I'm on the floor of the Convention, which has been running for about an hour.  The primary functional highlight thus far is the report from the Credentials Committee, which indicated that they are giving full votes to the contested states that were previously given 1/2 votes.  No surprise there.

One of the questions of the evening is whether Ted Kennedy will actually appear as a speaker.  He's in town, agains his doctor's advice, but the last I heard, at least officially, it was not clear if he was going to appear in person or on a video hookup.

Patricia Madrid, the attorney General of New Mexico is currently giving the Platform Committee report.

Personally I've had an interesting day, partly because I somehow took a wrong turn while going toward the delegation breakfast, and in the process ended up in a secure area.  A secure area that I was apparently not supposed to be in, credentials or not.  It was easy to get in to, and pretty hard to get out of.  When I finally found a way out, I got a lot of really odd looks from police and various military types.  Nobody stopped me, but they were obviously not happy.  The city is an odd mix at the moment of happy, energetic, and a little bit in a siege mentality.  There are barriers all over the place including in places where I frankly don't understand the point.  Driving around town is a challenge.  And taking the public transportation can also be challenging.  The shuttle buses were shut down for quite a while yesterday due to the peace march. Frankly I don't understand it.  The local papers are acting as if there were a major Bolshevik uprising going on.  The protesters I've seen around town have been invariably civil, if not downright cheerful, so I guess it's just a problem with what they're saying and the words they're choosing to say it with. It all smacks of the same sort of security measures we've had since 9/11 - lots of obvious "security" measures, and none of it tending to actually make me feel secure.  In fact, just the opposite. 

However, I have to say that although the police effort in the whole area is making an attempt at looking tough, almost all of the police I've had any contact with have been pleasant and helpful.  Or as pleasant as you can be with so many guns being involved.