Of course the main event was last night, but we've got a backlog of other reports, including the great speakers at yesterday's Tennessee Delegation breakfast.

Citing several recent elections in Shelby County, Congressman Steve Cohen says that voters are voting on issues, not race, and says this will happen all across America in November. He says it was "post racial" politics, but it's also "post Republican Party politics," because Democrats swept every election.

Regarding Bill Clinton's speech, Rep. Cohen said that Bill Clinton and Barack Obama are the two best politicians he's known (other than Bill Owen) because of their ability to put issues in terms people can understand.

Commenting on the anniversary of Women's Suffrage, Rep. Cohen gave a little history lesson noting that ratification of the Constitutional amendment occurred in the state of Tennessee.

Former Senator Jim Sasser spoke about the importance of state legislative races. He said if Democrats lose the Tennessee House they could lose Congress because Republicans are planning to redistrict Bart Gordon and Lincoln Davis into the same Congressional district which would eliminate one of two seats currently held by Democrats.

Senator Chris Dodd began his remarks by joking that it was great having Connecticut and Tennessee staying in the same hotel and now it would really be something if we could get Pat Summit and Geno Auriemma together, calling the UT v. UConn rivalry one of the great things in sports.

He mentioned the moving tribute to Ted Kennedy, and spoke admiringly about Al Gore. He noted that in 2000 Gore also chose a senator as his running mate, one from Connecticut, but "he chose the wrong Senator from Connecticut -- I was available in those days."

Speaking of his candidacy, he said that he has a three year old daughter and a six year old daughter, and he was the only candidate who got mail from AARP and diaper services.

Commenting on the primaries, Sen. Dodd said there weren't many substantive differences among the candidates, unlike past Democratic primaries when there were "huge divisions in the party" that made it difficult to win elections. He said, though, that campaigns aren't about the candidates and the party they are affiliated with, they are about the people who "count on us to get things right for them."

He said that's what politics is always about, the "people not in the room, people not out there in that hall last night." He said it's about people worried about their jobs and energy costs and providing health care for their families and their retirement. He said the issues are the same all over America, and people want to know if anyone gets this and understands it, and what they want in a politician is someone who will go to work for the American working people and their families.

On the election, he noted that the decision will be made in less than 65 days and one issue that's not being discussed is Supreme Court appointments, noting that over the next four years there may be as many as four replacements, and he "doesn't have to tell you what it means not for the next eight years but the next thirty years if we get nominees like Anton Scalia."

See our previous report on other remarks by some Tennessee delegates. Also, Vicky Harwell of the Tennessee Federation of Democratic Women spoke and recognized all the members present (pictured above). Vicky noted that it was appropriate they were last in the program, because "when you call on Democratic women, we're the first ones to get there and roll up our sleeves to work and we're the last ones you see leave."

Here are Sen. Dodd's remarks:

Here are excerpts of remarks by Rep. Cohen and Sen. Sasser: