Posts Tagged ‘democratic national convention’
Virginians At Obama’s Big Night
Much has been made of Senator Obama’s historic acceptance speech in Denver from Thursday night. We have shown you some reaction on our air and on the web from Virginians and Richmonders that were there to witness it all. Obviously it was an incredible TV spectacle, but it seems that those who experienced it had even greater things to say. Below is a first hand account from Greg Scanlon of the Democratic Party of Virginia, who was there in Denver.
And kudos to Greg on his work in front of the camera! He may have a future.
Kaine the Attack Dog
Tim Kaine went on the attack in his short, 6 minute, speech from Denver. He spoke about his faith and even mixed in a little Spanish, but it was clear he was up there to go after Republicans. It is interesting that he was used in that fashion when you consider that pundits claimed one of his weaknesses as a potential VP Pick, was that he wouldn’t be able to criticize John McCain.
Two of his big attacks are after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Del. Dwight Jones From Denver
Richmond Delegate Dwight Jones (who also happens to be a candidate for Mayor), just called me, moments after Governor Kaine’s speech concluded. He was almost overwhelmed by the experience. Del. Jones is the pastor of a fairly large church in Richmond and has been in politics for some time. It is safe to say he has been around a while and witnessed quite a bit. He called tonight “The most incredible experience of his public service career.” This before Barack Obama even comes to the stage.
More later…
McCain on Obama’s Night
Tonight expects to be a big night for Barack Obama, but John McCain is not just surrendering the day’s media coverage to the Democratic Nominee. McCain is rumored to have picked his running mate and word is that it could leak at some point tonight. (No matter what we are expected to hear first thing tomorrow in advance of a major announcement on Friday.)
The potential for McCain’s pick to come down today, sent our newsroom into a bit of a frenzy, primarily because NBC put out a warning saying that the news could come at any moment and if it did they were going to just break in to report it. This was during our 6 p-m news so we were just going to report it ourselves if it did happen. Of course the news has not come and we are still waiting. There is still that very real possibility that local Congressman Eric Cantor could be the pick, but it seems that much of the bluster from yesterday has subsided a bit and it looks like it will come down to Mitt Romney or Tim Pawlenty.
In other McCain news, the nominee put out an ad tonight that will air in battleground states (Virginia included) during convention coverage. The ad is certainly something different. Take a look at it here, before you see it tonight.
I’ll check back in later after Gov. Kaine’s speech.
Coverage for 8/28/08
Tonight is Barack Obama’s big moment as he delivers his acceptance speech to a crowd of over 70,000 people at Invesco field in Denver. You may recall that prior to the start of the Democratic National Convention, The McCain camp warned of a bump of as much as 15 points in the polls from the convention. So far the Gallup Daily Tracking poll has stayed about where it was before the DNC.
Here is a look at what we are working on for tonight on NBC 12 and DecisionVirginia.com.
Local Delegates Prepare for Obama- We have a number of people from Richmond and Central Virginia in attendance in Denver, getting ready for tonight’s history making speech. We will get their impressions of the big night and what it could mean for the very tight race back here.
Local Republicans React- The spin machine back here in Richmond has been working overtime, to mute as much of the Obama message as possible. We have an interview scheduled with LG Bill Bolling to get his take on the DNC and a preview of the Republican event next week.
Mayor Doug Wilder- You may recall our lively chat with the Mayor from Denver on Tuesday. We have another interview scheduled with him this afternoon (His entire comments on the Clinton family are available on our video player on the main page). We will see if he was happy with Sen. Clinton’s speech on Tuesday night and ask him what he anticipates from the Obama show tonight.
Check back often today as we keep an eye on the McCain VP watch and some other Central Virginia political developments that are still emerging. And don’t forget to catch our coverage on TV beginning at 5:30.
Coverage for 8/27/08
Today could be a big day for the Democrats in Denver. This after Hillary Clinton’s moment in the sun last night. Tonight it is her husband’s turn. Bill Clinton will speak as part of National Security night at the convention, but there are numerous reports that his remarks will not be confined to just national security.
Meanwhile on NBC12 we have a number of different reports planned focusing on that specific issue of national security and we are continuing to track what role some local people are playing in the race for president.
Obama on Missile Defense: With National Security on the docket tonight, we will explore candidate Barack Obama’s stance on Missile Defense. While this issue has a immense value internationally, it also is important to those of us who live in Virginia. The Commonwealth could be a prime target for an attack because of its proximity to the Nation’s Capital, its position on the Atlantic Coast and the major military installations here. Where does Obama stand? We will show you his comments from my interview with him last week in Lynchburg.
Cantor for VP? (again): It seems like our newsroom has just finished recovering from Kainestairia, the sickness we created for the symptoms related to our round the clock watch of the drama surrounding Gov. Tim Kaine on the short list. We have reported a couple of times about Rep. Eric Cantor’s chances to serve as Sen. John McCain’s running mate, but honestly we have considered him to be a much longer shot that Kaine. There are quite a few reports out today that say Cantor is being seriously considered once again. I asked Rep. Cantor what his chances were and we will show you that tonight during our 5:30pm news.
Other stuff:
Speaking of Gov. Kaine, did anyone see him on Comedy Central? I will post the video a bit later. Let me know what you thought by leaving a comment below. I am not hearing too much about Gov. Mark Warner’s speech last night, although Juan Williams just said on Fox News Channel that he thought the speech came off “pretty flat”. My story last night was about how the Clinton-Obama saga overshadowed his chance to shine.
Check back often today! It seems like there is going to be a lot of things happening.
Warner To Stay Positive (mostly)
Former Governor Mark Warner is just about set to deliver his keynote address to the Democratic National Convention, but his campaign has already released his remarks and as expected he will stay positive. Many Democrats were hoping that he would use the chance to go after Republican nominee John McCain.
Warner is not known as an attack dog and this speech is mostly about his blue collar upbringing and the reasons he decided to run for office. But even though the speech is predominantly positive, there is one section where he jabs McCain. Here is what he says:
Coverage for 8/26/08
The Democratic National Convention is officially off and running and that means plenty of activity and Denver and quite a bit of that will impact us back in Central Virginia. I have three interviews scheduled for later today with some a few high profile elected officials that are at the convention. Here is a look at who is on tap and what we plan to talk to them about.
Welcome to NBC 12’s Political Page
We are excited to launch this brand new page which will bring you the viewer an inside look at the upcoming election in Virginia. Not only are we going to elect a new Mayor in Richmond and a new US Senator, the commonwealth is expected to be a major player in the race for president. We plan to be there from start to finish with up to the minute information that provides a special focus on Virginia and the Richmond Metro-Area in particular.
So check back often! Our hope is to have the site updated multiple times a day, beginning with our comprehensive local coverage of the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Over the next few days I will use this blog to point out some of the great features this site will offer as a compliment to our on air coverage.
Thanks again for logging on and come back soon.
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