President Bill Clinton received an extended, thunderous applause from the crowd and gave the assembled delegates plenty to cheer about. Senators John Kerry, Evan Bayh and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle also delivered speeches tonight.

Find those speeches and more here.

Tomorrow, we head to Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium for Senator Barack Obama's acceptance speech of the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

It is an honor to share this stage tonight with President Clinton. And last night, it was moving to watch Hillary, one of the great leaders of our party, a woman who has made history and will continue to make history: my colleague and my friend, Senator Hillary Clinton.

And I am honored to represent our first state—my state—Delaware.

Since I’ve never been called a man of few words, let me say this as simply as I can: Yes. Yes, I accept your nomination to run and serve alongside our next President of the United States of America, Barack Obama.

Let me make this pledge to you right here and now. For every American who is trying to do the right thing, for all those people in government who are honoring their pledge to uphold the law and respect our Constitution, no longer will the eight most dreaded words in the English language be: “The vice president’s office is on the phone.”

Barack Obama and I took very different journeys to this destination, but we share a common story. Mine began in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and then Wilmington, Delaware. With a dad who fell on hard economic times, but who always told me: “Champ, when you get knocked down, get up. Get up.”

I wish that my dad was here tonight, but I am so grateful that my mom, Catherine Eugenia Finnegan Biden, is here. You know, she taught her children—all the children who flocked to our house—that you are defined by your sense of honor, and you are redeemed by your loyalty. She believes bravery lives in every heart and her expectation is that it will be summoned.

Failure at some point in everyone’s life is inevitable, but giving up is unforgivable. As a child I stuttered, and she lovingly told me it was because I was so bright I couldn’t get the thoughts out quickly enough. When I was not as well dressed as others, she told me how handsome she thought I was. When I got knocked down by guys bigger than me, she sent me back out and demanded that I bloody their nose so I could walk down that street the next day.

After the accident, she told me, “Joey, God sends no cross you cannot bear.” And when I triumphed, she was quick to remind me it was because of others.

My mother’s creed is the American creed: No one is better than you. You are everyone’s equal, and everyone is equal to you.

My parents taught us to live our faith, and treasure our family. We learned the dignity of work, and we were told that anyone can make it if they try.

That was America’s promise. For those of us who grew up in middle-class neighborhoods like Scranton and Wilmington, that was the American dream and we knew it.

But today that American dream feels as if it’s slowly slipping away. I don’t need to tell you that. You feel it every single day in your own lives.

I’ve never seen a time when Washington has watched so many people get knocked down without doing anything to help them get back up. Almost every night, I take the train home to Wilmington, sometimes very late. As I look out the window at the homes we pass, I can almost hear what they’re talking about at the kitchen table after they put the kids to bed.

Like millions of Americans, they’re asking questions as profound as they are ordinary. Questions they never thought they would have to ask:

• Should mom move in with us now that dad is gone?
• Fifty, sixty, seventy dollars to fill up the car?
• Winter’s coming. How we gonna pay the heating bills?
• Another year and no raise?
• Did you hear the company may be cutting our health care?
• Now, we owe more on the house than it’s worth. How are we going to send the kids to college?
• How are we gonna be able to retire?

That’s the America that George Bush has left us, and that’s the future John McCain will give us. These are not isolated discussions among families down on their luck. These are common stories among middle-class people who worked hard and played by the rules on the promise that their tomorrows would be better than their yesterdays.

That promise is the bedrock of America. It defines who we are as a people. And now it’s in jeopardy. I know it. You know it. But John McCain doesn’t get it.

Barack Obama gets it. Like many of us, Barack worked his way up. His is a great American story.

You know, I believe the measure of a man isn’t just the road he’s traveled; it’s the choices he’s made along the way. Barack Obama could have done anything after he graduated from college. With all his talent and promise, he could have written his ticket to Wall Street. But that’s not what he chose to do. He chose to go to Chicago. The South Side. There he met men and women who had lost their jobs. Their neighborhood was devastated when the local steel plant closed. Their dreams deferred. Their dignity shattered. Their self-esteem gone.

