Tonight, Hillary Clinton walked out onto the stage of Denver's Pepsi Center amid a long standing ovation and plenty of signs with "Hillary" blazoned on the front. More than 15 minutes later, Hillary Clinton walked off the stage with the delegates on their feet cheering even louder than before and a strong foundation for Barack Obama to build his case that he should be elected the next President of the United States.

Speaking on Women's Equality Day, Sen. Clinton (D - New York) made the case for women to support the Democratic nominee over the Republican.

"In 2008, he [John McCain] still thinks it's okay when women don't earn equal pay for equal work," Hillary said.

Sen. Clinton firmly tied the very unpopular George Bush to John McCain.

"It makes perfect sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the twin cities because they're awfully hard to tell apart," she said.

And finally, Hillary Rodham Clinton effectively described what it means to be Americans.

"In America, you always keep going," Hillary said. "We're Americans. We're not big on quitting."

"And remember, before we can keep going, we've got to get going by electing Barack Obama as the next president of the United States!," she continued.

From this point forward, Barack Obama's fate is in his own hands. Barack Obama nor his supporters can no longer blame a less than enthusiastic Hillary Clinton if he fails to win the White House in November. Tonight, the whole world witnessed a Hillary Clinton who is 100% behind the Democratic nominee, Barack Obama.

The ball is, how do you say it, firmly in Obama's court now.

After nearly a year of being punished by the National Democratic Party for breaking the delegate selection rules, the states of Florida and Michigan were unanimously brought back into the fold as the two states had their voting rights fully restored by the convention Credentials Committee.

Georgia's four representatives on the committee --State Sen. David Adelman, Kirk T. Dornbush, Jr., Karol V. Mason and Patty A. Payne-- voted for seating the delegations of Florida and Michigan.  After the vote, state Sen. Adelman said he was "100% satisfied" with the outcome of the Credentials Committee meeting today.

U.S Senator Carl Levin and DNC Member Debbie Dingell, both from Michigan, were present for the meeting and declared victory for their state once the vote was taken.

"They reached a decision we always knew they would make," Sen. Levin said.  "We were always very, very determined to try to change this system."

"This is ultimately what we want.  This is ultimately a victory, not only to get our delegates seated, it's a victory to challenge a system that makes utterly no sense," Levin continued.

Michigan DNC Member Debbie Dingell echoed Levin's remarks saying the vote succeeded in challenging the system that allows Iowa and New Hampshire to have first-in-the-nation status.

"Sometimes you take risks for change," Dingell said of the DNC's earlier decision to strip Michigan of all its national convention delegates.

"We're fighting for a process that gives every state the opportunity to have that chance to see the presidential candidates and have their issues considered," Dingell continued.

Dingell also said she believed the caucus system is flawed and felt the time to discuss any changes would be immediately after the presidential election.

The full Democratic National Convention will vote on the credentials committee report tomorrow afternoon as their first order of business.

In Denver, Saturday night, the hottest ticket in town was a pass to the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee's media welcoming party at the Elitch Gardens Theme Park.  More than 15,000 members of the media, including quite a few bloggers, had their run of the amusement park where everything --from the food and drinks to the rides and games-- was free.

Free funnel cakes.

Free Pepsi.

Free cotton candy.

Free popcorn.  When I say everything was free, I mean everything was free.

I literally saw several people walking out of the park with two big, 30 gallon bags of stuffed animals that they had won playing an assortment of carnival games including whack-a-mole, plinko, and balloon dart toss.

Former Georgia Democratic Party Deputy Director Pat Pullar and I roamed around Elitch Gardens enjoying the entertainment, playing the games (and taking home the prizes too), riding the rides and running into other Georgians including state Democratic Party Executive Director Matt Weyandt.

The evening was capped off with a performance by the group, "FloBots", and a spectacular fireworks show.

[EDITOR'S NOTE]:  It takes a lot to rattle my nerves, but there's ride at Elitch Gardens, the Sidewinder, that had my legs shaking for about 5 minutes after the ride was over.

(image courtesy Democratic National Convention Committee)

Today, 1,500 Denver-area students, ranging from elementary school to high school, became among the first to see inside the Pepsi Center which has been transformed into the epicenter of the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Shouts of "Whoa!" and "That is cool!," came out of the mouthes of several students from the Montclair School of Academics and Enrichment as the big screen behind the podium lit up full of colors and graphics.

Bob Mandeau, who accompanied his 8-year-old son Kohl to the Pepsi Center preview, said it was really special to have an opportunity to see the convention floor before anyone else.

"This is a big piece of history," Mandeau said.

Erin Finn, a 17-year-old junior at William Smith High School, echoed Mandeau's commments.

"I think it's amazing," Finn said about the transformed Pepsi Center.  "I feel really lucky to be here where Obama is going to speak."

Finn went on to say that she would be voting for the first time this November, but when asked who she'd be voting for, Erin said she tends to lean Republican but is undecided.

DNC Secretary Alice Travis Germond, who on Wednesday night will lead the roll call of the states, participated in a mock roll call vote where four schools voted for their favorite subjects and then announced their results to the other students in attendance.

"Many students only get to read about the political process in history books," Germond said. "But today Colorado youth were able to see and experience a piece of history - and they were among the first to see the Convention hall where we will nominate the next President of the United States."

Convention organizers said the Convention's innovative podium design features more than 8,000 square feet of video projection space and three 103-inch HD displays - the largest Plasma HDTVs currently available - prominently placed on the Convention podium.

