I arrived late and missed Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell’s talk, but to recap, he talked about unity and Hillary Clinton’s campaign in the context of today’s 88th anniversary of Women's Suffrage and the right to vote. He noted that McCain has voted twice against equal pay for women.

Gov. Rendell talked about the Democrat's platform on health care and energy policy. On health care, he noted the similarities between Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton's plans. He urged the Tennessee delegation to take the facts back home to their constituents.

He said Democrats are going to take the fight to Republicans, and that no matter what the polls say the Democratic Party is going to work equally hard in every state, including Tennessee.

Next up was Rep. Bart Gordon (TN-6). He said this is an important and historic presidential election, but said we shouldn't lose sight of how important the down-ticket races are. He noted the state House and Senate seats up for grabs, and without a Democratic majority we lose control of constitutional offices and we'll get slaughtered in redistricting.

He talked about the importance of health care, energy, and education in terms of U.S. global competitiveness. He noted that more than 60% of our math teachers don't have a major or minor in math, and more than 90% of science teachers don't have majors or minors in science.

On energy policy, he said Republicans in Congress have been blocking any meaningful progress. As an example, he noted a recently passed bill to implement high-risk, high-reward alternative energy research programs in the Department of Energy. He said the bill couldn't even get a hearing until Democrats gained a majority in the house, and then in passed in six months.

He said this is an example of why it's about more than winning and losing, it's about moving the country forward with good public policy. His final advice to the Tennessee delegation: "Early to bed, early to rise, work like heck, and organize!"

Following the program, I met up with Tennessee Democratic Party Communications Director Wade Munday. He's a sharp, super-nice young man and it was nice to finally meet him in person.

I also had the pleasure of speaking with Memphis delegate Henry Hooper, which I'll cover in a separate post.