And he made their lives the work of his life. That’s what you do when you’ve been raised by a single mom, who worked, went to school and raised two kids on her own. That’s how you come to believe, to the very core of your being, that work is more than a paycheck. It’s dignity. It’s respect. It’s about whether you can look your children in the eye and say: we’re going to be ok.

Because Barack made that choice, 150,000 more children and parents have health care in Illinois. He fought to make that happen. And because Barack made that choice, working families in Illinois pay less taxes and more people have moved from welfare to the dignity of work. He got it done.

And when he came to Washington, I watched him hit the ground running, leading the fight to pass the most sweeping ethics reform in a generation. He reached across party lines to pass a law that helps keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists. And he moved Congress and the president to give our wounded veterans the care and dignity they deserve.

You can learn an awful lot about a man campaigning with him, debating him and seeing how he reacts under pressure. You learn about the strength of his mind, but even more importantly, you learn about the quality of his heart.

I watched how he touched people, how he inspired them, and I realized he has tapped into the oldest American belief of all: We don’t have to accept a situation we cannot bear.

We have the power to change it. That’s Barack Obama, and that’s what he will do for this country. He’ll change it.

John McCain is my friend. We’ve known each other for three decades. We’ve traveled the world together. It’s a friendship that goes beyond politics. And the personal courage and heroism John demonstrated still amaze me.

But I profoundly disagree with the direction that John wants to take the country. For example,

John thinks that during the Bush years “we’ve made great progress economically.” I think it’s been abysmal.

And in the Senate, John sided with President Bush 95 percent of the time. Give me a break. When John McCain proposes $200 billion in new tax breaks for corporate America, $1 billion alone for just eight of the largest companies, but no relief for 100 million American families, that’s not change; that’s more of the same.

Even today, as oil companies post the biggest profits in history—a half trillion dollars in the last five years—he wants to give them another $4 billion in tax breaks. But he voted time and again against incentives for renewable energy: solar, wind, biofuels. That’s not change; that’s more of the same.

Millions of jobs have left our shores, yet John continues to support tax breaks for corporations that send them there. That’s not change; that’s more of the same.

He voted 19 times against raising the minimum wage. For people who are struggling just to get to the next day, that’s not change; that’s more of the same.

And when he says he will continue to spend $10 billion a month in Iraq when Iraq is sitting on a surplus of nearly $80 billion, that’s not change; that’s more of the same.

The choice in this election is clear. These times require more than a good soldier; they require a wise leader, a leader who can deliver change—the change everybody knows we need.

Barack Obama will deliver that change. Barack Obama will reform our tax code. He’ll cut taxes for 95 percent of the American people who draw a paycheck. That’s the change we need.

Barack Obama will transform our economy by making alternative energy a genuine national priority, creating 5 million new jobs and finally freeing us from the grip of foreign oil. That’s the change we need.

Barack Obama knows that any country that out teaches us today will out-compete us tomorrow. He’ll invest in the next generation of teachers. He’ll make college more affordable. That’s the change we need.

Barack Obama will bring down health care costs by $2,500 for the typical family, and, at long last, deliver affordable, accessible health care for all Americans. That’s the change we need.

Barack Obama will put more cops on the streets, put the “security” back in Social Security and never give up until we achieve equal pay for women. That’s the change we need.

As we gather here tonight, our country is less secure and more isolated than at any time in recent history. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has dug us into a very deep hole with very few friends to help us climb out. For the last seven years, this administration has failed to face the biggest forces shaping this century: the emergence of Russia, China and India as great powers; the spread of lethal weapons; the shortage of secure supplies of energy, food and water; the challenge of climate change; and the resurgence of fundamentalism in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the real central front against terrorism.

In recent days, we’ve once again seen the consequences of this neglect with Russia’s challenge to the free and democratic country of Georgia. Barack Obama and I will end this neglect. We will hold Russia accountable for its actions, and we’ll help the people of Georgia rebuild.

I’ve been on the ground in Georgia, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and I can tell you in no uncertain terms: this Administration’s policy has been an abject failure. America cannot afford four more years of this.

