Democratic National Convention

Check back next week to view my Convention Sketchpads from the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis.

DENVER – With the Democratic National Convention wrapping up, Nevada Democratic Party chair Sam Lieberman bid Silver State delegates adieu this morning with a firm message: there’s work to do.

“We must go back and elect Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Jill Derby, Dina Titus and all of the elected candidates statewide,” said Lieberman. “Then we must re-elect Harry Reid in 2010.”

Lieberman also used his final remarks before the group to stress the historical importance of this year’s presidential election.

“What we have done here this week has been and will be historic,” he said.

DENVER – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Searchlight) has asked U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) to deliver the Democrats’ weekly radio address and she has accepted, Reid told a meeting of the Nevada delegation this morning.

Reid used his brief remarks at the breakfast meeting to heap praise on Clinton, who narrowly failed in her bid to capture the nomination. On Wednesday, Clinton released her delegates to the party’s newly minted presidential nominee, Barack Obama.

“She’s the best,” Reid said of Clinton.

With Reid delivering his convention speech Wednesday, the majority leader indicated he was ready to let the McCain-bashing fall into the hands of the campaign.

“I know longer have to be the attack dog,” Reid said. “That’s up to others.”

Check back tomorrow morning to view my sketchpad for day three of the Democratic National Convention, and go to my national blog to follow convention coverage by cartoonists from around the country.

There is no shortage of second and third generations of American political families addressing delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Denver this week: Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy; James Roosevelt, Jr., the grandson of President Franklin D. Roosevelt; U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL), the son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988; U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), the daughter of former New Orleans Mayor/U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Moon Landrieu; U.S. Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA), the son of former Pennsylvania Gov. Bob Casey; Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, the daughter of former Ohio Gov. John Gilligan; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the daughter of former Baltimore Mayor/U.S. Rep. Thomas D’Alesandro; Iowa Gov. Chet Culver, the son of former U.S. Sen. John Culver (D-IA); New York Gov. David Paterson, the son of former New York Secretary of State Basil Paterson; and Cecile Richards, the daughter of former Texas Governor Anne Richards.

Also: U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), the son of former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Joseph Kennedy, and the grandson of former Boston Mayor John Fitzgerald.

The fourth and final day of the Democratic National Convention will be called to order at 5:00 PM EST on Thursday, with a theme of "Change You Can Believe In."

The final day's events will take place at INVESCO Field at Mile High, where over 70,000 people are expected to attend.

Featured speakers will include Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D), former Vermont Gov. and Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean (D), New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D), U.S. Rep. and U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D), former Vice President Al Gore (D) and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D).

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), the Democratic presidential nominee, is scheduled to address the convention at 10 p.m. EST.

The full schedule is below.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Searchlight) said America needs to eliminate its dependency on oil or face the risk of growing threats to its national security during his speech at the Democratic National Convention Wednesday night.

"If we continue to follow this slippery, oil-slicked, downward-winding path, our citizens will shiver in darkness as our resources hemorrhage to Third World thugs whose only virtue is their control of petroleum-based energy," Reid said.

Reid's speech paralleled his words on the Fox Business channel back in July, where he declared: "Coal makes us sick. Oil makes us sick. It's global warming. It's ruining our country. It's ruining our world. We've got to stop using fossil fuels."

On Wednesday night, Reid said electing U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to the White House may be the beginning of a long, complicated solution to America's energy crisis.

DENVER – Democrats are making substantial gains in the Silver State, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Searchlight) told the Nevada delegation today.

“For the first time in a generation we have more Democrats than Republicans,” he said, pointing to registration figures showing the party outmatching Republicans by about 60,000 voters.

Reid also noted that the party had gained an edge in Reno and Sparks counties and that Democrats were narrowing the gap in Washoe County.

The Silver State has traditionally trended Republican in presidential contests, but this cycle the state’s five electoral votes are widely seen as up for grabs.