9:23pm: I'm gonna shut this thing down for now. The dog total at the Montford party has dwindled to two. There haven't been any dogs here at the Lehmberg party, but Lehmberg did mention that one of the first things she's going to do now that she's won is hang out with her puppy.

9:21pm: Crowd at the Lehmberg party is still strong. We're in line for a Lehmberg interview but it may have to be after our live hit on the Nightbeat.

9:16pm: Lehmberg's campaign manager said Mindy called, but the two candidates haven't actually spoken to each other yet. Lehmberg has been tied up with back-to-back press interviews.

9:12pm: Mindy Montford has called Rosemary Lehmberg to concede the race and wished Lehmberg well. Our photog Justin reports this from Montford HQ, via text message:

"Crowd thinning. Chips almost gone. Campaign signs falling down. Strange amount of stuffed jalapenos left."

9:03pm:"One of the things this campaign has really done for me, is it has really built my trust in people like you, who get out and work for what you care about," Lehmberg said. "The people in Austin want their district attorney to have Austin values."

8:46pm: Montford has not officially conceded yet, but Lehmberg has turned off the music and is about to speak to the crowd now.

"It's been an adventure," Lehmberg said.

8:37pm: 41% of precincts are in. Lehmberg has actually increased her lead to 65% over Montford's 35%.

8:2pm: About 150 to 200 people are at the Montford party, and partygoers decided not to wait for results to pop open the champagne. There's free champagne all around at the Montford HQ. The candidate is reportedly in the back room talking to some campaign folks. One more dog just showed, so the dog total is back at four. Here's a shot from the Montford party, and what looks like the side/back of Montford's head:

8:17pm: At the Montford party, there's a nice selection of snacks - fajitas, rice, beans, chips and salsa, and a keg. Our crew reports no one has hit the keg yet. Only three dogs left at the party now.

8:15pm: OK now we have a little music kicking on the back deck. It's "Start Me Up" by the Rolling Stones. Here's a look at the scene at Joe's.

8:09pm: Things are hoppin' here at the Lehmberg party, but it's a lot of sit around and wait until more results come in. Her campaign manager, David Butts, is
here, but no sign of Kelly Fero.

7:48pm: Our crew on the scene reports a total of four dogs are at Mindy Montford's election night party. Not sure if that includes Montford's own beagle and mix, which were featured in a campaign commercial.

7:47pm: Former DA candidate Gary Cobb arrives.

7:43pm: Earle, on Lehmberg's likely ascension to his post: "She's smart. She can read and write, add and subtract. All that."

7:41pm: Outgoing DA Ronnie Earle walks in as I am in a dark part of the bar.

Me: Hi Ronnie!
Him: Hi Jennifer! (This is the fifth time someone has confused me for Austin City Councilmember Jennifer Kim.)
Him: Oh wait, you aren't Jennifer!
Me: I'm Elise.
Him: Of course!

7:30pm: Lots of pantsuits at this Lehmberg party.

7:25pm: Lehmberg just arrived to cheers. She looks like she's crying (happy tears). I would have pictures had I not loaned my camera out to another reporter to take pictures of the Montford party for me.

"We may have done it," I heard Lehmberg say to someone she was hugging.

7:23pm: Our photographer at the Mindy Montford party reports there's a healthy but subdued crowd at her campaign party... lots of people inside, not a lot of people outside. Just like the Lehmberg party, the candidate is not there yet.

7:18pm: Early vote totals show Lehmberg dominated 64% to Montford's 36%. That's early vote only.

7:17pm: It took nearly an hour to drive from Far West Blvd to the Lehmberg party here at Joe's, but I'm here... the candidate, however, is not.

Categories: Liveblogs | Travis County DA |
Posted by Elise Hu at 7:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

6:08pm: We must peace out in order to work on the news package for the 10pm newscast. So I'll end the liveblog part of this day and update on the numbers in fresh posts. Thanks for playin'!

