of these lobbyists are Boy Scouts, thats not how people rise to the top of their profession in that industry. But I also don’t think its fair to imply that these guys all were involved in the domestic activities of their foreign customers. If what they have done is so horrible then it behooves the Democratic leadership in Congress to use its regulatory and legislative power to make those activities illegal.

Today, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and Rules and Bylaws Committee Co-Chairs Alexis Herman and Jim Roosevelt issued the following joint statement:

“Today, after careful consideration and debate, the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee reached an agreement on the two challenges before the Committee on seating delegations from Florida and Michigan. The Committee voted to seat the full Florida delegation with a half-vote each. The RBC accepted the Michigan Leadership Plan as presented today by the Michigan Democratic Party with the exception that each delegate receives a half vote. In addition, the Committee agreed that delegates from both states should be slated under Rules 5, 6, 7, and 12, outlining the candidate’s right of approval. With this decision, the revised total of delegate votes needed to secure the nomination is 2,118.

“This decision was not made easily or lightly but after listening to oral arguments made by the complainants, State Parties, and both presidential campaigns, we believe this to be the most fair and equitable solution allowed within the rules. The Committee arrived at its decision with three basic principles in mind: One, that we must be fair to the voters in both states. Two, that we must be fair to both campaigns who abided by the rules in good faith and three, that we must be fair to the 48 states that followed the rules.

“We believe today’s decision is a step forward in unifying our Party as we work together to put a Democrat back in the White House so we can bring the Iraq War to a responsible end and get our economy back on track. We want to thank all of today’s presenters, members of the public — both those here today and the many others who have made their voices heard throughout the process, and supporters of both campaigns.”