This past weekend, the Young Democrats of America held their Spring Conference in Omaha, Nebraska, in the final run up to the national convention in Dallas - you know you want to come, and Georgia needs your help to get all the votes we so richly deserve! - and it was a great experience. For one thing, Omaha is a lot less flat than you'd think it would be, being in the middle of a flat expanse of wheat and corn and... well, wheat and corn. Apparently Omaha has one of the best zoos in the country - who would have guessed? And who would have expected to have to make time to do anything that captured the quintissential essence of the great state of Nebraska, other than help oneself to a nice big piece of cow?

I digress, however. Another thing that was unexpected was the first appearance of a Democratic candidate for President on the campaign trail in Nebraska since Bobby Kennedy made an appearance in the fateful year of 1968. Bill Richardson may still be trying to get his campaign off the ground, but taking the time to reach out specifically to YOUNG activists (i.e., the ones who haven't gone crazy, like certain folks in Washington) was a great way to get some energy into his campaign...



It wasn't Bill's best speech ever, but really just being there was a big step in itself. I think we - Young Democrats - are really coming into our own as a force in this party, and candidates that want to make the most of their opportunities are making the most of the Young Democrats at their disposal. Bill spoke on Friday at the convention, and on Saturday we heard from a couple of Democratic candidates for Congress who came close to taking a few more seats in Nebraska and - you guessed it - Young Democrats were an integral part of their campaigns. We also got a visit from the C-Span Campaign 2008 bus...



A lot of us even got interviewed by C-Span - hopefully some of us were on message enough to make it onto some important tape reel! Speaking of folks who were no doubt on message...



I think everyone appreciated the opportunity to be heard on tape, even if it's only viewed once by some beetle droid in a back room who decides that while you're still more airworthy than Sam Brownback, you won't ever be famous. We got to see a couple of humorous moments from the Republican candidates, specifically Mike Huckabee, who can't even have a non-awkward moment with a fellow Baptist. We also had an extended conversation about Mitt Romney and how there are lots of OTHER folks like him with the special undergarments who are ready to mobilize for him. (Fortunately we didn't actually SEE any video of said undergarments *shudder*).

In addition to all the boring old work that got done - you know, committee meetings, platform drafting sessions, and drinking all the Guinness at the hotel bar (it wasn't me!) - the Young Democrats of Atlanta even got yet another special moment in the sun in front of general session on Sunday - Shelby's YDAtl commercial (the black and white one) was one of two videos that were shown as examples for folks in other states. Do we rock or what?

All in all it was a very good conference, and a lot of details got ironed out for the national convention, which is going to be a GREAT event. Thunder... Thunder... Thundercats! Hoooo! Go Young Democrats!