Politicker Staff's blog

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.

Below is a transcript of remarks made U.S. Senate candidate Tom Allen (D-Portland) at the Democratic National Convention Wednesday evening, as prepared for delivery.

U.S. Rep. Tom Allen (D-Portland) is scheduled to speak at the Democratic National Convention tonight between 5 and 7 p.m. (EST). The U.S. Senate candidate is the last scheduled speaker during the time slot, which will feature the presidential nominating process, including the roll call vote.

The third day of the Democratic National Convention will be called to order at 5:00 PM EST on Wednesday, with a theme of "Securing America's Future."

The day will begin with the nominating process for President, including nominating speeches for U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.), followed by a roll call vote.

The headline speaker will be vice presidential nominee, U.S. Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.).

Featured speakers will include President Bill Clinton (D), U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Gov. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.), U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), U.S. Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.).

The full schedule is below.

State Senate candidate Dana Kadey has been ordered to reimburse the state for personal purchases made with public campaign funds.

As first reported last week by PolitickerME.com, purchases made by the independent candidate from Princeton -- including a GPS unit, cooler, truck cap and roof rack -- were under review by the Maine Ethics Commission.

On Monday, they voted to require Kadey to repay $2,000 to the Maine Clean Election Act fund.

The second day of the Democratic National Convention will be called to order at 5:00 PM EST today, with a theme of "Renewing America's Promise."  Featured speakers include Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D-Kan.), U.S. Sen. Robert Casey, Jr. (D-Pa.), Gov. Deval Patrick (D-Mass.), and Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D-Mont.). The keynote speaker will be Gov. Mark Warner (D-Va.), followed by the headline prime-time speaker, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.).

The full schedule is below.

The Democratic National Convention will be called to order at 5:00 PM EST today, with a theme of "One Nation."  Featured speakers include Michelle Obama, U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-Ill.), former President Jimmy Carter, and Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, who will introduce a tribute to her uncle, U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.). 

The Maine Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the Democratic Party and will take Herb Hoffman, an independent Senate candidate, off the November ballot.

The Democrats, who are hoping to knock off Republican Sen. Susan Collins with Rep. Tom Allen, argued successfully that Hoffman's campaign did not gather enough valid signatures to make the ballot.

The court wrote in its decision:

We conclude that the plain language of the statute requires that each of the three petitions be stricken in their entirety, and, thus, we must vacate the judgment of the Superior Court affirming the Secretary's determination that the three petitions were valid.

The Maine Democratic Party will appeal to the state Supreme Court in its case against the Secretary of State's office over the inclusion of Herbert Hoffman on the November ballot in the U.S. Senate race.

The Observer Media Group today announced that it has hired Justine Lam to serve as Director of Online Marketing for Politicker.com.

Lam, who was eCampaign Director of the Ron Paul Presidential campaign, will be responsible for the expansion of the Politicker.com brand and readership through the application of new media and traditional marketing. She will manage all social and grassroots marketing initiatives. She begins her duties as Director of Marketing on June 2, 2008.