Rahm Emanuel: August 2008 Archives

Transcript courtesy Federal News Service

REP. EMANUEL: Good evening. I'm from Chicago, the hometown of the next president of the United States, Barack Obama. (Cheers, applause.)

In the 2006 election, Democrats, independents and even some Republicans scored a victory that President Bush himself called a "thumping." Well, Mr. President, as Ronald Reagan used to say, you ain't seen nothing yet. (Cheers, applause.)

Illinois delegates will have the best seats in the Pepsi Center, in front of the podium.
(Photos by Lynn Sweet)

From the Democratic convention committee....

THE 2008 CONVENTION:
AMERICANS COMING TOGETHER FOR CHANGE

Democrats Add New Speakers, Announce Gavel Times
For Opening Three Nights in Denver

DENVER - The Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) and the Obama for America Campaign today announced new speakers and gavel times for the opening three nights of the 2008 Democratic National Convention, to take place August 25th - 28th in Denver.

Joining the program on Monday, August 25th will be Former President Jimmy Carter; Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar; Miami Mayor Manny Diaz; Illinois state leaders Alexi Giannoulis, Dan Hynes, Lisa Madigan, and Tom Balanoff from Illinois SEIU; long-time Barack Obama mentor Jerry Kellman; NEA President Reg Weaver; AFT President Randi Weingarten; and NARAL Pro-Choice America President Nancy Keenan. The theme of Monday's program is One Nation.

WASHINGTON -- When Alexi Giannoulias was an undergraduate at the University of Chicago in the mid-1990s, one of the guys he would play pick-up basketball games with in Hyde Park was Barack Obama, who taught at the U. of C. law school.

Now Giannoulias is the Illinois state treasurer and Obama is the presumptive Democratic nominee. Obama has been "like a mentor to me," Giannoulias told me. He will be one of the parade of Chicagoans who will speak at the Democratic convention Monday night, when Obama's family and friends tell the story of Obama's life.

There are going to be hundreds of parties during the Democratic convention in Denver; one hot ticket is for "Chicago night" sponsored by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.). They are pictured below as Jake and Elwood in a take-off of the "Blues Brothers." Durbin and Emanuel are each a power house in his own right in their respective chambers; they are also close pals of the presumptive Democratic nominee, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.)

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe on Saturday tapped close Obama friend Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) to negotiate debate details with the McCain team and the
Commission on Presidential Debates. The bi-partisan commission has had debates on the drawing board for quite some time. While there is nothing to preclude the campaigns from having more, sponsored by others, Plouffe in his letter said that was unlikely.

Emanuel, said Plouffe, will "review the specifics of the Commission's proposal, discuss any requested changes to that proposal, and resolve any issues left open by the Commission's framework. .....Due to the late date of the two parties' nominating conventions, and the relatively short period between the end of the conventions and the first proposed debate, it is likely that the four Commission debates will be the sole series of debates in the fall campaign."

The debates are Sept. 26 at the University of Mississippi at Oxford; Oct. 7 at Belmont University at Nashville and Oct. 15 at Hofstra University at Hempstead, N.Y. There is a vice presidential debate Oct. 2 at Washington University in St. Louis.