Now, despite being complicit in this catastrophic foreign policy, John McCain says Barack Obama isn’t ready to protect our national security. Now, let me ask you: whose judgment should we trust? Should we trust John McCain’s judgment when he said only three years ago, “Afghanistan—we don’t read about it anymore because it’s succeeded”? Or should we trust Barack Obama, who more than a year ago called for sending two additional combat brigades to Afghanistan?

The fact is, al-Qaida and the Taliban—the people who actually attacked us on 9/11—have regrouped in those mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan and are plotting new attacks. And the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff echoed Barack’s call for more troops.

John McCain was wrong. Barack Obama was right.

Should we trust John McCain’s judgment when he rejected talking with Iran and then asked: What is there to talk about? Or Barack Obama, who said we must talk and make it clear to Iran that its conduct must change.

Now, after seven years of denial, even the Bush administration recognizes that we should talk to Iran, because that’s the best way to advance our security.

Again, John McCain was wrong. Barack Obama was right.

Should we trust John McCain’s judgment when he says there can be no timelines to draw down our troops from Iraq—that we must stay indefinitely? Or should we listen to Barack Obama, who says shift responsibility to the Iraqis and set a time to bring our combat troops home?

Now, after six long years, the Bush administration and the Iraqi government are on the verge of setting a date to bring our troops home.

John McCain was wrong. Barack Obama was right.

Again and again, on the most important national security issues of our time, John McCain was wrong, and Barack Obama was proven right.

Folks, remember when the world used to trust us? When they looked to us for leadership? With Barack Obama as our president, they’ll look to us again, they’ll trust us again, and we’ll be able to lead again.

Jill and I are truly honored to join Barack and Michelle on this journey. When I look at their young children—and when I look at my grandchildren—I realize why I’m here. I’m here for their future.

And I am here for everyone I grew up with in Scranton and Wilmington. I am here for the cops and firefighters, the teachers and assembly line workers—the folks whose lives are the very measure of whether the American dream endures.

Our greatest presidents—from Abraham Lincoln to Franklin Roosevelt to John Kennedy—they all challenged us to embrace change. Now, it’s our responsibility to meet that challenge.

Millions of Americans have been knocked down. And this is the time as Americans, together, we get back up. Our people are too good, our debt to our parents and grandparents too great, our obligation to our children is too sacred.

These are extraordinary times. This is an extraordinary election. The American people are ready. I’m ready. Barack Obama is ready. This is his time. This is our time. This is America’s time.

May God bless America and protect our troops.

Many of you know him as a distinguished and accomplished senator. I know him as an incredible father and a loving grandfather. A man who hustled home to Delaware after the last vote so he wouldn’t miss me and my brother’s games. Who, after returning from some war-torn region of the world, would tiptoe into our room and kiss us goodnight. Who turns down some fancy cocktail party in Washington so he won’t miss my daughter Natalie’s birthday party.

The truth is, he almost wasn’t a senator at all. In 1972, shortly after his improbable victory, but before he took the oath of office, my father went to Washington to look at his new office space. My mom took us to go buy a Christmas tree. On the way home, we were in an automobile accident. My mom, Neilia, and sister, Naomi, were killed. My brother, Hunter, and I were seriously injured and hospitalized for weeks. I was just short of 4 years old. One of my earliest memories was being in that hospital, Dad always at our side. We, not the Senate, were all he cared about.

He decided not to take the oath of office. He said, “Delaware can get another senator, but my boys can’t get another father.” However, great men like Ted Kennedy, Mike Mansfield, Hubert Humphrey—men who had been tested themselves—convinced him to serve. So he was sworn in, in the hospital, at my bedside. As a single parent, he decided to be there to put us to bed, to be there when we woke from a bad dream, to make us breakfast, so he’d travel to and from Washington, four hours a day.

Five years later, we married my mom, Jill. They together rebuilt our family. And 36 years later, he still makes that trip. So even though Dad worked in Washington, he’s never been part of Washington. He always sounded like the kid from Scranton, Pennsylvania, he is. And even that is a story of overcoming.

