10:49 A.M. Well, it's certainly a joy to start the morning a little later than the last couple of mornings. It's not clear exactly what our immediate plans are - Gravel has been scratched from the agenda for this morning's session, and there are some rumors that Kucinich will be here instead. Us Geek Squad members are in the lobby mooching some wireless...



A small contingent of us is thinking of heading to the Grassy Knoll rather than subjecting ourselves to the mind-shattering ecstasy of considering credentials and platform in the session. A certain Zach is still alive...

12:23 P.M. I should have titled this day "Journey to the Grassy Knoll". We're hanging out at a barbecue joint a couple of blocks away from the site, and we got a very nice conspiracy theory tour from a Mike Jones who happened to be out in the area...





This guy was really cool actually - he was very knowledgeable (or so he seemed ;-)). Heck, how else would we have found out that an inconspicuous little scratch mark by a manhole cover is really a bullet mark?



Beat the hell out of session, if you ask me. If you ever come to the grassy knoll, look for this guy...



I suppose it was appropriate that on the walk over, we saw an interesting-looking building and took some photos, only to find out that it was not in the National Security Interest to take Photos of said Building. The guard was nice enough about telling us, but it was still a little bizarre - I mean, I USED to look like a terrorist, but those days are over ;-)

Incidentally, this Texas beer isn't bad at all. Oh, and it's hotter than hell out here... we don't seem to be on track to be back in time for the luncheon with Sheila Jackson Lee, but she's scheduled to speak at session anyway.

1:48 P.M. Back at the hotel (with other folks paying a visit to a certain Jack D.), waiting for session to start at 1:30. The Mary Kay cultists are still here, and the city seems to be embracing them...



Big Kev is walking Jason through the list of Georgia superlatives for our vote announcement. Yours truly could use a nap, espresso, or both. Interestingly, at the barbecue joint we were at (which was *stupendous*), a waiter came up and said "Hey, is there a breath of fresh air in here? I heard y'all were Democrats!".

2:06 P.M. Hm, am I wearing something that says "Potential LaRouche Cultist Recruit"? Why are they here? Does the world really need more looneytoons in it? An informal straw poll of those of us lying on the floor here finds some Edwards endorsements and Obama disses - apparently Senator Obama not only dissed this convention, he dissed the college affordability bill by missing the vote.



We're losing steam here :-)

2:38 P.M. We're hearing some rather silly state chants, to which Jason replied "Goooo LITERACY!" Supposedly we were already supposed to be started, but Democrat time has run slow this weekend...



Jason called this one - Page is gettin' her inner Wilma Flintstone on :-D (We <3 Page for a reason!)

3:03 P.M. Woohoo, only 30 minutes late! We're underway here and we're hearing from Steve Westley from California who is going to speak on behalf of the Obama campaign, to which I say "lame", or maybe "whoop de doo". I'm sorry, Obama shold have been here himself and I'm going to think twice before I support him. There's a little jeering section back here...



The guy just mentioned "Atlanta" and got probably the only cheers from this section he's going to get. Hope he enjoyed it. In other news, on the way in here, Oklahoma and New York chanted and bore up their banners and generally called undue attention to themselves. This blogger is settling in for a long afternoon...

3:10 P.M. "Once per generation, an individual can truly inspire that generation." Sorry, Howard Dean beat Senator Obama to the punch... I wish we had had a pen over here to play "buzzword bingo", we would have done pretty well in this one speech! At least Mr. Westly is finishing up here.

3:19 P.M. We've just been introduced to Congresswoman Sheila Jackon-Lee to speak on behalf of the Clinton campaign, and even though Hillary gets the same jeers for not being here, the Congresswoman is already proving herself to be a much more entertaining speaker.



Republicans have been compared to grasshoppers in this speech; we've been asked not to step on them :-)

3:27 P.M. Quite frankly I'm more ready to vote for Congresswoman Jackson-Lee than I am for Senator Clinton at this point - great speech, but how much does it reflect Hillary's personal agenda? Hopefully more rather than less. The Congresswoman is reminding me of John Lewis! She's just mentioned Hurricane Katrina, so we can credit Senator Edwards for at least making that much of an impact on the campaign. Ridiculous that Obama's guy didn't mention it.

