  ( now playing:  John Mayer-  Room For Squares)  " You're Not Safe Yet.
 & nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;
nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;
nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;  -  Al Capone Read the 9/
11 Commission Report:  urlLink Exec Summary urlLink Full Report urlLink Very Funny Bi- Partisan Video Well,  the time has finally come for the nation's ultra- political to turn their attention to Boston. nbsp;
 The Democratic National Convention officially begins next week but the events on the fringe have already begun. nbsp;  Check out the forum on PBS today at 5PM broadcast from the urlLink Institute of Politics . nbsp;  Gwen Iffil is moderating a panel focused on politics/ young people/
etc. nbsp;  I'm asking the first question.  Four years ago I graduated from urlLink Tufts and joined UL as its first full- time staff member. nbsp;
 At the time we didn't have any money so I spent the summer blowing through my savings and traveling across the country to the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia and the Democratic National Convention in LA. nbsp;  Jesse,  Mike and I were the only three of our cohort that made it to both but we met up with familiar and friendly faces on each coast.  This summer will be similar except that it is now Erin,  Jack,
 Jesse and I and we won't have to leave the East Coast to hit both conventions.  I remember a few things about that summer:  1)  It was easier to get into events at the DNC than at the RNC. nbsp;  That may have been because Philly is a Democratic stronghold and the Republicans felt on edge about protesters,
 etc. nbsp;  LA had a Republican mayor during the DNC but I doubt you can call that city a Republican stronghold. nbsp;  Either way,  it seemed that the Dem Party had embraced the Big Tent in a way that the GOP hadn't.
 2)  It wasn't hard to pick me out of the crowd at the RNC. nbsp;  All of the diversity at the RNC was manufactured-  JC Watts as the MC,  mariachi bands at the doors,
 old school conservatives no where to be found. nbsp;  Apparently the Bush campaign stashed all of the old fogey,  true conservatives in a sky box. nbsp;  Colin Powell looked a little agitated when he spoke.
nbsp;  He got up in front of thousands of die hard Republicans and chastised the party for not supporting Affirmative Action. nbsp;  My mouth was agape. nbsp;  My friends joked that if I played it cool,
 I might be whisked on stage for the keynote.  3)  There was severely limited access for young people to key events and speeches. nbsp;  Most of my friends watched the convention on television from hotels near the convention halls. nbsp;
 Parties were mostly limited to those with credentials. nbsp;  We managed to finagle our way into a ton of cool stuff but it takes a severe lack of shame to waltz yourself into a party to which you were not invited. nbsp;  urlLink Rock the Vote ,  urlLink Youth Service America ,
 urlLink Youth Vote ,  and a couple of other orgs were the only outlet for most dedicated young people. nbsp;  This year,  my boy David Burd from DL21C put together a urlLink youth convention guide . nbsp;
 If you're in town,  come to our urlLink Rising Stars event on Wednesday,  the 28th.  It will be interesting to see what has changed in four years. nbsp;  The tone of the campaigns heavily influences the types of events and parties that are planned.
nbsp;  Furthermore,  having the convention in my hometown will provide a bit of a twist. nbsp;  John Kerry must be excited. nbsp;
 Can you imagine a better scenario than accepting the nomination to run for POTUS in your hometown while leading the incumbent in national polls and kicking his tail in fundraising?
