As many of you know, Senator Barak Obama was formally announced as the Democratic Nominee last evening.

Both Hillary and Bill Clinton had inspiring speeches at the Democratic Convention this week. And while they clearly have different speaking styles, their speeches had two things in common -- first, they talked in detail about the problems faced by so many Americans, like little or no health care, sending our children to war and trying to earn a living wage.

BlogHer spoke with BlogHim Chris Rabb, publisher of Afro-Netizen, and husband of Dr. Imani Perry, about gender and politics. Chris shared his thoughts on the importance of re-thinking gender definitions especially for progressives and feminists of any gender.

Back in 1995, I had both of my hips replaced and spent a month in a hospital and rehab center. Fortunately, my insurance covered the substantial cost. One day as I was pushing myself to learn how to go up and down steps on my new bionic joints, I overheard a couple of the rehab staffers chatting about the release of another patient. The doctor said something like, "We can send him home Friday."The other said, "But he's really not ready to be home on his own," the other person said.

Texas delegate Liz Figueroa spoke with BlogHer today. Liz is a delegate pledged to Hillary Clinton who will vote for Senator Clinton on the first ballot but who fully supports Obama and is looking forward to a unified party coming out of the convention. Liz also spoke with us about the important issues to women that the Democratic party must address including education, health care and the economy. Her belief is that in order for any solutions to happen, change must happen at the top.

Editor's note: On her way to Denver, BlogHer's Erin Kotecki Vest taped a quick request to the senator from New York, asking whether Hillary Clinton is going to come out to the convention and ask her supporters to "quit it." The response from other Democratic BlogHers, as you will see below, is enthusiastic...also, don't miss the comments here. And now, for the original post... ~LS On the way to Denver

In just a few days, the long national nightmare for some Barack Obama supporters will be over. Hillary Clinton will have taken her final bow at the 2008 Democratic National Convention as she gives her speech on Tuesday night. Clinton's name will be placed into nomination in a gesture by Obama to honor her historic race as the "first viable woman presidential candidate" in American history. After that speech, even with her high level status as Senator and former First Lady, Hillary will fade into the political background -- at least for a while.

Michelle Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton will headline the first two nights pf the Democratic National Convention, accordng to a statement from the Convention organizers. The Convention will take place August 25-28 in Denver, Colorado. As is customary, the Vice-Presidential nominee will speak on the 27th and Obama will make his nomination acceptance speech on the last night of the convention at the city's famous Mile-High stadium.

While everyone else is talking about Barack Obama and VP roulette, I'm going to talk about Hillary! (You're SO surprised, right?)

It wasn't weird for me to type out a post last week about how McCain was possibly leaning toward -- and would do well leaning toward -- having a female running mate. Not only would it capitalize on the disenfranchised segment of moderate Democrats who were dead set on Hillary, but it would give a nice, refreshing foil to his old-man-ish-ness to have a lady in the House. But that got me thinking...what about if Barack Obama picked a woman for Vice President.

When I first heard about the Unity, New Hampshire appearance of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to promote -- what else, Democratic party unity -- all I could think of was George's father on Seinfeld yelling, "SERENITY NOW!!"

(Warning: Rant alert)With every public election, regardless of what position is being sought, the campaigns are usually unpleasant. Each candidate tries to veer the public to vote for them by trying to taint the character and / or motives of their competitor(s). Some people understand what is going on and ignore the tactics used to try and change their minds. Others who might have already formed some negative connotations about a specific candidate might be swayed if they feel one candidate voices views that correlate with that they believe.