Democratic Unity

The Republicans -- and the mainstream media -- might say "democratic unity" is an oxymoron.

The talk today apparently is going to be about whether the Clintons are going to be graceful in passing the baton and whether the party will truly unite behind Obama this week.

Pre-convention jitters. What I can say as a member of the Rules Committee is that the leadership of both campaigns, with the DNC, have come together in a truly compelling way around the nominating process. The Rules Committee meeting on Saturday went extremely well, all in front of the cameras, despite the potential for rifts and division.

And by the way the permanent chair and three co-chairs of the convention -- who I had the ceremonial honor of nominating at the Rules Committee meeting -- are all women: http://www.demconvention.com/democrats-announce-2008-convention-chairs-2/

Was this by design? Was there an implied message about the role of women in the party given the Clinton campaign?

Well, the fact is that these four Democratic political leaders just happen to be the: the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chair of the Democratic Governors Association, the President of the National Conference of State Legislatures, and the Chair of the National Conference of Democratic Mayors.

Coincidence? Only insofar as women are making and will continue to make huge strides in Democratic leadership, and this is well recognized by the party.

Democratic unity. There is one good thing about all the doubts about whether there will be unity at this convention. It gives us reason to talk about it -- and rally around it.