Well folks, I've been without internet access the past few days while moving from New Orleans to a roach and ant infested Econolodge in northeastern Alabama to my grandmother in law's rental property in South Carolina to my aunt-in-law's home in North Carolina.
I know, I know ... but the options were limited. I could have stayed in Baton Rouge, but I didn't want to take a chance on a the foreclosed home of a friend of a friend, nor did I want to be separated from my little dog, so my wife and I took a chance on the Econolodge in Alabama. Then we went to stay with family.
Now I'm sitting here getting ready to watch Senator McSame speak.
Yesterday we sat down with Athenae, who blogs at First-Draft, to discuss the awareness of issues related to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita among bloggers and delegates in Denver this week.
As she states, much of the coverage of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast has come from her fellow First-Draft blogger Scout, but to us that doesn't diminish her wonderful insight.
Thanks again to First-Draft for fighting to keep these issues in the national discussion.
Due to some technical issues, we currently only have the segment of Louisiana's announcement of seven delegate votes for Hillary Clinton. Later tonight we will upload a complete video, wherein Louisiana also cast forty-three votes to nominate Senator Barack Obama.
Keep an eye out for Alexandria's native son Lamar White, Jr., who is right there in the thick of it covering the Democratic National Convention for the Daily Kingfish.
I found out late Wednesday afternoon that I have been selected as a Democracy For America/Netroots Nation scholarship recipient. They asked me to keep it on the down low until they sent out a national email blast to all those voted and applied.
Morning, y'all ... as many of you know, the Daily Kingfish has been selected to attend the Democratic National Convention later this summer in Denver, CO, as the official state blog for Louisiana. What that means is that the Daily Kingfish will be sitting on the floor of the Convention with the Louisiana delegation. It is, ultimately, the best access to the state party and it's members that a blog could ever hope for.
I also want to let y'all know that Lamar White and Dan Smith of CenLamar will be joining me in Denver on the Daily Kingfish blogger credential. What that means is that we will be able to offer up some more coverage ... as there will be more than just 1 Daily Kingfish blogger at the convention. To that end, you will see some cross-posting going on with Lamar and Dan here at Daily Kingfish, which will be front-paged. We're still working out how that's going to work, but it will happen, possibly as soon as Thursday.
Unfortunately, neither the DNCC nor the Louisiana Democratic Party will be helping us pay our way to the Convention. We will have to pay our entire bill ourselves. That includes airfare, (which was about $400 for a round-trip when I last checked two days ago from New Orleans to Denver and I'm guessing was $500 for Lamar and Dan from Alexandria), the hotel room where the Louisiana delegation is staying (4 nights at $170/night + tax, not to mention food and drink. So that means about $1,400 for the airfare, $800 for the hotel room, and say $600 for food and drink between the three of us for 4 days. That's a total of $2,800.
So that means we'd need to raise $100 from 28 people, or $50 from 56 people, or $25 from 112 people. Honestly, if you can give, we'll be grateful. And you will get great Louisiana-centric coverage of the convention, along with a thank you note from the three of us, and a token of our affection that is yet to be determined. The link to donate is the Donate button with all the credit card symbols over to the right, below where it says:
So, last year, I went to Yearly Kos in Chicago as part of the Chicago 17 to learn how to be a better blogger and network to drive attention to this site, and by extension, progressive Louisiana politics.
I was hoping to be able to pay my way this year, especially since the event, now christened Netroots Nation, is being held in Austin, TX.
Unfortunately, thanks to car troubles, I have to ask for some help to get there. It doesn't require any donations on your part ... just your votes over at Democracy for America. If you're not signed up, you'll have to sign up in order to vote. Of course, if you can spare the cash, Democracy For America is looking to expand the pool of scholarships they are giving out from 9 to however much they can afford ... so if you can donate ... you'll be helping grow the progressive netroots.
So, if you wanna see this site get bigger and better, GEAUX VOTE (click on the image below):
Sorry, folks, I just had to do that! Anyway, I just received word that The Daily Kingfish has been chosen by the Democratic National Convention Committee to be Louisiana's state-level blog. What does mean? It means that we will be in Denver, on the floor of the Convention, covering it all live for y'all.
Congratulations should also be extended to the good folks over at CenLamar, who will be joining me in that endeavor, as we decided to band together for the blogger credential, rather than compete for it.
Here's the video from DNC Chair Howard Dean, informing me that Daily Kingfish has been given the blogger credential for Louisiana:
Well, I've been working on this for quite some time, and I finally got it to where I want it. I hope that y'all like the new layout.
I know that I have to adjust the banner and make it clearer.
If any of y'all are good with Adobe Illustrator or know someone that can make the banner clearer, please email me, and I will be greatly appreciative ... and buy you dinner. As of right now, I owe JRBroussard a dinner, as he cleared it up without the Daily Kingfish title. Now, to get the title in there would be awesome!
The Daily Kingfish is a news, analysis and action website dedicated to building a progressive governing majority right here in Louisiana.
As Senior Contributor, Stephen is a seasoned political advocate and a leading activist for progressive causes in Louisiana and across America. He currently serves as the Chairman of National Stonewall Democrats PAC, the voice for LGBT Democrats throughout the nation. Handwerk also serves as Vice Chairman of Louisiana’s 7th Congressional District of the Democratic Party representing over 220,000 Democrats is Southwest Louisiana – the first EVER openly gay man to be an officer of the party. He has a weekly television show and wrote a weekly column for The Daily Advertiser as their “LeftBlogger” for the 3 years. He is the Democratic Commentator on KPEL 105.1 and is the outgoing chairman of Louisiana Stonewall Democrats.
Stephen owns a small consulting firm with dual specialization – AffordableConsulting.com - in Graphic Design, Video Production and Website creation – and TurnLouisianaBlue.com which specializes in political campaign consulting working ONLY for progressive Democrats. He lives with his partner of 8 years – Danny, and their 5 year old Chocolate Lab – Mocha.
Lamar Parmentel is the curator-in-chief of the Daily Kingfish. His shadowy connections to the Progressive underground offer insight into the rough-and-tumble world of Democratic politics in Louisiana. Based in Vidalia, Louisiana (but not above seeking refuge in Natchez, MS just across the Mississippi), Parmentel is a certified candidate-whisperer, and a stone-cold rumor monger. From an early age, Parementel was trained in the black arts of meme-manipulation, misdirection, and narrative sabotage.
Ryan is the founder and former publisher of The Daily Kingfish. As a veteran campaign operative, Ryan has spent most of his adult life working on political campaigns across the nation - Jeff Klein for State Senate in New York; Ned Lamont for U.S. Senate in Connecticut; and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's IE campaigns in support of Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin in South Dakota and Congressman Charlie Melancon in Louisiana. Prior to his work on the campaign trail, he completed a stint with Teach For America in South Louisiana, and AmeriCorps*NCCC in Denver, CO. He received his B.A. from Providence College, and his J.D. and D.C.L. from LSU Law. He most recently returned to his native state of New York where he passed the bar exam and re-entered the political operations world on a full-time basis.
Bucktown Pirate resides on a houseboat somewhere beyond the 12-mile limit. She is a world champion crawfish peeler and an ace shot with a properly-weighted Sig-Sauer 250 in .45GAP caliber. The pirate is also a known heavy sharp on most off-shore sports books.
You can reach us at contact(at)dailykingfish.com with your questions, comments, or tips. If you're interested in advertising on the Daily Kingfish, you can also click on the 50 State Advertise Icon in the column to the immediate right.
