Democrats: Change in the Air

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As thousands of Democrats descend on Denver to kick off their quadrennial presidential nominating convention today, they come armed with something they haven’t had for years — momentum.

The feeling of opportunity is almost palpable among national Democrats. Shoved aside are the divisions and internecine fighting of the past eight years over what direction the party should take, the policies it should embrace and the tone it should strike. Instead, when the party faithful comes together for the largely celebratory, four-day convention, it will arrive with the hope that its newfound Congressional majorities could be expanded, and, for the first time in nearly a decade, the White House is in reach with the candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

“This is our most unified convention,” Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said “Going into it, there is a sense of seriousness and purpose at hand. Almost every Democrat, no matter who they supported in the primary initially, believes that a Bush-McCain presidency and four more years of those policies would be a disaster, and I’m not being hyperbolic, for the country.”

“There’s a much greater degree of confidence than four years ago,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said. “People want to see change ... there’s a lot of optimism and a lot of energy.”

The convention begins in earnest this afternoon when the opening gavel falls in the Pepsi Center and concludes Thursday night when Obama accepts the Democratic nomination for president before a crowd of more than 70,000 people at Invesco Field. Over the next four days, convention-goers will hear numerous speeches from the party’s most prominent players, engage in a few policy discussions, hit the fundraising circuit and revel in the formal kickoff of the 2008 general election campaign.

None of those activities are a break from the norm, but in the eyes of party leaders, they will have a far different vibe from recent years. Democrats say they believe the electorate has tired of the past eight years of President Bush’s presidency and a Congress dominated by the GOP until just two years ago. And, Democrats say, they also have had an awakening as a party that got too comfortable in the minority and didn’t do enough to fight a highly successful Republican campaign machine.

“They are always good on tactics,” said Schumer, the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “We’ve learned. The idea that we should be above the fray and not engaged in this dogfight — that’s over.”

Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.), who will play host to delegates in town for the week, said he believed Democrats have the chance this week to answer a pressing question facing voters: “Had enough?”

Bringing it home, Salazar said, “People in Colorado and in the West are of the view that we need to have a new beginning, we need to turn the page, we need change. I think that’s the kind of candidacy Barack Obama brings to the presidency, and that’s the message we will see at the national convention.”

Salazar, among the growing number of Democratic moderates making up Congress, arrived in the Senate with Obama in 2004. At the time, the duo — one Hispanic and the other African-American — were dubbed part of a diverse Democratic dream team representing the party’s best chance for Senate gains that year.

Obama is making moderate voters a major target in his campaign and particularly this week with the host city being in an area of the country that’s increasingly fertile ground for Democrats. Obama’s plotted a wide-reaching strategy to campaign hard in Western states such as Montana and Alaska, which were typically ignored by Democratic presidential hopefuls.

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), an outspoken moderate, said Obama’s approach is wise because unless Democrats embrace moderates and independents, they will fall short of achieving their goals next year. The challenges of withdrawing from Iraq, turning the economy around and reforming health care are too great and expectations for Democratic delivery are high, he said.

“I think people will unite behind him because he would be a president who will pursue consensus rather than conflict,” Nelson said. “He will listen and bring people together and get people working for all Americans again.”