what do YOU think will happen at the convention?

[yorgatron]

i honestly don't know.i hope the other candidates will help pull the party back from the center/right direction they've been going,but i doubt it.i'm ABB or STFU myself,if only to insure SCOTUS picks in future.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. I'm thinking it'll end up looking like Chicago in 68

[MurikanDemocrat]

7. There's a truly depressing thought.

I sincerely hope you are mistaken, but appreciate where you get that impression.

Let's hope that the real world convention does not take on any characteristics of GD Primary, and it should be okay.

[Forkboy]

9. That's what I see coming too

I hope to be there :)

[MurikanDemocrat]

14. Okay, what camp do you see this coming from -

Dean camp, Nader camp, or both. Or other?

[corporatewhore]

18. and the quaker camp and activist camp and union camp

esp sincee they hired that fucking fascist john timoney think miami ftaa carnage
ctions Afoot to Counter Democrats in Boston
By KATIE ZEZIMA

Published: February 23, 2004
BOSTON, Feb. 22 - An outdoor bazaar featuring music, dance lessons and children's entertainment, a gathering on Boston Common and a weekend-long social forum are among the events local and national groups plan in protest of the Democratic National Convention this summer.The Black Tea Society, a local activist group, said it was planning open-ended, low-key educational events, including an open-air market. Some of the issues that will be addressed are media consolidation, corporate interests, the war in Iraq and affordable housing, said an organizer, Tania Vamont.
"A lot of these very national and international issues aren't going to magically disappear with the Democrats," said Ms. Vamont, 24, a graphic designer from Cambridge, Mass. "We're still going to be in Iraq, we're still going to have a huge deficit, and I don't know what a Democrat is going to do to make these go away. Clinton started a lot of the bad stuff Bush continued."

The Democrats are scheduled to hold their convention at the FleetCenter in Boston from July 26 through July 29.
The Boston Social Forum, a regional arm of the World Social Forum, plans a series of workshops and events at the University of Massachusetts Boston the weekend before the convention. Common Cause Massachusetts has applied for a permit to hold an event on Boston Common, and the American Friends Service Committee is considering alternative events, including meetings and teach-ins.
A significant number of the protesters could be city employees. Thirty-two public employee unions, including those representing police officers and teachers, are working without contracts, and negotiations with the city have stalled. Thomas J. Nee, president of the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association, said mass demonstrations by members of police and public employee unions from around the country would take place if all 32 contracts were not settled by the time of the convention."This is a national event, and we're going to utilize our resources," Mr. Nee said. "There will be picket lines. There will be protests."


Local chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Lawyers Guild, which have been meeting with the police about protesters, said they would consider litigation if a protest area were not in legal boundaries. A federal judge ruled in 2000 that it was unconstitutional to place protesters in a fenced-in area away from the site of the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/23/nyregion/23boston.html

[MurikanDemocrat]

21. Can't get to that article without purchasing it!

[corporatewhore]

23. had it sittin in my email box for a while

[Forkboy]

19. the people's camp

on edit;disregard all this.I was thinking the repub convention.

sorry,sorry everyone :)

[corporatewhore]

13. Well they Hired Mr.Fascist activist beater John Timoney

and alotta people i know are going there just to protest timoney
(i myself might go for that reason cause i was in miami for the FTAA protests )

[corporatewhore]

28. So it might look like the RNC in philly the pubs hired the same fascist as

well and there was alotta headbustin from what my friends who were there say

[coloradodem2005]

22. I think the Republican convention will be like Chicago 68.

[Faygo Kid]

2. I think people will get drunk, and fool around.

Think that's a pretty safe bet, throughout our history. The rest? It's been scripted for years. Maybe Tonya Harding will kneecap a delegate. Hey, we can use some excitement, right?

[bluestateguy]

3. There could be controversy over the war plank

In the end, since platforms really don't matter a whole lot except to the ideologues, the Kerry team will allow a platform plank on the Iraq War that is nominally anti-war. Then Kerry will distance himself from it.