6:05pm: This room looks so empty now that all the delegates are gone... but tabulation continues. The remaining folks still have to vote on various resolutions. There were at least 50 submitted from the precinct caucuses.

5:10pm: I'm off to catch a few more delegates for interviews and knock out a liveshot for the 6pm news. Will check back in about an hour.

4:47pm: The crowd's clearing out now that the precincts have caucused and voted for their state delegates. But we're nowhere near a count.

4:14pm: Democracy in action! Precincts from Senate District 14 are caucusing amongst themselves now to select their delegates to state. I love seeing all this democracy - voting by raising badges and what-not.

(It's a step-by-step winnowing process. Everyone who caucuses on election night votes for precinct delegates. Then the precinct delegates come here to the county. Then at this level, the precincts delegates choose their state delegates. Then at state, delegates for the national convention will be chosen.)

4:00pm: Outside the convention hall, county party leaders are counting the sign in sheets in which each delegate put down their presidential preference. This breakdown determines the ratio of state delegates which will go to each presidential candidate.

3:54pm: Someone turned on some serious AC in here, which is making things a lot more bearable. It actually seems like people are having a pretty good time, I've observed lots of random reunions among Democrats.

3:41pm: It looks like most of the precincts here have caucused amongst themselves to select their state delegates. Most precincts have at least two delegates that go to state, and they make speeches about why they should go to state, or just decide casually who can do it.

2:49pm: Former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk is speaking on behalf of Obama. Obama supporters clearly outnumber Clinton supporters in his convention, it's obvious from the decibel level.

Continue reading "County Convention: Livebloggin!" »

Categories: 2008 Presidential Race | Liveblogs |
Posted by Elise Hu at 2:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

10:55pm: And the crowd files out, hurrying home to watch a few more hours of election returns. The night is still young.

10:53pm: Obama still talkin'... no, he's done now. It strikes me that he is always much better, a lot more inspiring as a speaker after big victories. With the uncertainty (and some losses) tonight... he doesn't seem as good.

10:40pm: Obama takes the stage, congratulating Clinton on her wins in Ohio and Rhode Island but making clear he still has the same delegate lead as he did when this election day began.

10:23pm: The crowd is all smooshed in here inside the perimeter now, outside the Municipal Auditorium in San Antonio. It's a quiet crowd, everyone just waiting now.

10:22pm: Delegate count right now in Texas, 66 Obama, 60 Clinton. A total of 193 delegates up for grabs.

10:20pm: Hillary Clinton, after a BIG victory in Ohio tonight, is celebrating her comeback after 12 straight losses with a big speech tonight in Columbus. She's talking now - -- meanwhile, the crowd here still awaits Senator Barack Obama (and clearer results from Texas.)

10:15pm: Grabbed a shot with the Reverend... who shares a South Carolina background with me. (Jackson is from Greenville, S.C., where I worked for two years.)

10:05pm: Rev. Jackson says "the race isn't over until over"... already looking toward Pennsylvania.

9:49pm: I'm out of the basement. I also got the Rev. Jesse Jackson to do a live interview with me at 10pm, so tune in for a little Jesse Jackson.

9:35pm: The county-by-county map is looking a lot like the Missouri county-by-county map on Super Tuesday. Obama ended up winning MO in a squeaker because even though it looks like 80% of the state is in Clinton's color... the urban population centers deliver for Obama.

9:27pm: Jesse Jackson's in the house! We were on the risers when the press advance folks were letting him through the barricades. Meanwhile it looks like the race in Texas has tightened to 50-49, but the urban areas are not reporting more than 15% right now.

9:08pm: It's getting reeeeal tight here in Texas. With 12% of the precincts in, Obama leads only 50% to 48%. It looks like the big border counties aren't in yet, but neither are the major urban areas.

9:04pm:John McCain wraps up his speech at his Dallas victory party tonight. Check out KVUE at 10pm for a recap, my colleague Clara Tuma is up there in Dallas right now.

8:58pm: Caucuses across the state got late starts because the primary turnout was so heavy. Caucuses don't start until the last ballot is cast in the primary... and so long as you were in line before 7pm, you got a chance to vote.