Now some people poke fun at my dad talking too much. What a lot of people don’t know is that, when he was young, he had a severe stutter. The kids called him Dash—not because he was fast on the football field, which he was, but like a dash at the end of a sentence you can’t finish. But now he speaks with a clear and strong voice. He says what needs to be said. And he does what needs to be done.

When domestic violence was often a dark secret, Dad wrote the Violence Against Women Act, which gave countless women support, protection and a new chance at life. When crime was spiking in our communities, Dad wrote the crime bill that put 100,000 cops on the streets—and led to an eight-year drop in crime across the country. When Serbian thugs were committing genocide in the Balkans, Dad didn’t hesitate to call Slobodan Milosevic a war criminal to his face, and to convince Congress and our allies to act. He’s willing to speak truth to power: to the White House and to world leaders.

I know my father will be a great vice president. As I mentioned, my dad has always been there for me, my brother and my sister, everyday. But because of other duties, it won’t be possible for me to be here this fall to stand by him the way he stood by me. So I have something to ask of you. Be there for my dad like he was for me.

Be there for Barack Obama because our country needs him. Be there for both of them because millions of families need to know that their best days aren’t behind them, but ahead of them. Be there for both of them because millions of people are trying to overcome, just like my dad overcame. Be there—be there because Barack Obama and Joe Biden will deliver America the change we so desperately need. Please join me in welcoming my friend, my father, my hero and the next Vice President of the United States: Joe Biden.

My name is Quincy Lucas. My sister Witney was my best friend. In 2003, she was murdered at the hands of her ex-boyfriend. I later learned that she was one of 58 women who lost their lives to domestic violence in Maryland alone that year.

Violence against women often happens in the shadows, out of public view. Since that time, I’ve devoted my life to bringing it into the light. But I can only speak so much. I realize that sometimes to change lives, you have to change the law.

Joe Biden heard my story. In 1994, he wrote the Violence Against Women Act, so every woman would have a place to turn for support. He’s constantly making sure it has the funding it needs. And today, countless women get a second chance at life because of Joe Biden.

So it is in memory of my sister and in the name of women all across this country, that I’m proud to place into nomination the name of Joe Biden to be our next vice president.

Thank you.

State parties will publish their delegate selection rules and clearly explain how to participate in the summer of 2007.

Delaware Democratic Party
19 E. Commons Blvd. 2nd Floor
New Castle, DE 19720
800-685-5544 (toll free)
302-328-9036 (local)
302-328-9386 (fax)

District-Level Delegates: 10
At-Large Delegates: 3
Pledged Party Leader & Elected Official (PLEO) Delegates: 2
Unpledged Delegates: 8
TOTAL Number of Delegates: 23

Alternates: 4

TOTAL DELEGATION SIZE: 27

System type: Primary

State convention page: Available
State plan: Plan Available (PDF)
State filing form: Not available online. Please contact the state party to receive a copy.

** This information is prepared by the DNC's Office of Party Affairs and Delegate Selection and may be subject to change. For more information, please call 202-863-8000.

Delaware provides a delicious example.

On their side:

State GOP ousts staff Three paid employees out on Dec. 31; party chief blames money woes

The Delaware Republican Party has fired its entire paid headquarters staff, effective at the end of the year, blaming a post-election cash shortage.

State GOP Chairman Terry Strine said David Crossan, the party's executive director, Ken Grant, its communications director, and Chris DuHadaway, the office manager, will stay on the payroll through Dec. 31.

He said unpaid volunteers will perform the office manager and communication director jobs until the party is on a better financial footing, but that the GOP will look for a new executive director.

"It's a very, very difficult job and something I'd rather not do," Strines said. "But it's something we have to do to keep the doors open."

The dismissals follow disappointing Election Day results for the GOP, highlighted by the loss of three state House of Representatives seats and the defeat of Ferris Wharton, the Republican candidate for state Attorney General.

And on our side...

