Hillary Clinton

Check back tomorrow morning to view my sketchpad for day three of the Democratic National Convention, and go to my national blog to follow convention coverage by cartoonists from around the country.

Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville) and his wife, Debbie.: Politicker photo 

DENVER - The crowd crams into the Spotted Dog for Assemblyman John Wisniewski’s (D-Sayreville) convention watch party, which includes three other recognizable elected officials packed cheek by jowl into this low-ceilinged underground Inverness Hotel hangout: Assemblyman Gordon Johnson of Bergen and West New York Mayor Sal Vega and Plainfield Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs.

Wisniewski’s been attending conventions going all the way back to 1976, when his father served as a member of the New Jersey delegation. Now he has his own daughters here and they’ve already been on the floor of the Pepsi Center.

"It’s a relaxing atmosphere down here, in a way even better than getting on and off the bus to go out there to the Pepsi Center," says Wisniewski, chair of the state Assembly Transportation Committee.

"At least I know New Jersey’s not the only place with gridlock," he says.

Edward M. Kennedy after defeating Jimmy Carter in the New York and Connecticut Democratic presidential primaries in March 1980: Getty Images Photo
DENVER -- Essex County Freeholder Pat Sebold supported Ted Kennedy for the Democratic nomination against Jimmy Carter in 1980 because she didn’t think Carter could beat Ronald Reagan.

She was right.

28 years later, Sebold supported Hillary Clinton. But she doesn’t have the same fears about Barack Obama as she did about Jimmy Carter.

“It’s a new era. One doesn’t have to do with the other. Times change,” she said. “Barack Obama is not going to lose.”

DENVER - The perceived indignity of standing in a crush of bodies behind the Island of Guam in that gaping blue glow of the Pepsi Center, coupled with the ongoing grind of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s (D-NY) loss, didn’t do much to boost the spirits of the delegation, as coming in here they hung their last hopes on a podium appearance by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-Union City).

"No comment," state Party chairman Joseph Cryan said when poked about Menendez’s chances of speaking.

When it finally didn’t happen, the bulk of Garden State Democrats looked again for sustenance in Senator Clinton, who won by nearly ten points in New Jersey, whose presence on stage could keep the painful tensions of every silently suffering delegate alive for a few more hours - building to some end that was as yet unknown.

And yet when she spoke on Tuesday, Clinton put a larger political conflict in very stark terms, attempting to uplift to battle stations a mood that could easily go straight to a meltdown with the wrong tone.

DENVER -- If there's any controversy involved with today's roll call vote, New Jersey will not be a part of it.

Democratic State Chairman Joe Cryan made a motion this morning to endorse Barack Obama by universal acclimation. It passed, without any voices raised in opposition.

Cryan said that after listening to Hillary Clinton’s speech last night “I really think it would be mistake if the New Jersey delegation had a roll call,” he said before putting it up for a vote. “If there was some way, I ask that we by acclamation nominate Barack Obama and dispense with the roll call.”

The delegation at breakfast.: Politicker photo

DENVER - With blue collar foreign policy expert Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) on-deck tonight, Democrats promise that the family values phase of the convention will at last come to an end.

"Absolutely," Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) said when asked if his party is now prepared to take the fight to the Republicans and their eight-year record in office.

Possessing a 90% Labor rating compared to 16% for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), according to union pump-up speakers at this morning's delegation breakfast at the Inverness, Biden is supposed to fulfill the lunch bucket running mate role of resident tough guy.

For some Democrats, the transition to more outward-directed energy will come as a welcome respite from the internal Obama-Clinton angst that to date has bedeviled the delegation.

Check back tomorrow morning to view my sketchpad for day three of the Democratic National Convention, and go to my national blog to follow convention coverage by cartoonists from around the country.

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.

Gov. Jon Corzine with Bill and Hillary Clinton at an Invesco Field party: Politicker PhotoDENVER - Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D-N.Y.) speech was over, but the night wasn't done.

Invesco Field crowded the horizon like a set-piece out of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," and State party Chairman Joe Cryan and West New York Mayor Sal Vega trudged under the crisscrossing Denver highways, leading a scattered contingent of the New Jersey delegation.

Inside they were greeted by the familiar strains of Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer," and when the rest of the haggard-looking delegation finally arrived, either by foot or bus from the nearby Pepsi Center, they found a stage overcrowded with Gov. Jon Corzine, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, and New York Gov. David Patterson.

Joining the governors on stage were none other than the Clintons.

Councilman Anibal Ramos: Politicker photo 

DENVER- Looking ahead to a rally with New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson when he returns to Newark’s North Ward after the convention, Councilman Anibal Ramos said he is prepared to do everything he can to help Democrats deliver a plurality of votes for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il.).

The mostly Puerto Rican ward went for Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) over Obama in the Democratic Primary, but Ramos said the Democrats’ message of economic justice and Obama’s own story of prevailing over tough odds would help drive voters.

It won’t hurt, of course, that Newark’s best-oiled machine, the North Ward Democratic Organization, is behind Obama.