[EDITOR'S NOTE]:  Without giving too much away, the Pepsi Center looks great!  The pictures do not it justice.

The following press release just hit my mailbox a few minutes ago.

Today the Obama Campaign and the Democratic National Committee announced a proposal to establish a special commission to recommend changes to the Democratic Party's rules for delegate selection and presidential primary timing for future presidential cycles. The proposal will be presented to the Convention Rules Committee on Saturday in Denver.

The 'Democratic Change Commission' will address three issues 1) changes to the opening of the window and pre-window, 2) reducing the number of superdelegates and 3) changes to the caucus system. The goal of the commission will be to ensure that no primary or caucus is held prior to the first Tuesday in March of 2012, with the exception of the approved pre-window states, whose contests would be held during February 2012.

"After the 56 contests in this historic primary season, our party is stronger and more energized than ever before -- with millions of new voters participating.  As we look to the future, we must continue to strengthen the process and ensure a fair process in which the diverse voices in our party and our nation have a chance to be heard.  That is the essential role that the Democratic Change Commission can and will play, and we look forward to their recommendations," said DNC Chairman Howard Dean.

"Senator Obama is committed to working towards growing our party, improving our nominating process and ensuring as many people as possible participate in the process. Obama believes the Democratic Change Commission is an important and necessary step to achieving these goals," said Obama Campaign Chairman David Plouffe.

The Democratic Change Commission will be appointed by the new DNC Chairman and will consist of 35 members and two co-chairs. Membership will be divided between men and women and will be geographically and demographically diverse. The Commission shall issue its report and recommendations to the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee no later than January 1, 2010. The Commission will be established no later than 60 days after the date of the next election of the DNC National Chair.

On one side of Peachtree Center Avenue, members of Georgia's organized labor community held up "Teamsters for Obama" signs and picketed in front of the Mariott Marquis hotel chanting, "Bush, McCain, Same Thing."  On the other side of the street, anti-war protestors, armed with bullhorns, led several cadences of "McCain says warfare, we say healthcare."

There's no word if John McCain saw or heard any of the demonstrations against his Atlanta visit today but nevertheless, the several dozen protestors gathered downtown this afternoon intended to express their dissent at a John McCain presidency.

Among those in attendance at the protest were state Democratic Party Chair Jane Kidd and state Sen. David Adelman (D - Atlanta) who used John McCain's visit to highlight his ties to controversial Republican Ralph Reed.

"We are here today on the streets of Atlanta with real Georgians who are struggling and need our support. Later today, inside this fancy hotel, John McCain will be meeting with Jack Abramoff's colleague Ralph Reed and other lobbyists to hear about their clients," Kidd said at a press conference directly across the street from most of the protestors.

"Instead of meeting with Georgians and hearing from us about what we need from our country, John McCain has chosen to talk only with people who are giving him thousands of dollars."

In recent days, Ralph Reed and his connections to disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff have been the target of criticisms from Democrats after the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that he had agreed to serve on McCain's "Victory 2008" fundraising team.  Associated Press reports say that "Reed's public relations firm...received $4.2 million from Abramoff to mobilize Christian voters to fight the opening of casinos that could compete with Abramoff's Indian tribe clients."  [Source:  Associated Press, "McCain nets $1.75 million at Reed-linked event", August 18, 2008]

Also, according to the AP, John McCain raised over a million dollars at the "Ralph Reed-linked" event.

(picture courtesy, Democratic National Committee)

In the picture above, Jack Abramoff, Ralph Reed, David Safavian and former Congressman Bob Ney enjoy a leisurely golf outing in Scotland.  Of the four individuals pictured, only one --Ralph Reed-- hasn't been to jail.

But as DNC Online Organizer Nolan Treadway writes, "[Ralph]Reed escaped the law but his name is more than tainted. He lost the Republican primary for Georgia Lt. Governor in 2006 and has been exposed as a hypocrite for taking money from casinos after previously referring to gambling as 'a cancer.'"  [Source:  Democratic National Committee, "John McCain's Tainted Money", August 15, 2008]

This evening, Ralph Reed is participating in an Atlanta fundraiser for John McCain...

...And JohnnyMac is scheduled to make an appearance.

"I grew up believing an evangelical couldn't be a Democrat."

Those are the words of Duluth resident Jonathan Merritt, 25 years of age and the son of a Baptist preacher, who has started to question the Republican Party.

... in the past year, as the presidential campaign has focused on the country's problems, [Jonathan]Merritt has begun to question the party of his father. There was his recent revelation that "God is green," a mission trip to orphanages in Brazil that caused him to worry about global poverty, an encounter with a growing strain of politically liberal evangelicalism that has taken off online, and a nagging sense that Bush's unpopularity has been an embarrassment to the evangelicals who overwhelmingly voted for him.

"When you look at the political party that has traditionally championed poverty, social justice and care for the least of these, it's not been the Republican Party," said Merritt, who now considers himself an "independent conservative" and is unsure whom he will vote for in November. "We are to honor the least of these above even ourselves. It's very difficult to reconcile totally."  

[Source:  Washington Post, "GOP Loyalty Not a Given For Young Evangelicals", August 15, 2008]

The article goes on to detail Merritt's worries including a concern about the loss of life in Iraq and the toll it is taking on families, economic and environmental issues.

After reading this Washington Post piece about young evangelicals, I'm not so sure John McCain and the Republicans can win over these voters just by running on social issues such as gay marriage and abortion.

Jonathan Merrit still isn't a Democrat, but he's undecided in the presidential race.