Democrats this year had three full-time staffers paid for through the 2008 election as part of Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean’s nationwide party-building plan.

But the state GOP has had to rely on its own fundraising prowess to pay staff salaries.

“It’s something that gives them a tremendous advantage,” Strine said.

And that's just Delaware.

DelawareLiberal has more on this development, including the GOP reaction to the news and the local County Democratic Party's newest action.

Plus, check out the Delaware Democratic Party website and blog!

Here is what The News Journal had to say about the event:

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean brought a message familiar to every Delaware candidate in a Tuesday visit to rally the local party forces he is helping finance.

Person-to-person politics beats big media campaigns when it comes to winning over voters.

"You can't win a campaign with just expensive TV ads," Dean said. "You've got to go out and make yourself known. ... You have to go to people who didn't vote the way you voted and convince them of your position."

And that's why Dean has pressed through criticism to follow through on a "50-state" strategy for building stronger Democratic voting in all states, whether they are currently red or blue on the political map.

Extra funding from the national party has allowed the state party to hire a full-time communications manager and two field directors.

Now some would consider a state like Delaware, where Democrats hold almost every statewide office, pretty "blue" and doing ok by Democratic Party standards. Well almost isn't good enough for Governor Dean:

"We only have seven of nine [statewide] offices," said Dean, former governor of Vermont. "We're not 100 percent Democratic here yet. We still have work to do right here."

And the Delaware Democratic Party is doing that work, to make sure that we don't take any state for granted and we win races from the top of the ticket down:

Support from the national party is helping in a big way. The two-year DNC commitment means the party has five full-time people, and that translates into better organizing efforts and the ability to reach down below statewide and legislative races.

"It gets us beyond just being able to do triage and gives us the ability to go out, get the party organized and mobilized," she said. "And we know it's long-term -- at least through '08 -- so we can plan further ahead."

DelawareLiberal blogger Jason attended the event too, and gives his impression of Governor Dean:

[Dean's] common sense message is lost among people who want Dean to be a Democratic savior (like me) and people who want him to be the liberal bogeyman whose every utterance is used for the next GOP fundraising letter.

The bottom line is Dean is niether the savior nor the bogeyman that people make him out to be. He is what he has always been, a man who is using his position to say "what's so funny about honest and open government? What is so traitorous about a strong national defense that rests on telling the truth? And what is so crazy about health care system for everyone?"

There is nothing funny, traitorous or crazy about the Democratic Agenda, or our values. And no one is going to stop working - from the reddest of red states to the bluest of blue, until we set America in a new direction, starting with a Democratic Congress in November.

The News Journal in Wilmington, Delaware, reports that the 50-State-Strategy, which has helped increase the state party staff, is making it easier for local Democrats to recruit candidates at all levels and providing resources to help defeat Republican Congressman Mike Castle and elect Democrats up and down the ballot. Noting that this kind of 50-State-Strategy is long overdue from Democrats, and that Republicans have focused on rebuilding their party infrastructure since the 1970's, the article points out that even local Republicans admit that the Democrats are catching up and now have resources that even the state's Republican Party chairman is envious of.

The following are excerpts from the articles:

All 88 Are Key: Ohio Dems To Leave No County Behind
By Anastasia Pantsios
Cleveland Free Times
Volume 14, Issue 15
8/2/06

...After taking over at the DNC, Dean created and implemented his "50-state strategy." While provoking grumbling among some party insiders, it aimed to maintain the energy and commitment aroused by the 2004 campaign to build a permanent activist network. It went against the typical Democratic party game plan of focusing on the states where it had the biggest concentration of voters, while ignoring the so-called "red" states...

In response, the ODP has implemented a "88-county strategy" that reflects the DNC's 50-state strategy. "It recognizes that every county is important to the political environment," says ODP Communications Director Brian Rothenberg. "We're building organizations in each county using DNC-funded field staff."

The DNC funding allowed the ODP to launch its enhanced field program last year, paying for five field staffers and support functions, such as research, training and developing voter files. It focused especially on parts of the state where the party wasn't strong...

