Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, gavels the Democratic National Convention to order in Denver on Monday, Aug. 25, 2008. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
We’re live this week from the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Day One for the DNC in the mile-high city. The air may be thin here up against the towering Rockies, but the issues are thick already. Political issues: Will the Clintons swing their supporters fully behind Barack Obama? Will Obama go after McCain?
And then the real-life issues for a nation with a lot of urgent problems on its plate: energy, war, the economy.
Tonight is opening night, and it’s big theatre here in Denver’s enormous Pepsi Center, where the Jumbotron panels are ablaze with light over my shoulder and Michelle Obama will step to the podium later this evening. There’s a tribute to ailing Senator Ted Kennedy coming, too. And beneath it all, a fight to change the direction of this country on a host of fronts.
This hour, On Point: Live from Denver, we’re getting down to business with the Democrats.
You can join the conversation. On the issues that matter to you, what do you hope for, long for, fear from the Democrats? What’s the change you see in Barack Obama? Tell us what you think.
-Tom Ashbrook
Guests:
Joining us at our broadcast booth in the Pepsi Center is Ron Brownstein, political director for Atlantic Media, publishers of The Atlantic, National Journal, and The Hotline. He’s the author of “The Second Civil War: How Extreme Partisanship has Paralyzed Washington and Polarized America.” You can read an excerpt at NationalJournal.com.
Also with us is Gerald Seib, assistant managing editor at The Wall Street Journal. He writes the Capital Journal column and is co-author, with John Harwood, of “Pennsylvania Avenue: Profiles in Backroom Power.” You can read an excerpt at NPR.org.
And we’re also joined by Bert Johnson, State Representative from Michigan’s 5th District, which includes northeast Detroit. He has been an Obama supporter from the very beginning.
Later in the hour we’ll hear from Laura Washington, columnist for The Chicago Sun-Times.
Tags: 2008 Democratic Convention, 2008 election, politics
In order to be electable a candidate must promise some sort of tax cuts *and* increased spending on education, health care, etc. Looking at our level of national debt, the continuing decline of the dollar, and more and more jobs leaving, it is just plain unrealistic to pursue such policies. So, how can America have its cake and eat it to?
Posted by Chris Davaz, on August 26th, 2008 at 3:29 am EDTIt may not be fair, and as my sixth grade teacher was so fond of saying, “life is not always fair,” but, IF B. OBAMA LOSES, HILLARY WILL NEVER BE PRESIDENT!
If one is TRULY a Hillary supporter and would like to see her win, blind loyalty must give way to prudence.
Posted by Frederic C., on August 26th, 2008 at 9:42 am EDTSo, how can America have it’s cake and eat it to?
America cannot have its cake and eat it, too. But when huge swaths of the electorate don’t have a clue what’s in the US Constitution, when they don’t know who their elected officials are, how they voted, or what the top items in the federal budget are, or when they can’t even manage basic math or even spelling, it’s easy to put things over on voters.
Democracy makes certain assumptions about the capacity of citizens to handle their responsibilities. Americans have, for the most part, abdicated their responsibilities as citizens, and the result is a government that not only fails to provide the basic healthcare and education services that other advanced nations provide, but still manages to get deep into debt despite not funding those services!
Posted by Peter Nelson, on August 26th, 2008 at 10:16 am EDTAugust 26, 2008
Dear Mr. Ashbrook and listeners:
If you, Mr. Ashbrook, have an agent, have him convince NBC that you are ready for television. Then, you can take over Meet the Press. You are the only voice I hear on the radio which captures the core of any subject—literature, history, politics, you name it!!
Thank you!!!
Marc Kohler
Posted by Marc Kohler, on August 26th, 2008 at 12:12 pm EDT“If you, Mr. Ashbrook, have an agent, have him convince NBC that you are ready for television. Then, you can take over Meet the Press. You are the only voice I hear on the radio which captures the core of any subject—literature, history, politics, you name it!!”
If you like him then why do want him on TV?
Do you see that as some kind of step up?? The US TV audience falls quite a few IQ points short of the typical NPR audience, and US TV shows are constantly interrupted by commercial breaks (I’m convinced that US TV is one of the reasons we’ve seen an explosion of ADD/ADHD in this country). Furthermore TV standards of “journalism” fall far below anything that really qualifies for the term.
If Tom Ashbrook ever got a gig as a regular on a TV show I would assume he was being punished for something.
Posted by Peter Nelson, on August 26th, 2008 at 1:40 pm EDT