Emily's List has just sent out a press release announcing that on August 26th at 2pm it will hold a gala reception at the The Sheraton Denver Hotel, 1550 Court Place in Denver, featuring Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and "Special Guest" Michelle Obama.

You can get a ticket here for as little as $50.

This will be one of the highlights of the week for me and I'll be there live-blogging the event

The DNC Platform Committee is meeting this weekend in Cleveland.

The sessions begin Friday afternoon when policy experts suggest planks for the Democratic platform. On Saturday party leaders will hear comments from the public and then will turn their attention to writing a draft platform.

The draft goes before the full platform committee Aug. 9 in Pittsburgh....The platform is expected to closely reflect Obama's views.

In 2004,John Kerry insisted on removing support for the death penalty from the platform. It was the first time since the 1980's that the Democratic platform did not contain an endorsement of the death penalty. Will Obama keep it out or put it back in?

When Sen. Barack Obama accepts the Democratic Party nomination for President at Invesco Field in Denver, 75,000 will be in attendance. Who are they and what can they do for Obama? He's got it all planned out and it's very clever. If it works, the Republicans may not know what hit them in November.

The campaign recognizes that people who live in battleground states will be more effective at persuading their neighbors than the traditional advertising campaigns, which is why it's important to send the masses who will be in Denver out with instructions and training to bring in votes.

....Enter the 75,000 people who will have to come hours early for Obama's acceptance speech to get through security, most carrying cell phones. As they settle in their seats, campaign aides will be on stage asking them to text message their friends and use call sheets to get people to register. "There will be a lot of idle time. We put idle people to work," Hildebrand said.

Now consider how one gets to be one of the 75,000 in attendance, considering only 5,000 are delegates and the press accounts for another 15,000, leaving 55,000 seats. [More...]

Bump and Update: TalkLeft now has its own DNC tote bag -- one that respects privacy rights.

Via Dem Convention Watch, Glenn Greenwald and Corrente, here is the tote bag the DNC will be providing participants.

Jokes about retroactive immunity aside, this isn't the bag you want. Given the security in place at the convention, this one is. (Larger photo here.)

Newly revised from our every day 4th Amendment subway tote just for the Denver Democratic National Convention, this is a far better choice.

Let the 4th Amendment speak for you as you hand your bag over for a search. It's a silent protest and reminder to authorities that you consider searches without reasonable suspicion or probable cause to be an infringement of your privacy rights. You can order yours now, whether you are an official convention attendee or not.

The City and County of Denver and the ACLU have reached a partial agreement with respect to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Colorado seeking details of security purchases made by police for the Democratic National Convention. Denver has now provided details of the $18.2 million spent to date and those planning on protesting can rest a little easier:

The city also announced today that none of the equipment purchases include nonlethal weapons that discharge "slime" or "goo" to immobilize persons or vehicles or that use microwaves or sonic waves to induce pain or discomfort in targets.

The ACLU was relieved -- so much so that it agreed to wait until the convention is over to decide whether to return to court and seek more information.

Denver also disclosed that the police have no "mandatory arrest" policy -- meaning there is no list of offenses that will require arrest rather than the issuance of a citation.[More...]

A few weeks ago I beat Denver Post gossip columnist Bill Husted to the punch in reporting that Bruce Springsteen was free from Aug. 24 to Aug. 30 and could be coming to the DNC. Last week, I beat him by a day in reporting Kanye West, reggae/hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean and the rap/rock fusion band N.E.R.D. were scheduled to perform at DNC events.

Today, Husted beats me with some DNC musical guest news I haven't heard about: The Temptations will be performing for three nights at a "mansion" near 1st and Humboldt in the Country Club area.

As to the Aug. 24 Red Rocks concert with Sheryl Crow and Earth, Wind & Fire, Husted says even though Dave Matthews' people told him this weekend that Matthews is not scheduled to perform, he's convinced Matthews will be there.[More...]

