Democratic National Convention kicks off today

The Democratic National Convention kicks off today in Denver, and Michelle Obama headlines the list of speakers on the first night of the four-day event.

As I’ve previously reported, Gov. Bill Richardson and U.S. Senate candidate Tom Udall will speak on Wednesday evening. In the meantime, there’s a lot of other interesting stuff going on. I’m not in Denver, but Jill Cooper, Udall’s wife, will be blogging daily from the convention on this site starting Tuesday. Keep an eye on this site for some interesting tidbits and insights from her.

In addition, you can check out convention coverage from NMFBIHOP and Democracy for New Mexico, progressive bloggers who are in Denver. You can also get complete coverage from the Denver Post. And you can find the convention schedule by clicking here.

The Albuquerque Journal and Las Cruces Sun-News had convention previews from a New Mexico perspective over the weekend, and The Santa Fe New Mexican had an article about how the major-party conventions have become “extravaganzas of schmoozing, networking and entertaining for politicians and party leaders, underwritten by the same corporations and interest groups that spend billions lobbying Congress and funding campaigns.”

The Republican National Convention will be held next week in Minnesota. I’ve offered the campaign of GOP Senate candidate Steve Pearce the opportunity to blog daily on this site during that convention, but have not yet received a response.