8:56pm: McCain speaking now... and this press corps basement is getting more crowded, largely because it's getting quite brisk out there. The DMN's Todd Gillman said he came in because he stopped being able to feel his fingers.

8:47pm: White House just put out an announcement that President George W. Bush will be lunching with Senator John McCain tomorrow. The president is expected to endorse McCain... but does he really want the president's endorsement?

Continue reading "Liveblogging from the Obama Party Basement" »

Categories: 2008 Presidential Race | Liveblogs |
Posted by Elise Hu at 7:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

9:13pm: We end with the ready-to-answer-the-phone-at-3-am line and the crowd cheers madly. The acoustics in this room, again, are AWESOME. I felt like that speech was the perfect length. And we're out. Tune in for a historic (and crazy) day tomorrow.

9:12pm: "Nobody's vote is more important than anyone elses, assuming we count them all, which is what we're gonna do," she says with a grin. I THINK this is a reference to her push to have the Florida and Michigan delegates seated, even though Obama's name didn't even appear on the Michigan ballot because all the candidates agreed not to run in those states after they broke national party rules.

9:08pm: About half an hour into this speech, Clinton takes her usual digs at President Bush, but still no mention of Obama. She makes an opaque reference to him that we've heard before... "There is a big difference between talk and action and speeches and solutions and rhetoric and reality," she says. It looks like both candidates will leave the dirty work of sniping at each other to their respective campaign surrogates.

8:58pm: Big applause as she talks about our dependence on foreign oil. "We are more dependent on foreign oil than we were on 9/11," she says. "We are done. We are going to have an energy policy that will enhance our security, protect our planet and improve our economy." (HUGE applause.)

8:51pm: "I am a little older, and I have earned every wrinkle on my face," Clinton says. "And I feel just as energized about what we're going to do in this election as I did back then!"

8:39pm: Any minute now... yes. Here she is... the crowd goes wild. In the photo below, there's Chelsea Clinton, US Rep Sheila Jackson Lee and to her right, State Rep Eddie Rodriguez, D-Austin, who is introducing her.

8:35pm: Crowd's getting restless. It's chanting on its own now... but then someone just turned up the music (Shania Twain) and it drowned out the chant.

8:28pm: Here's something interesting. The cheerleader just asked the audience how many of them haven't voted yet. Only a few hands went up, actually. So based on the hand count, most of this audience has already cast ballots. Obama has tended to bring in new voters, many of whom don't early vote. Not sure what a stupid "raise your hand" count really means, I just found it interesting that so few hands in this audience have yet to vote. These fervent supporters are going to be the ones caucusing tomorrow though, I'm fairly certain.

8:21pm: More t-shirts being given away. And a cheerleader starts teaching the crowd cheers for tomorrow's caucus. Examples: "When I say Hillary, you say Texas... Hillary, Texas, Hillary Texas"... etc etc. Or there's also "When I say Madame, you say President, Madame, President, Madame, President..."

8:14pm: Not sure if Greene is supposed to introduce Clinton. But she's good at energizing the crowd so I feel like she SHOULD introduce her... okay she's definitely not. With how claustrophobia-inducing these risers are right now, I totally forgot that the traveling press corps isn't even here yet.

8:08pm: Now we hear from former Rock the Vote president Jehmu Greene. "Is Austin Hillary country or what?" she asks. She knows how to fire up the crowd much better than the Bastrop mayor did eariler, let me just say.

8:05pm: This is another part of the pre-rally that I enjoy. The crowd warmer upper guy. He's throwing out t-shirts and doing the "gimme an H" stuff.

7:59pm:Like I explained earlier, this gym is oval shaped and the risers rise up like a bowl. Or a hockey arena. Anyway, about half of the risers are full. The security guard photo below is the side behind the press. Here's the look at the folks in front of him, squished around one long table.

7:56pm: Oh sweet, the wave! I love the wave. The press is not taking part in it though, so I'm stuck sitting here even though we are leaving the wave incomplete.

