Democratic National Convention

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has been selected chairman of this summer's Democratic National Convention, elevating his role as a surrogate in the Latino community and raising his national profile at a time Villaraigosa considers his political future. A formal announcement was scheduled Wednesday in Washington, with the mayor planning to join President Obama on Wednesday night for a presidential fundraiser in Los Angeles. As convention chairman, Villaraigosa will wield the gavel during the event in Charlotte, N.C., which opens with a festival on Sept.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Stepping up his efforts to directly engage President Obama, Mitt Romney took his campaign to a rooftop in Charlotte on Wednesday overlooking the stadium where Obama will deliver his convention speech this summer - and accused his Democratic rival of failing to deliver on the promises he made to voters four years ago. Reading from notes at a podium bearing an “Obama Isn't Working” sign, Romney alternated between quoting...

Closed-circuit cameras, electronic highway sensors, and real-time computers normally used for traffic control will be Big Brother-like observers as events unfold during the Democratic National Convention.

It looks like 2012 is shaping up to be a big year for conventions and conferences. Room bookings for groups are up nearly 6% from February 2012 to January 2013 compared with the same period in 2011-12, according to data from TravelClick, a New York company that provides e-commerce products and services to the hotel industry. The good news for conference and convention goers is that daily group rates for the rest of the year are down 1.1%, according to TravelClick. So what cities will host the most meetings this year?

Actor Robert Walden has played a lot of parts in his career--from a sleazy Watergate figure to a crusading investigative reporter. But as far as he is concerned, one of his most important roles is a recurring one in the long-running political drama known as the Democratic National Convention.

According to overnight Nielsen ratings from the 16 biggest television markets, significantly fewer Americans watched live network coverage of the first night of the Democratic National Convention compared with 1984. That continues the downward trend that began in 1980. ABC and NBC tied for Monday with a rating of 6.7 and a 12 share. The rating does not include the 30-minute early start for NBC, only the 9-11 p.m. EDT period when all three major networks were on the air simultaneously.

Hundreds of protesters led by Atlanta City Councilman Hosea Williams and Rep. Gus Savage of Illinois marched Monday evening from the white marble crypt of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to the Omni convention hall, calling on the Rev. Jesse Jackson to walk out if he is not placed on the ticket.

The Reagan Administration, turning the corner on its final six months in office, will focus on several short-term legislative issues while pressing ahead with efforts to obtain additional assistance for Nicaragua's Contras, the White House chief of staff said Thursday. After a 3 1/2-hour meeting for which 15 key Reagan advisers, including the White House senior staff, assembled in Santa Barbara, staff chief Kenneth M.

As they kick off their general election campaign, Democratic nominee Michael S. Dukakis and running mate Lloyd Bentsen will head for Texas and California today, hoping to generate excitement and attention in two states that will be keys to their chances of winning the general election this fall. The candidates will campaign in McAllen, Tex., then travel to Houston before arriving tonight in Stockton.

The adoption of the Democratic platform at the party's national convention constituted an important tactical victory for Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis. Only two Jesse Jackson-sponsored minority planks--on raising taxes and barring first use of nuclear weapons--were proposed and both were soundly defeated. Here are excerpts from the platform as passed Tuesday: We the people of the Democratic Party of the United States of America . . .

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has been selected chairman of this summer's Democratic National Convention, elevating his role as a campaign surrogate and raising his national profile as he weighs his political future. A formal announcement was scheduled Wednesday in Washington, and the mayor plans to join President Obama in Holmby Hills at a Wednesday night fundraiser for Obama's reelection effort. "I've always planned to campaign" for the president, Villaraigosa said in an interview, and he readily accepted when Jim Messina, Obama's campaign manager, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the head of the Democratic National Committee, called last week to offer him the convention post.

The mood in camp Obama is picking up these days, with the president's poll numbers inching northward and Republicans mired in what could turn out to be a prolonged, expensive battle for the GOP nomination. When Obama campaign officials look at a map of the U.S., they see any number of viable routes toward the 270 electoral college votes needed to win the presidency. In a fundraising pitch Thursday, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina laid out five potential pathways to the magic number.

Inola Henry, an educator, teachers union leader and longtime Democratic Party activist on the local, state and national levels, died July 26 at her home in Los Angeles. She was 66. The cause was a heart attack, according to her son, Carl.

For his latest documentary, "Convention," filmmaker AJ Schnack wanted to examine the small-scale work that goes into mounting a large-scale event. He chose to focus on the behind-the-scenes stories of the countless people last summer who helped stage the Democratic National Convention in Denver, recruiting a dream team of colleagues from the world of nonfiction cinema to detail the massive effort required to put on the historic event.

Financial giants and other large firms now being bailed out by the government spent millions underwriting the Democratic and Republican conventions last summer, just weeks before coming to Washington seeking multibillion-dollar handouts. The big donors included AIG, Ford Motor Co., Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Freddie Mac.

The first wave of trials for protesters arrested during the Democratic National Convention has resulted in a stream of acquittals in what the defendants are calling an embarrassment to Denver and proof that prosecutors ought to drop the rest of the cases. In trials for the first nine of 106 people arrested during the convention, all but two defendants have won acquittals on charges that they participated in anarchist demonstrations on the opening night of the convention.

It is not Al Gore's style to wallow in what happened in the 2000 election -- at least in public. After all, winning the Nobel Peace Prize speaks to moving on. But how could he resist referencing his popular-vote-win-electoral-college-loss, especially when Democratic Party unity is not a given? And so he did, as he appeared Thursday at Denver's Invesco Field as a warm-up act for Barack Obama. One paragraph into his speech, he said: "Eight years ago, some said there was not much difference between the nominees of the two major parties and it didn't really matter who became president.