Morning Roundup

Rather than write about the campaign briefing I got to sit in on this morning, which featured Howard Dean and David Plouffe, I'll link to this Mark Blumenthal piece about another meeting that sounds pretty similar, albeit more select.

I also got to hear Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer outline their enthusiasm for this year's crop of U.S. Senate races in which they believe Democrats face tough battles but are positioned to do well. Speakers of note also included Jeanne Shaheen, of NH, whose race against John Sununu, Jr., will be one to watch, as well as Mark Udall here in Colorado. Mark Warner, former Virginia governor and current candidate for senate, also spoke, and I'll simply say that he did more to impress me today than in the keynote address last night.

The last of the morning roundup included a talk with T. Boone Pickens about the Pickens Plan. The oil billionaire is clear about his message: renewable energy is essential for America (and the subtext should always read "and good for Boone Pickens, too"). On the whole, I think the Pickens Plan probably is good for America, but I haven't forgotten that Pickens is responsible for the Swiftboating of John Kerry in 2004 (under whose leadership one can only assume the U.S. would enjoy a more healthful energy policy than the one we tap now). That alternative energies are the key to the future is hardly debatable anymore. The question for me is whether we want T. Boone Pickens to hold the keys to that bright, new kingdom. And that question, unfortunately, did not come up in the talk under the big tent.

More later about the gaveling in of today's session, tonight's speeches, and the party afterward to honor the vice presidential nominee.