Above: Click to play the interview with Congresswoman Susan Davis

I met Susan Davis decades ago when she was the first KPBS Coordinator of Volunteers –- and she was hugely successful organizing the station’s very first group of San Diegans who wanted to help public broadcasting flourish.  She was a highly educated wife of a successful psychiatrist and the mother of two young boys.  We had a great deal in common.

But while I made my life’s work KPBS, Susan moved into elective office – as a school board trustee, a State Assemblywoman, and then into Congress.  I’ve watched her grow as a politician and become more involved, more focused, and much more articulate.  In her maturity, she’s attained a higher level of mastery in her selected profession.   On this second night of the Democratic National Convention, this interview effectively captured her reaction to what was happening as history was being made.

Above: 22-year-old San Diegan Delegate Dave Carlson. Interview by Joe Spurr.

This was our first live, UStreamed interview with a local delegate, and we very much had to set up the stream on the fly, running on batteries and using my computer's built-in camera. I was a little frazzled heading into it because of that, and I also hadn't yet met Dave, so I wasn't as familiar with his background as some other young delegates.

That said, I enjoyed the chat and was impressed with Dave's knowledge and on-the-spot speaking ability.  I'll let the video speak for itself, but your feedback is welcome and we can continue the conversation in the comments section below.

I've been tweeting more and more as our production processes have smoothed out, so feel free to interact with us there as well -- and in that respect please consider yourself in Denver with us!

Another whirlwind weekend is coming up for presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama.  This time, all the excitement is right here in San Diego, with the National Council of La Raza’s 40^th anniversary conference at the San Diego Convention Center. The schedule calls for Obama to be the headliner at Sunday’s brunch and McCain to be the attraction at Monday’s luncheon.

With more than 20,000 community organization leaders, activists, politicians, business executives, educators and philanthropists expected to participate this year, the event is billed as the single largest gathering of its kind in the Latino community. Both presidential contenders acknowledge the importance the nation’s largest and fastest growing minority group.  At 46 million, Hispanics make up about 15 percent of the U.S. population and this year they will comprise about 9 percent of the eligible electorate nationwide, or about 18 million eligible voters -- an increase of 2 million from four years ago.