The Saturday morning that Barack Obama announced his intentions to run for President of the United States I sat down to watch the speech in my living room and forced my teenage daughter to watch it with me. I forced her because as a teenager a political speech was probably the last thing she would have wanted to do except perhaps wash the dishes. But I made her watch not because I was committed to Obama’s candidacy and wanted her to be as well, because I am not – but because I felt there was going to be history made that day in Illinois. That this was going to be one of those moments in life when people in my peer group and younger than me would say, “where were you when he announced, did you see it, and what did you think?” And I did not want her to miss one of those moments, so I forced her to watch and listen.

Now the Democrats have selected Denver as the host city for the 2008 National Convention, we will soon see pundits writing how this will make Colorado and neighboring states more likely to vote Democratic for President. Previously others have written that the Republicans having their convention in Minneapolis will help them win in Minnesota & Wisconsin. For example – "The Midwest has become strategic ground," said David Schultz, who teaches politics at Hamline University in St. Paul. "Bring the convention here, get the faithful excited, and spotlight that you care about the Midwest and farmers." Schultz said it's also a "symbolic black eye" to Minnesota Democrats trying to keep alive the spirit of Hubert Humphrey and Paul Wellstone. "It's a purple state now, and Republicans increasingly view this as a winnable state," he said.