Howard Dean

Check back next week to view my Convention Sketchpads from the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis.

The fourth and final day of the Democratic National Convention will be called to order at 5:00 PM EST on Thursday, with a theme of "Change You Can Believe In."

The final day's events will take place at INVESCO Field at Mile High, where over 70,000 people are expected to attend.

Featured speakers will include Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D), former Vermont Gov. and Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean (D), New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D), U.S. Rep. and U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D), former Vice President Al Gore (D) and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D).

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), the Democratic presidential nominee, is scheduled to address the convention at 10 p.m. EST.

The full schedule is below.

DNC Chair Howard Dean speaks to Kentucky's delegates today: Politicker photo

DENVER -- As the surprise opening speaker at this morning's Kentucky delegation breakfast, Democratic National Committee chair Howard Dean spoke with familiarity about Kentucky politics, referencing races up and down the ballot and laying out strategic suggestions for the assembled delegates.

At the beginning of his remarks, Dean referenced the campaign of Democratic Senate candidate Bruce Lunsford as a priority for the state.

"He's in striking distance. How about that?" Dean asked about the challenger to incumbent U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville).

Lunsford was last shown 12 points behind McConnell in a mid-August poll, though his ability to self-finance his campaign has led many analysts to predict an ultimately competitive race.

Beyond that, Dean said another top priority for Kentucky Democrats was more local in scope.

"The first thing that people need - in addition to electing Bruce - is we really want to take back the state Senate," said Dean, referencing the state legislative body currently in Republican hands.

DENVER -- DNC Chair Howard Dean is expected to speak at the Kentucky delegation's morning breakfast momentarily.

He is currently addressing the Maine delegation in an neighboring conference room at a downtown Denver hotel.

LOUISVILLE -- As part of the national Democratic Party's effort to expand their operations to all fifty states, the Kentucky Democratic Party (KDP) is aiming to implement a new get-out-the-vote effort in Kentucky that enlists party activists to campaign in their own neighborhoods. On Wednesday evening, KDP Chair Jennifer Moore told a meeting of the Metro Democratic Club in Louisville of the ‘Neighbor-to-Neighbor' program and the logic behind it.

"How would you rather hear from - a stranger or someone that you know?" Moore asked the crowd. "We are the best people to go and talk to our neighbors and tell our neighbors why we are a Democrat, why they should be a Democrat, and - most importantly - why they should vote a straight Democratic ticket in the fall."

"They are going to talk to you because they know you," added Moore. "That is a world of difference from a paid walker or a volunteer who doesn't live in that neighborhood going to that door."