OK, Art Torres is saying his goodbyes in his final convention as chair.  To set up the day, we’ve already seen the new party officers elected, with the increased accountability from the selection of Hillary Crosby, the surprisingly good showing from Chris Finnie (24% of the vote), signaling the newfound muscle of the progressive grassroots.  

The big showdown today will be over the party endorsements. The Resolutions Committee voted to endorse a Yes vote on all of them, but Prop. 1A will surely be pulled from the consent calendar.  It’s really anybody’s guess what will happen after that.  The party may vote on a substitute motion to endorse a “No” vote, or there may be an offer to go neutral on the proposition, or the Yes side will pass on the floor, or somebody could call quorum and throw the whole convention into chaos.  We shall see.

Calitics bloggers also spoke with Gavin Newsom, John Garamendi, Bill Hedrick (running in CA-44), Beth Krom (running in CA-48) and more, and we’ll be rolling out some of those interviews throughout the week.  Much more convention coverage to come.

…I think it’s worth putting Art Torres’ goodbye letter, just sent via email, on the flip.

…The LA Times went yes on all the props but 1B, by the way, which, since they are a center-right editorial board that detests public employee unions, makes perfect sense.

…Forgot to mention that Russ Warner announced last night at the Take Back Red California dinner that he would run again in CA-26 against David Dreier.  Obama took that district, and the increased name recognition of Warner, who has already run district-wide, will surely help.  

…After the regional directors finally finished giving out their awards, new state party chair John Burton comes out in a bowling shirt to the tune of Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger.

…Burton basically calls for unity regardless of the differences on the ballot propositions on the budget.  This “Democrats in disarray” meme is plenty overrated.  We’ll deal with whatever happens after May 19.  Incidentally, mediaptera reports that Yes on 1A folks are getting paid $25 an hour to hand out lit at the convention.

…Burton says “we will be the party of peace, not only in Iraq but in Afghanistan.”  Wow, nice going.  “We need some exit strategy in Afghanistan.”  He leaves to a standing ovation.

…Howard Dean enters to massive cheers and a standing ovation.  “You have the power!”  He made his biggest splash right here six years ago with his 2003 speech at the CDP, the speech that catapulted him in the 2004 Presidential race.  He’s talking about the “generational revolution” that Democrats have brought to America.  “The first multicultural generation in the history of America, the first multicultural President in the history of America, and we took our country back.  Isn’t it great to be a Democrat?”

…Dean talks about the rise of Blue State Digital and how they came right out of the Dean campaign into Obama for America.

Dante: Art Torres has introduced a colleague from his new organization, the founder of the Institute of Regenerative Medicine

…Debra Bowen will be introduced in a moment.  She’s a rising star in the party.

…After Debra Bowen’s energetic speech, Art Pulaski of the Cal Labor Fed is speaking.  Pulaski calls out Dianne Feinstein for her lack of support on the Employee Free Choice Act, and good for him.  He’s using the story of Cesario Guerrin (sp?), a labor worker who was stopped from joining a union.

…The #cdp09 hashtag is a good source for reactions to the speeches from the floor.  Betty Yee of the Board of Equalization is up now.  Hey, hashtaggers, copy/paste your comments on Calitics!

…Here we go, the Resolutions Committee is up, and the propositions will be first on the list.

…the speakers on the Pro and Con side are massing at the various microphones.  This is going to take a while.  I’m starting a new thread.

My Fellow Democrats,

It has been an honor to have served for thirteen years as Chairman of the most incredible state Democratic Party in the nation. Together we have made great strides in improving our Party by registering voters with the Bounty program, by grassroots activists opening up offices and creating a sense of community and service to many, and by electing Democrats to the Assembly, Senate and Congress who are protecting the values we all cherish in our state.

Our Party has also embraced our young people and they have joined with us as never before, creating a new generation of Democratic voters and activists. We have elected the first woman Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi of California — one of the highest offices in our country. And of course, California proudly provided a strong margin of victory to elect President Barak Obama.

We are all proud of what President Obama has accomplished during his first 100 days, giving our nation strong initiatives to renew and reinvest in our economy and improve the quality of our lives in the most difficult of times. He is a President who will provide great leadership for our country and our world.

Since 2004, we have added six blue counties with the help of dedicated folks in Alpine, Stanislaus, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, and Ventura. We also increased our numbers in Orange County to nearly 34% Democratic registration. These are not small achievements! This is the result of a huge amount of hard work by very dedicated Democrats.

In short, I leave the new Chair and Party leadership a healthy Democratic Party, both politically and financially, as I move to another chapter in my life — the Vice Chairmanship of the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), which was created by the voters as Proposition 71 in 2004.

As a colon cancer survivor, I will also be a patient advocate for CIRM in my new role. I join a team of dedicated scientists and policy makers to help raise the more than $400 million needed to fund the research necessary to target diseases that have plagued so many California families. Every day I spend at CIRM headquarters, I sense the excitement of a field of science moving forward rapidly, in fact more rapidly than anyone on the science staff there imagined possible even a couple years ago. When CIRM adopted a scientific strategic plan in October 2006 the scientists there envisioned reaching a stage this year where they could fund “disease teams” that would combine basic researchers and clinicians to work together to develop a therapy ready for clinical trials three-to-four years from now.

In 2006 they predicted funding one or two such teams that would be ready for this challenge today. But when the initial grant applications for the Disease Team Awards were counted a couple weeks ago, there were 73 of them. That is 73 California research teams that think they can get a stem-cell based therapy ready for clinical trials within four years. These teams are targeting a broad array of diseases from osteoarthritis and blindness to cancer and a host of neurodegenerative diseases. Only a subset of these applications will make it through CRIM’s rigorous grant review process, which strives to bet on only the very best science in which to make California’s investment, but no matter the outcome of the grant reviews, this represents a tremendous acceleration toward reaching the promise of stem cells.

The California research community has been able to get to this point in large part because of three years of sustained funding from CIRM. Since the agency issued its first training grants in April of 2006 it has been able to provide consistent support for its new cadre of stem cell researchers. All the scientists I talk to tell me that this type of sustained funding is what science requires to get the results that create new therapies and even cures and, in turn, the jobs that the fast growing biotech industry will provide for Californians. CIRM’s ability to continue this sustained funding is linked to the budgetary health of the state and the state’s ability to issue bonds that support CIRM’s work. So the health and well being of patients in California – and around the world – is one more thing to keep in mind as we vote on the budget initiatives May 19.

This letter is not a goodbye for me, but rather a fulfillment of new path ahead – as we all continue to make a difference in the lives of Californians.

God speed my fellow Democrats!