The party enjoyed some successes last year in local and county races. "In Lancaster County, we won seats we never won before," says Rothenberg. "We won trustee seats in Fayette County. Locally we got a lot of trustees elected, and city campaigns went well."

For the full article, click here.

Dean rallies Democrats on campaigning
By Patrick Jackson
The News Journal
08/02/2006

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean brought a message familiar to every Delaware candidate in a Tuesday visit to rally the local party forces he is helping finance. Person-to-person politics beats big media campaigns when it comes to winning over voters.

And that's why Dean has pressed through criticism to follow through on a "50-state" strategy for building stronger Democratic voting in all states, whether they are currently red or blue on the political map. Extra funding from the national party has allowed the state party to hire a full-time communications manager and two field directors.

University of Delaware political science professor Joe Pika says the 50-state approach is long overdue for Democrats. Besides saving the state party money, getting the direct aid from the national party also gives the DNC a bigger voice in areas such as candidate recruitment, Pika said. "The Democrats are playing catch-up," he said. "This is something Republicans have been doing since the Watergate debacle in the 1970s, when they realized they needed to rebuild the infrastructure of their party. ... It may not be paying for staff, but the Republicans have a number of ways they provide support to state and local parties.".

The state GOP has four full-time staffers and two part-time workers, [Delaware Republican Party Chairman Terry] Strine said, all of whom are paid out of locally raised money. "Would I like that kind of help? Of course I would," he said.

For the full article, click here:

After failing in a three-year effort to hand over Amtrak's Washington-to-Boston tracks, and their costs, to a new federal-state consortium, the Bush administration is seeking tens of millions of dollars in extra fees from states for use of the tracks by commuter railroads.

But the states are saying they already have contracts with Amtrak that specify what they should pay, and that Washington has not explained its demand for more money.

In a Feb. 9 letter, three governors — Edward G. Rendell of Pennsylvania, Ruth Ann Minner of Delaware, and Jon S. Corzine of New Jersey, all Democrats — told Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta, that he had not been "open and transparent" in explaining the added charges.

As a result of their concerns and other complaints, representatives of 10 agencies, including three from the New York area, will meet with federal transportation officials here next week to discuss the charges and how they should be calculated. "The states feel their pocket is being picked," said Peter A. Peyser Jr., an aide to Mr. Rendell.

Democratic Governors across the nation have stepped up to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Learn how Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner has responded below.

9/2: Governor Minner is encouraged Delawareans to take part in the relief effort by donating to the American Red Cross.

9/2: The Delaware National Guard had already deployed 185 troops and two C130s to assist in the hurricane relief efforts.

9/2: "Gov. Minner has also directed the state Motor Fuel Tax staff to conduct ongoing survey audits of gasoline retailers in response to consumer complaints, as well as random surveys to prevent price-gouging of consumers at the pumps." (Press Release)

9/2: Governor Minner encouraged Delawareans to conserve their fuel and to make carpool arrangements as fuel lines get repaired.

http://www.deldems.org/

Chair: John Daniello
Vice Chair: Harriet Smith-Windsor
Executive Director: Molly Jurusik

The Democratic Party is committed to winning elections at every level in every region of the country, and we're getting started right now with a massive effort to fund organizers on the ground in every state.

The ultimate goal? An active, effective group of Democrats organized in every single precinct in the country. Here's what we're doing to get there:

1. The Democratic Party is hiring organizers chosen by the state parties in every state -- experienced local activists who know their communities.
2. We bring those organizers together for summits where they can learn from each other the best practices for getting organized to win elections.
3. Armed with the knowledge they've shared with each other, Democratic organizers return to the states and recruit and train leaders at the local level.
4. Those local leaders recruit more leaders and volunteers until every single precinct in their area has a trained, effective organization of Democrats dedicated to winning votes for Democrats.

Success Stories

We're going to win by putting people on the ground to organize right now -- today. So the Democratic Party has identified the first few rounds of states to get this program started.

A 50 State Strategy Success Story: North Carolina

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A 50 State Strategy Success Story: West Virginia

Read More Link to this Article