So, the local parlor game is called, "Who did you see?"  It's a favorite of the collected bloggers and other guests.

Today, Eric and I attended the Blogger's Tailgate Party.  I signed us up even though I had no idea that Howard Dean would be there.  But he showed up, gave a great speech and then proceeded to sit down at our table.

Howard basically asked us how everything was going and what we thought could be improved.  I had a list and made it known.  I took pictures of another blogger and Dean.  (Eric handled the video camera!)

What's the point of a political convention?  To choose the nominee, of course!

You know better than that.  Maybe political conventions used to select nominees -- back in Abraham Lincoln's Day.  But now, nominees are chosen by primaries and caucuses.  This is the result of decades of political reforms pushed through by liberals and progressives who intended to open up the process.  Of course, some of those people may be regretting these reforms, since the candidate they supported lost.  Opening up the political process of how we choose our party nominee changed the game, but it didn't perfect it.  People still get alienated, feel left out, disenfranchised by how our party nominees get chosen.

So, what's the point of a political convention?

Illinois Senate President Emil Jones has said that he will not seek another term (despite the fact that he is currently on the ballot in November).  The Chicago Tribune reports:

The move by Jones comes as he prepares for the Democratic National Convention, where his protege and former state Senate colleague, Barack Obama, will accept the Democratic nomination for president.

My own encounters with Emil this year center around Obama's presidential campaign.  We were in the same office in both Iowa and Wisconsin, and while I think he traveled with different aides to the two states, it was amazing how they (Emil's aides) pushed the same lines.  The one that was the most memorable (and startling, given what I know about Barack) was that, when asked what job Emil would get in an Obama Administration, the answer was always the same: "Anything He Wants."

Deb Shore, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District in the Chicagoland region, just completed Harvard's Kennedy School of Government Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program in Cambridge last month.  She talks about her experience there in the video (length: 8:54).

The Harvard program matches elected officials with senior-level executives from state, county and local government and executives working with state and local governments.  Students from all over the world participate in the program.  The program "offers participants a rare opportunity to learn from the nation's top educators, researchers, and practitioners; to share experiences and network with peers from the U.S. and international governments; and to become part of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government community - all in a short amount of time. For more than twenty-five years, participants from all over the world have shared in this fine learning experience." (from the brochure [PDF])

Consider:

* A state in recession.

* A government with crippling underfunded pension obligations, considered "worst in the nation."

* State leaders paralyzed by an increasingly bitter, personal family feud prepared to abandon millions of federal dollars for infrastructure repair.

* A HUGE pay raise for said leaders.

One of these things doesn't fit with the others.  Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn is asking people to tell their legislators what they think about this huge pay raise that they have given themselves with his new Vote Now!  Vote No! website.

(H/T to Rich Miller's Capitol Fax blog)

We're Number 49!  We're 49th!

Ok, so Illinois isn't dead last in state funding, as a percentage of the state's share of education funding, but that isn't anything to be proud of.  Under Rod Blagojevich, Illinois has continued the death spiral to the bottom, making education (apparently) the lowest priority in his lacklaster administration.

So what does the governor do?  Why, call a special session of course, so that he can leverage the state's dismal education record in his obsessive and increasingly bitter feud with the speaker.

i've moved from canvassing in orange county (florida) over to brevard county.  to be more specific, i was in merritt island.  brevard county -- especially northern and central brevard (where merritt island and cocoa beach are located) -- is staring down the barrel of an economic bazoka.  in 2011, kennedy space center (the largest employer in the county) is scheduled to lay off a significant number of jobs as nasa attempts to transition to another form of human space vehicle.  nor has it helped that the u.s. government has gotten out of private satellite launching business (another failure of the privatization fade).  local democrats have worried that barack's positions on u.s. space policy could mean further job cuts in brevard's major employer because of earlier wording in his education plan (PDF).

another reason that local democrats worry about brevard county is that, besides being the home of the space center, it is also the home of two air force bases, a naval facility and a coast guard station.  a large number of military retirees choose to settle in the area, which has long sought a veteran's hospital, and there are more people here who've had a tour of duty in the military.  like other surfer's in the area, i've taught my share of young airmen how to surf the small but quick waves around patrick air force base.  so there's a little apprehension about what kind of reaction we'd receive knocking on doors here.

i can put it in four words: much better than expected.  as i've noted before, this is the county where hillary's 50.58% in the january primary got her 31,709 votes while mccain's 35.90% netted him 31,334.  yes, florida was one of the few states where republican turnout exceeded democratic turnout this year.  brevard has been reliably republican in recent years, where bush got 57.65% (kerry had 41.56%) in 2004 and jeb got 61.12% in 2002.  but it isn't your father's florida anymore.

in the end, i id'ed more supporters for barack obama (combining 2s and 3s) than john mccain's (4s and 5s) in what is normally considered heavily republican winter park, florida.  but it sure didn't feel that way while i was canvassing.  thinking about it now, the obama supporters came in drips, while the mccain supporters were clumped together and made a bigger impression.

just goes to show that even your own impressions aren't always accurate.

getting to the turf -- to winter park from the temporary orlando campaign office -- proved more difficult than expected.  the access street to the first house on my list was cut off.  i could see the first house on palmer, so i walked past the barriers over to the other side and knocked on the first door.  no one home, left our new lit (woo hoo!) and went to the next house.  a lady, 94 years old, in this huge house overseeing a lake, came to the door to greet me.