democrat

Stay tuned: Katie Couric's DNC Webcast

Want to get caught up on Democratic National Convention news without having to plop yourself in front of the TV? CBS News.com and CNET News are teaming up to offer you nightly Web-only shows analyzing the day's events, beginning with our first installment in just a few hours following the speech by Michelle Obama, Barack Obama's wife.

The Webcasts, hosted by CBS Evening News' Katie Couric live from the Denver convention, are scheduled to take place from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. PDT on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. They'll be followed by a … Read more

Unconventional convention coverage via Google

Whoever takes the White House in 2008 can thank Google for helping. The search giant will be at both conventions, encouraging delegates to use YouTube and other Google services to share their impressions of the proceedings.

At the Democratic convention, Google will also be one of the sponsors of "The Big Tent," an 8,000-square-foot, two-story structure where bloggers and other new media journalists can watch and cover the convention and question party dignitaries who will speak from the "Digg Stage."

The tent will accommodate citizen journalists who might not be able to get credentialed by … Read more

CNET News Daily Podcast: How does Biden rate on tech issues?

As we all know by now, it's an Obama/Biden ticket. But where does the Delaware senator stand on issues of concern to the tech world? CNET News political correspondent Declan McCaullagh, who's on his way to cover the Democratic convention in Denver, checks in.

Plus, unencrypted data on thousands of prisoners in England and Wales goes missing, and while Olympic records were being broken all over the place in the last couple of weeks, QinetiQ claimed Sunday that its propeller-driven Zephyr has set a flight time record of its own.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Today'… Read more

How the Democratic convention is getting wired

It will take more than a whoppingly huge stadium to host tens of thousands of party insiders, journalists, and bloggers who began arriving in Denver this weekend for the Democratic convention.

Even though actual news may be scarce, attendees are nevertheless hauling along laptops, cell phones, wireless cards, and innumerable other gadgets, all of which will place a severe severe strain on the city's communication infrastructure.

To handle the increased demand, the Democrats have enlisted the support of Qwest, Cisco Systems, and other companies to upgrade the technical infrastructure at the Pepsi Center and Invesco Field.

Working with two … Read more

Whoops! L.A. Times' 2008 'Dewey Defeats Truman' moment

News flash! Barack Obama has actually chosen his former arch-rival, Hillary Clinton, to be his vice presidential candidate. And Bill Richardson. And Kathleen Sebelius. And four other Democrats too.

That's according to a set of Los Angeles Times articles that appeared on the paper's Web site early Saturday. The choice of Clinton was described as pairing "two rivals who waged a protracted -- and sometimes antagonistic -- battle for the party's presidential nomination" and warned that her "placement on the Obama ticket could renew scrutiny of the Clintons' financial dealings, including the undisclosed donors … Read more

The Obama SMS: (Un-)gratifying instantification

So the SMS went out to hundreds of thousands of Obama supporters. Not everyone got it at the same time (according to Textually.org, it took about 15 minutes for the bulk of the messages to get through the carriers' systems) or, in some cases, at all, but overall, the pre-announcement buzz (including some fake VP announcements -- "Michael Phelps!") was palpable and the word was spread.

"Be the first to know whom Barack picks as his running mate," had been the campaign's promise. The only problem: Those who had signed up to be the … Read more

Joe Biden's pro-RIAA, pro-FBI tech voting record

By choosing Joe Biden as their vice presidential candidate, the Democrats have selected a politician with a mixed record on technology who has spent most of his Senate career allied with the FBI and copyright holders, who ranks toward the bottom of CNET's Technology Voters' Guide, and whose anti-privacy legislation was actually responsible for the creation of PGP.

That's probably okay with Barack Obama: Biden likely got the nod because of his foreign policy knowledge. The Delaware politician is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee who voted for the war in Iraq, and is reasonably well-known … Read more

Obama picks Biden as running mate

Updated at 1:50 a.m. PDT to reflect official announcement.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has selected Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, one of the longest-serving members of the Senate, as his vice presidential running mate.

"Barack has chosen Joe Biden to be his running mate," Obama's official Web site announced early Saturday. "Joe Biden brings extensive foreign policy experience, an impressive record of collaborating across party lines, and a direct approach to getting the job done."

Obama was expected to break the news of his selection via text messages and e-mails to supporters on … Read more

CNET's Kara Tsuboi prepares for political conventions

For those of you who can't seem to digest enough political news, Tom Merritt offers up an "Insider Secrets" video that you'll want to gobble up with a fork and knife. (Check it out below.) Whether you're curious about how the candidates are polling or how much money they've raised, Merritt has dug deep to provide a handful of off-the-beaten-path election Web sites to round out your political diet.

I have yet to dig deeply into any of these sites, but now I know what my weekend homework is looking like. Sunday afternoon, I'… Read more