If you get arrested protesting at the Democratic National Convention in August, have no fear, the DNC People's Law Project will have your back.

The People's Law Project will provide pro-bono attorneys to help jailed protesters during the convention. The group will also staff a hotline where protesters can call for help and will field teams of neutral legal observers who will attend rallies and videotape protesters' interaction with police.

60 lawyers willing to volunteer their services met at the University of Denver today for a training session on how to defend arrested protesters.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper has said the police have undergone training to help diffuse violence. Denver civil rights attorney David Lane, speaking at today's session, said police reaction to the protesters is key.

I've been wondering who will be the musical guests for the Democratic National Convention and related parties. By drips and drabs, we're getting more information. Today's news:

Among the big-name performers likely to make a splash in the Mile High City are hip-hop king Kanye West, reggae/hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean and the rap/rock fusion band N.E.R.D.

Bono will be in town, but not to perform for the convention -- AT&T is throwing a party for his One Campaign. Kanye West may perform at the event. As to Wyclef Jean and N.E.R.D., they likely will be at the MTV/Rock the Vote Party.

As to the big corporate sponsors for the event, it's the usual crew:

United Airlines, Google, Coors Brewing Company, Anheuser-Busch, Xcel Energy and telecom giants Motorola, Qwest and -- a brand you'll see plastered all over the place in Denver -- AT&T.

AT&T will be front and center during the convention since it is providing the wireless. [More..]

SWAT (Security with Advanced Technology) has let the cat out of the bag on some of the weapons purchased by the Denver Police Department for the August Democratic Convention:

Security With Advanced Technology, Inc. (NasdaqCM:SWAT - News) reported that its Veritas Tactical business segment has received a purchase order from the City and County of Denver, for the Company's recently introduced rifle launcher and pistol launcher as well as projectiles and associated accessories.

More...

This just in from the DNCC: The media walkthough in Denver that was canceled last week has been rescheduled for Tuesday, July 8 (received by e-mail, no link yet):

The Democratic National Convention Committee will host a media walk-through for national, local and online media outlets, including bloggers, interested in covering the 2008 Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Registration and a continental breakfast will be available beginning at 8:00 AM MST, and the program will begin at 9:00 AM. A more detailed itinerary will be distributed to registered outlets closer to the event. The event is scheduled to conclude around 2:00 PM MST.

Please note that the DNCC is not the same group as the Denver Host Committee which failed to fully meet its fundraising deadline yesterday. [More...]

The Denver Host Committee, under a contractual deadline to raise $40.6 million by today for the Democratic National Convention in August, has confirmed it fell $11.6 million short of that amount. So, what now?

Barack Obama has raised $265 million for his campaign so far. Will he now assist the Host Committee in obtaining contributions for the convention?

The Obama campaign has broken all political fundraising records largely by mining the Internet for small contributions, collecting some $265 million. A fundraising pitch to those donors could vastly boost the convention's fundraising, several observers said.

While the Host Committee is confident the money will be raised one way or another, Committee Co-Chair Steve Farber addressed that possibility today:

"There are discussions occurring. We could definitely use the help of the Obama campaign," said Steve Farber, a Denver lawyer and leading member of the host committee. "The fact that we have a candidate now does help."

Today in Michigan, Al Gore endorsed Sen. Obama. He even sent out an e-mail to readers of his own website asking them to contribute to Obama. [More...]

From an email I just received from the DNCC:

To kick-off Convention week in a spirit of unity, the DNCC, in conjunction with the Democratic Party's Faith in Action (FIA) Initiative, will host an interfaith gathering on Sunday, August 24th, beginning at 2:00 PM at the Wells Fargo Theater located in the Colorado Convention Center.

This is the first time a celebration of this nature has been part of a Democratic National Convention and is symbolic of the Party's desire to bring multiple communities together under its "big tent." The gathering will include clergy of different faiths, Party leaders, elected officials and local community leaders. Speakers and musical guests will be announced later this summer. The event will be open to the public.

This has been in the works for a while. [More...]