Democratic Nationional Convention: Bloggers August 25th - August 28th
Meet Sam Scott, Jettie Ann Hills, Joel Bergstrom, and Lisa Stager--four Minnesota delegates who will be in the center of the Democratic political party in Denver.
The four DFLers will be blogging every day of the convention on a variety of topics, including their experiences in Denver, who they meet, speeches, events and a look into what the Democratic National Convention is all about.
The sun is no longer baking us and the prime time Thurs convention has begun. Now on the stage is Al Gore--talking really fast, by the way. And pretty wooden... Updated: 08:07 PM
The sun is no longer baking us and the prime time Thurs convention has begun. Now on the stage is Al Gore--talking really fast, by the way. And pretty wooden...
Things have been very exciting here in Denver. Yesterday (1st day of the convention) I spent a lot of my time just taking it all in as a first time delegate...
Joel Bergstrom:I’m in my fifth year as chair of the Senate District 60 DFL and have been generally politically active since high school. I am also involved with the ACLU of Minnesota... Email Joel Read all of Joel's blogs
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I am a 34 year old native of the Twin Cities currently living in the Linden Hills neighborhood of Minneapolis. I am married to Laura Lassor and together we have an 18 month old son named Clark. I’m in my fifth year as chair of the Senate District 60 DFL and have been generally politically active since high school. I am also involved with the ACLU of Minnesota and the Fund for the Legal Aid Society, serving on the boards of each. Professionally I am the Development and Communications Director for the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery, an organization dedicated to ending child abuse and neglect.
I graduated from Edina High School and attended the University of Minnesota on a Chick Evans Scholarship. After college I went to law school at New York University School of Law. I clerked for a federal judge for one year after law school in Montgomery, Alabama. Following that I lived & worked in New York for a few more years before moving back to the Twin Cities in January, 2003. My favorite restaurants are Matt’s Bar and Corner Table; my favorite ice cream is strawberry; and my favorite movies, well, two of them, are Hoosiers and The Usual Suspects.
I was elected a pledged delegate to Senator Barack Obama at the Fifth Congressional District Convention and am honored to go to Denver. This will be my first National Convention.
Sam Scott:I didn’t become involved that much in politics until my deployment in Iraq, where it was my job to not only influence the people of Iraq to support their government... Email Sam Read all of Sam's blogs
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I am 25 years of age, and am a student at the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management, as well as work at RBC Capital Markets as a Fixed Income Compliance Intern. My interests include reading, softball, and keeping up on current events.
My political involvement is somewhat diverse and different than most. I didn’t become involved that much in politics until my deployment in Iraq, where it was my job to not only influence the people of Iraq to support their government, but to influence the political leaders to that of current US interests and goals. Upon my return to the States, there was a candidate running for US President that seemed to speak my language, and is a great leader (as I have seen many on the battlefield as well as diplomatically). That person is Barack Obama. He motivated me to become as involved as I am today. Another candidate that got me so excited about the DFL is Al Franken. I met him while he was on a USO tour in Iraq. Since I’ve returned, I’ve shared my story with him as well as the pictures I have of him entertaining the troops. Now I go door knocking, march in parades, and do whatever else I have time for to help the candidates. On a more local scale, my best friend Erik Skogquist is running for mayor of my neighboring town Anoka, which I will be helping him campaign for as well as his brother, Bjorn, who will no longer be running for mayor, but rather County Commissioner of Anoka County, District 7.
I am a current member of the US Army Reserve and have served one tour of duty in Mosul, Iraq. I am a veteran of the Iraq war, and I am always willing to share my story. I have a unique view as not only did I speak with literally thousands of Iraqis, but I also worked with all of the levels of provincial government, as well as their army and police.
