Yanqui Mike Throws his His Hat in

Yep, after much consultation with friends, family, and supporters, I filled out the application to blog from the floor of the 2008 Democratic National Committee Convention in Denver this August as the "state blogger" from Democrats Abroad.

The position created by the Democrats for this year is another historic first along the lines of the first ever Worldwide US Presidential Primary that you may have participated in from Argentina back in February. The decision was made for every State Delegation to include a blogger with assigned seating on the convention floor. Since Democrats Abroad is considered "the 51st State" by the Democratic Party, we get a State Delegation ...and a blogger to go with it!

(If you haven't yet joined Democrats Abroad Argentina, you really should. I can't think of ANY organization that gives expats more respect. Seriously, there's nothing like it anywhere.)

As you can imagine, there's world-wide competition for the 51 slots even though the Democratic Party has also expanded the number of credentials for "the pool" all of your favorite political bloggers this year as well. But they won't be blogging from the floor of the convention like the "embed" bloggers with each State Delegation!

Why is blogging from the floor of the convention a big deal?

Well, first up, the credentials handed out to the "state" bloggers provide more access to the actual dealings on the floor of the convention. It's a "backstage pass" rather than a "front row seat." No other bloggers (maybe not even news networks) will have the same sort of access and freedom to move.

Secondly, ...as if this could possibly be second ...this year's convention is shaping up to be the most interesting since 1968 back in my hometown of Chicago.

The primary process that we all know and love today has not existed for very long. The idea that states would have real secret-ballot "elections" and caucuses to determine the eventual candidate did not dominate the Democratic Party's method of selecting who would be the best person to run against the Republicans until 1976 when Jimmy Carter won the nomination.

In '68, for example, there were only 13 states that held primaries.

Before then, "non-primary" states in which the delegates were determined by powerful party leaders were more important than the states that held primary elections. Presidential candidates usually did not even run in all of the state primaries that existed then. They picked and chose which ones they ran in ...if any ...lobbied the party bosses for delegates from the non-primary states ...and left the rest of the primaries to "favorite-son" candidates that were really running as a proxy for them. Those favorite-sons would later release their delegates in the direction of the candidate that they were "proxying" for.

Back then, you never knew who the candidate was going to be until after the convention!

This year, unless something big happens ...and there ain't much big on the calendar between now and August, we're gonna Party like it's pre-'76!

So, in short, the convention floor in Denver will be the place to be if you are a political junkie and a writer. I'll keep you posted as to how the results of this and ALL the races are shakin' out.