Continue reading "Hillary Clinton's Austin Rally: The Live Photoblog" »

Categories: 2008 Presidential Race | Liveblogs |
Posted by Elise Hu at 7:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Former President Bill Clinton is back in Austin, and since I'm out here at UT where he will soon hold a rally for students, I'll liveblog between responsibilities for the 5 and 6pm newscasts.

7:48pm: And Clinton wraps up... "He cheats us out of four and half minutes of a sixty minute speech!" The AP reporter jokes.

7:47pm: We're almost at the one hour now. The Time reporter goes, "Doesn't it feel longer, though?"

7:39pm: "We've been very serious tonight," Clinton admits. "THink about what being president is like... if you're not careful you might think you are somebody rather than what you are, which is the most fortunate hired hand on the face of the earth. If you ever forget, you can get in trouble in a heartbeat. She will never forget you."

7:33pm: Now we're on Iraq policy.

7:30pm:I just asked the Time reporter a question about something Clinton said, and she goes, "Sorry, I was zoned out." This has been a meaty speech, but he's losing the crowd.

7:24pm: "She believes in getting rid of No Child Left Behind," he said. And everyone applauses. Clinton says "this is the only surefire applause line in American politics". "You could drop me in the middle of Idaho and if I said that, an elk would applause."

7:22pm: The Time Magazine reporter sitting next to me and I started chatting a bit since we're kind of in a lull part of this speech. Clinton is coming back around to the subject of healthcare.

7:18pm: "The only motherload of clean jobs is clean energy," he said.

7:14pm: The subject has turned to energy, and the cost of food going up because of the rate that energy costs have been climbing.

7:10pm: "Hillary's argument is I'm tainted the battles of yesterday and I'm pretty proud of the things I fought for. You need a changemaker in the White House, somebody who has already done it," Clinton said. "Words matter, but in the end you choose people to change and move the country. She's the best change agent."

7:08pm: Clinton is taking us a tour on his wife's record regarding healthcare - expanding special education, helping start SCHIP.

Continue reading "Big Man On Campus: The Liveblog" »

Categories: 2008 Presidential Race | Liveblogs |
Posted by Elise Hu at 7:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

9:38pm: And we're out. A big round of applause from the quietest debate audience this cycle. Were they even there!??!

9:34pm: In closing, both are asked for the "fundamental question" that the other must answer in order to be worthy of the nomination. Obama says that Clinton is indeed worthy, so she doesn't need to pass a test, but that he is a better candidate.

HRC gets an applause line for saying it would be a "sea change" for her to be the first woman president. The question she has is "Who can actually change the country?" This is the same Clinton argument about how her experience means she can better bring about change, but it hasn't been effective enough for her... so far.

9:30pm: Obama said that he would take back his vote on Terri Schiavo in 2005. The Senate voted unanimously to let Congress intervene in whether to keep her alive.

"I should have known better," he said. "I think that was an example of inaction, and that can be as costly as action."

9:28pm: Clinton says she would take back the vote on authorizing the war. "But I think this election has to be about the future," Clinton said. "We could have gone around the world and talked about Latin America... Africa... China... the Middle East."

9:26pm: Okay, she kind of named him, saying "Medah... medi... yeah, something." (Full name: Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev.)

9:25pm: Oh crap! Memories of the 2006 gubernatorial debate when CKS couldn't name the new president of Mexico. Clinton has to talk about "Putin's handpicked successor" but can't name him....

9:15pm: Everyone still awake? I just took a long blink.

9:14pm: More than an hour in, and this debate has been not only wonky but tame. This might actually help both of them; HRC not coming off as shrill or desperate by going after Obama full hog, Obama not having to be on the defensive nonstop.

9:12pm: This is a "controversial topic hopscotch". Obama is now having to denounce Louis Farrakhan's support of him.

Continue reading "This Might Be My Last Democratic Debate Liveblog" »

Categories: 2008 Presidential Race | Liveblogs |
Posted by Elise Hu at 7:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)