Today, the Connecticut State Democratic Party will hold its state convention to select a candidate for U.S. Senate as well as other business. I've been going to political conventions for about eight years now, and have a pretty good sense at what to expect.

Chris Murphy will get a majority of the delegates, and the big question will be if Susan Bysiewicz will get the 15% necessary to get on the primary ballot in August without needing to go out and select signatures. There will also be discussions about whether or not Lee Whitnum can find her way to the convention, or if she'll present any interesting theatrics.

Despite the conventions that I watched as a kid, it seems like most of the drama is out of political conventions, and they are often much more for show than anything else. At the State Legislative level, they are often about celebrating the person who has been a State Legislator for years, or is willing to challenge an incumbent. The only drama tends to be whether or not a challenger will step into the race.

Of course, this is all based on how conventions in the Land of Steady habits tends to play out. I've covered the State Democratic Convention in Massachusetts a few times. They have a tendency of being much more rowdy and raucous. I was one of the bloggers at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. Even that was better controlled and carefully orchestrated. In many ways, it felt like the coronation of Kerry, combined with a trade show for the politically active.

Today starts off the series of Conventions in Connecticut. On Monday will be the Congressional conventions. The one in the Fifth Congressional District will be the most exciting, while the other four will be parties celebrating the work of the incumbents in the district. This will be followed by state legislative conventions.

This year, I'm planning on covering three or four conventions as a blogger, depending on how much time I have, and attending one convention as a delegate.

For the smaller conventions, it is really easy to get involved. In Connecticut, we're organized on a town by town basis. Find out who is on your town committee. Join the committee if there are open seats, for smaller municipalities, there are often are. Then, when they are looking for delegates, offer to go. For the bigger, uncontested conventions, establish a little bit on online fred, and then go as a blogger.

Attending conventions can be very interesting, and for those that can't make it, follow my tweets.