We, again, somehow managed to score passes to an event that we never ever in a million years should have ever never been allowed into. Last week, it was a breakfast meeting with Jon Stewart and every important journalist ever born.

And, this week, it was a panel discussion/free gourmet lunch with a bunch of ridiculously important conservative politicians/thinkers set up by the National Journal. (Food, for some reason, is a recurring theme at these things.)

Essentially, the event consisted of us and a room full of conservatives in well-tailored suits eating an expensive meal while U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings (of the "No Child Left Behind" Spellingses), White House councilor Dan Bartlett, House Minority Whip Rep. Roy Blunt, former Chief Deputy Majority Whip Rep. Eric Cantor, and John McCain's Senior Policy Advisor Douglas Holtz-Eakin talked about why John McCain is so wise and just.

Here's some actual things that these great minds of the Grand Old Party actually had to say about their not-quite-yet-official candidates (with minimal editorializing on our end)…

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11:07 – So, are we all agreed? Fred Thompson's speech is the speech to beat so far? It wasn't great. But it had great parts. Like, the part about McCain's time in Vietnam. And when he attacked Obama. That was also effective. Lieberman's speech seemed whiny. So, who's gonna best Thompson?

11:00 – He sounds pleading, doesn't he?

10:57 – So, is he really saying that even though you wouldn't ordinarily vote for a Republican, since the Republicans fucked up so badly these past eight years, you should now vote for a Republican? That makes perfect sense.

10:52 – "The McCain/Palin ticket." It must kill him to say that.

10:51 – Are they applauding Bill Clinton in the Republican Convention???

10:50 – He spoke well of Barack Obama. That's because he's "Democrat."

10:49 – Oh my God! He said Michael Moore!!!

10:45 – Why do I find it so hard to listen to anything that comes out of Joe Lieberman's mouth?

10:44 – "Country matters more than country." So don't not vote for him because he's a Republican. Please!

10:43 – You're not a Democrat.

10:42 – What I say? What I say?

10:41 – Oh, he's gonna try to sell the idea that McCain's not a Republican… He's an American. That's his job.

10:40 – Oh my God! It's Fred Basset!!!

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At the last minute, a saint named Scott (more on him later) called us and offered tickets to the big speech at Invesco field.

We won't have internet access there, so instead of doing our usual liveblog, we will be offering tweets via our Twitter account.  Our most recent tweet will be featured in the blue box below, and you can use the arrows to flip back in time to see previous messages.

At the end of the night we'll transcribe all our tweets to this post, and upload images and video from the event, so check back!

UPDATE: See our entire Twitter transcript below the fold.

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11:05 – That's the night for us.  Here's some video of the liberal blogosphere reacting to Obama's surprise appearance to get you all hot and bothered for tomorrow night.

11:00 – Well, that was a kind of well-put-together forty minutes. They must have gotten some help from that former Republican guy. – DDC

10:57 - Aaaaww… It's almost like the Obamas and the Clintons like each other. – DDC

10:54 – Holy shit, it's Barack Obama. What's he doing here at the DNC? – DDC

10:53 - Thunderous applause here in The Tent. Well, it's clear that the liberals liked his speech. – DDC

10:49 – From the Comments: Passerby25 – " 'Freudian Slip?' Kinda odd that it happened twice tonight… and that you seemed so ready to respond to it." – MK

10:40 – Is "George… I mean, John McCain '08" a new bumper sticker? – DDC

10:39 – Another Freudian slip? Real or not? What do you think? – DDC

10:36 – Excuse me, but I think I have something in my eye. – DDC

10:32 – Biden kinda freaks me out. He almost seems like a person. I don't know how I feel about a person being my vice-president. – DDC

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11:10 – Question: How do you know when you are in a room full of heathen atheist liberals?

Answer: When two pastors come on the TV to deliver a benediction, they mute the TV and tell us to "come upstairs for comedy and beer."

Well…  They do make a good point.  We're going to go check out this evening's comedy event with Eugene Mirman and Rachel Sklar and a bunch of other people presented by Huff Po's 23/6.

Amen

- MK

11:06 – Allison just bet me five dollars that the story in the media tomorrow is that Hillary Clinton gave too good a speech to show up Barack Obama and make him lose.

I might lose this bet. – DDC

11:01 - The Twin Cities! Bush and McCain! Oh my god! Why did nobody think of that before? Home fucking run! – DDC

11:00 – She's doing a really good job. She should consider running for president one day. – DDC

10:57 – Bill looks proud and happy. I'll bet he even tries to seduce her after this speech. – DDC

10:53 – Clinton's shout out to her companions in the "sisterhood of the traveling pants suits" was pretty funny.  However, the close captioner wrote it as "sister hood of the traveling hansards."  This is less funny because a hansard is  (according to the wikipedia)

"the traditional name for the printed transcripts of parliamentary debates in the Westminster system of government." – MK

10:52 - "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuits." I think she stole that from a blog. – DDC

10:48 – I honestly can't even get into the head of a hardcore Democrat who would vote for McCain over Obama just because Clinton lost. That said, this speech seems really effective for what she's obviously trying to do.

And, let's not forget. She doesn't want her legacy to go down next to Nader's. – DDC

10:47 – Well, out of the gate, she's trying to pull in the PUMAs. (Well, not the PUMAs specifically. Those people are just Republicans.) – DDC

10:45 – She hit the word "Democrat" really hard. I wonder why. – DDC

10:39 – So, what is Hillary gonna say? Adam (from North Decoder), who's sitting right next to me, says she needs to lay superhard into McCain to pull her supporters over to Obama. I hadn't considered that. I assumed she'd just talk Obama up.

If she goes after McCain half as hard as she went after Obama… – DDC

10:37 – Hillary Clinton rock montage! It's for the young people. – DDC

10:33 – Schweitzer's doing a lot better job than I thought he would. – DDC

10:29 - "Even if you drilled in all of John McCain's backyards…" Wow! They are hitting that meme hard. I always thought Democrats were limp-wristed to twist a knife. – DDC

10:28 – John McCain voted against wind energy? Why… why… he hates the atmosphere! – DDC

10:25 – This guy got the worst spot of the convention. Right before Hillary Clinton. He's like Led Zeppelin's opening band. They didn't even try to put somebody interesting before her. Why waste a decent speaker? – DDC

10:21 – Okay, so, I realize that Brian Schweitzer is the Governor of Montana, but, c'mon! A bolo tie? How are you gonna wear a bolo and do your best Woody Allen impression?

This guy just thinks all Democrats who don't live on a mountain are Jewish. – DDC

10:16 – You know what's weird? I grew up in New Jersey and eventually moved to Philadelphia and New York City. I've spent my entire life in cities that are practically indigo. Meeting conservatives, for me, has always been like spotting a Yeti.

And yet, here in this Tent in the middle of the Democratic Convention, suddenly I feel like Newt Gingrich. (Well, that's a stretch. How about Barry Goldwater?) – DDC

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So, anyway, I had a really really funny and informative post set up for today concerning the Mormons' Seventy priesthood and their effects on American culture…

…but…

…I had my feelings when I read the comments to yesterday's post, which was completely not phoned in and uninspired. So, I'm not writing it.

Obviously, this has nothing to do with the ridiculously hectic atmosphere here in Denver and the thirteen beers I drank.

Because I'm a professional.

Go back to Day 70.