California: Democratic National Convention

DENVER - After serving in government as both an elected official and as an appointed officer for four decades, Leon Panetta has seen much of the sweep of recent American political history  - especially as it pertains to the nation's civil rights movement.

That's why on Thursday, Panetta, whose served as a former director of the U.S.

DENVER - One of the state's highest ranking conservative Democrats said today that Attorney General Jerry Brown, a potential 2010 gubernatorial candidate who was once widely seen as a lion of the left, had re-emerged in recent years as a pragmatic moderate.

Brown "has become more moderate over his career," said U.S. Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Atwater), a three term congressman from the Central Valley who is a member of the conservative House Blue Dog Democrat coalition.

DENVER - Art Torres, chairman of the California Democratic Party, warned delegates at Thursday's breakfast meeting that Democrats will need to put their shoulder into the work of getting Barack Obama elected this November.

Torres mentioned a Public Policy Institute of California poll released Wednesday showing Obama leading Republican John McCain 42 percent to 39 percent - a decline of 6 percentage points since July.

The fourth and final day of the Democratic National Convention will be called to order at 5:00 PM EST on Thursday, with a theme of "Change You Can Believe In."

The final day's events will take place at INVESCO Field at Mile High, where over 70,000 people are expected to attend.