3:34 P.M. Well, this is a big improvement over what we got from the Obama campaign - a personal video message from Senator Clinton. What the hell is the Obama campaign's problem? I'm ready to forgive Senator Clinton for not personally being here, but the Obama effort strikes me as REALLY weak.

3:39 P.M. Sigh, now we're on to the b.o.r.i.n.g. part of this meeting, the elections. Laptop is going into hibernation for awhile, and this blogger is going to break out a book.

4:15 P.M.



We're on Ohio now, things are dragging on slowly. The only real remaining drama is whether Texas will cast two of its votes for Sisto Abeyta instead of their own David Hardt - pretty sad not to vote for your own candidate. We'll see how it turns out.

4:21 P.M. Texas just had three members abstain from the vote. Kirk Miller said it best - which river will their bodies end up in? At least Vermont is now up, so we are nearly done with the initial round of voting. None of the other officer positions are opposed so there's not a lot of excitement left here (or least not until the voting is done...). Trivia: The state factoid getting one of the heartiest rounds of applause was "Tennessee: Home of Jack Daniel". Lol! Washington just cast their votes for "David Hartman" (his name is David Hardt) - it takes real skill to screw that up when it's on countless signs around here, and after so many states before got it right. We're finishing up with West Virginia now...

4:34 P.M. The votes are in: Hardt 1,995, Abeyta 107, 45 abstentions. Sisto and David were both very gracious and put whatever differences they had aside for a few moments...



The internet is acting up so there's going to be a bit of a delay.

4:41 P.M. Yay! We're electing the other officers by acclamation; Chris Anderson is our new EVP. Here's one more of President Hardt giving his acceptance speech...



4:56 P.M. Meet some more of the new YDA officers: Chris Anderson, Executive Vice President...



Francisco Dominiche, Democratic National Committee Man...



and Crystal Strait, Democratic National Committee Woman...



5:10 P.M. More officers: Omar Khan, Vice President...



A'shanti-Fayshal Gholar, Vice President...



Josh Blevins, Vice President for Programs...



Stephanie Hausner, Secretary...



and Amy Lewis, Treasurer.



We're moments away from adjourning Sine Die, and all that's left is the awards banquet. Yay!

6:25 P.M. We've got some quiet time (and you know what we do then), and everyone's kicking back a bit and basking in the glow of victory. Chris Anderson (who's half a Georgia guy anyway) and some of our delegation (as well as Alexis Tameron, former EVP) took a little break...



And Timothy happened to choose a seat near Amy Lewis, both taking well-earned breaks...



I feel good about our new officers.

9:04 P.M. The awards banquet is now getting under way. Some of us headed over to the Tomorrow Club reception - the Tomorrow Club is YDA's continuing contribution program - before the real meal:



We saw a GREAT little documentary film produced by someone who had infiltrated a College Republicans meeting and was able to tape Tom Delay and other Evil Ones, as well as interview CR's about why they weren't enlisting in the war they thought was so great...



This is going to be a great wrap up to a great convention!

9:57 P.M. We're continuing with awards. The food has been FANTASTIC (a camera malfunction prevented me from getting a photograph of the scrumptious dessert before I ate it) and a good time is being had by all.



Chris Gallaway is doing a nice job of reprising his service as president...



Our own Timmeh has even made an appearance on stage as one of the five state Executive Directors!



Georgia has had a very good night and a very good convention - our delegation has had a lot of recognition! We're still recognizing contributors and have not yet proceeded to awards...

10:21 P.M. The awards are done - President Emeritus Gallaway is giving the closing remarks. We had one especially meaningful and heartwarming award - our own Mama Page was given the "Outstanding Young Democrat" (edit: it was actually "Democrat of the Year") award and it could NOT have gone to anyone better!



We are winding down a HUGELY successful convention and I'm looking forward to all the work that is ahead for all of us.

10:37 P.M. I thought the night was over, but we're not done yet...



President Hardt is giving a very emotional and moving acceptance speech, and I feel sure that our national organization is in trustworthy and capable hands. What a great night it's been!