But this could all be nothing compared to the possible fireworks at the GOP Convention.

[goodhue]

29. you bet

[mikehiggins]

4. Kerry will become the Chosen One, and shall be adorned with garlands

and perfumed with scented oils...

Politically, nothing will happen at the convention. Neither Kuchinich nor Sharpton will have enough delegates to slow anything down.

Dean will speak, as will Edwards. The Clintons will be bound and gagged and kept under armed guard behind the stage.

Wes Clark will most likely be invited to attend the Convention in Bismuth. The Kerry people will apologize later for misspelling the sitename on his invitation.

Dick Gephardt will levitate and be assumed whole into heaven.

Terry Mac will reveal his secret identity as Ming, Emperor of Mongo, and secret mate of Anne Coulter. Otherwise it'll be just like any other coronation.

[Voltaire99]

6. If Terry Mac and Anner Coulter got it off, what would be the result?

Something that looked like a baby George F. Will?

[elsiesummers]

15. THAT'S funny n/t.

[Leilani]

20. Your conception of the convention

sounds a lot more interesting than I believe it will be.

Conventions today are worthless & money wasters.

[Voltaire99]

5. The pulling won't come from within the party

Yep, SCOTUS picks are critical, as is the whole federal bench. So is protecting Social Security from Wall Street. I could go on. No question this election matters in a big way.

If you want the DLC to walk all over you, though, and offer a diluted platform filled with appetizers for corporations and NASCAR neanderthals, then just stick with ABB - they love to see progressives too panicked to assert principles.

The other candidates have been neutralized, largely due to the herd mentality of ABB. If there's any pulling to be done, it will be done from outside - by Nader and his supporters. The larger Nader's numbers going into the convention, the likelier Kerry is to try to cover the left flank.

[MurikanDemocrat]

8. Kerry has a liberal record in his own right. Fuck Nader - he shouldn't

get any say in the Democratic Platform AT ALL. He is a nobody with no significant influence in this election. That bogus poll out today is just that - bogus. He can't even get on the ballot in most states.

[JI7]

10. they might have "liberal day"

i think they might have one day saved for mostly liberals and bush bashing. on the last day when kerry speaks it might be more about what issues he stands for and less partisan and he will try to get support from all voters. the day for vp will more likely be the day of the bush bashing since for some reason vp's are usually used for the partisan political attacks.

[JI7]

11. his military buddies will be there

i'm sure they will get his friends from his military days to speak. i'm sure they will make very good use of this. or at least they should. he should get his wife to speak also. she isn't the type to give ted kennedy type rally speeches, but she is good in her own way.

[corporatewhore]

12. Well a unionisgoin to pickett it and dems hired a fascist activist beater

john timoney of miami model and philly 2000 carnage fame for security
And i think American Friends Service comittee is going to have teach ins and a local off shoot of the world social forum is going to be there!!!!! Lots o fun oh by the way they are implementing free speech zones

[mikehiggins]

26. Do you have any cites for that? I may be naive but I find it hard to

credit the Dems for hiring Timoney for security. If he is to be there are you certain its the DNC paying the freight or Boston itself?

And why would a union picket the democrats? I know a lot of serious lefties are considering actions (though most are focussing on the forces of evil gathering in Manhattan in August) but a union? Are there some organised labor types who think they'll be better off with four more years of BushCo?

[mikehiggins]

27. Whoops! Sorry. I see my questions were already answered. n/t

[countmyvote4real]

16. We'll have no choice but to embrace the droning of our nominee.

OTH, the media will praise the "honest" twang of the emperor.

Okay, that's style. If the truth must drone now, then let there be. I hope America will fuck the media's presentation of the emperor's talking points and finally elect the truth.

[jsw_81]

17. Kerry takes the nomination on the first ballot with 99 percent of the vote

[WonderGrunion]

24. If I'm there...

I'm going to give the finger to the Torch then cast my ballot for John Kerry for our next President of the Unite States.

[KenLayedOff]

25. A 60 second on-stage French kiss?

What are the odds?