GOP Convention on Hold

The political speeches of the GOP Convention scheduled for tomorrow were postponed; only some technical meetings will be held. Gustav has put the entire week in flux. We’ll cover the political evens, whenever they occur.

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Counter-Intuitive Thought of the Day: Palin May Help With Male Voters

I spend a good portion of my day reading my RSS feed. One of the things I try to do is connect dots others may not have seen. For instance, Matt Yglesias today:

There really are self-identified Democrats who seem resistant to Barack Obama. But there’s very little evidence that their resistance is driven by their ovaries. It’s actually a disproportionately male group. Instead, Obama-skeptical Democrats are older, hawkish, and perhaps not buying Obama as an economic populist. Is going with a young, transparently underqualifed woman with orthodox economic views really such a great way to reach these people? In fact, it’s a terrible way. And the other three Palin virtues, from a news cycle POV, all depend on the fact that it would be crazy to pick Sarah Palin.

And Nate Silver finds Rasmussen data that men like Palin better than women:

What’s interesting, however, is that while there is a gender gap in these numbers, it’s not the one many observers were anticipating. Rather, along a variety of metrics, men like the Palin choice better than women:

These numbers pretty much speak for themselves, but men have a favorable imperssion of Palin by a 35-point margin, whereas women have a favorable impression of her by an 18-point margin. Conversely, by a 23-point margin, women do not think Palin is ready to be President, whereas Palin lost this question among men by a considerably smaller 6-point magrin.

I still think her resume is dangerously thin to be a VP; and that apparently her best debate characteristic is that Biden may go too far in debating her is worrisome. (notice Hillary did not have that problem in 1999 against Lazio, or this cycle against any of the men; she could hold her own.)

But that said, it’s possible this pick may appeal to a key swing demographic … just not the one the media is talking about.

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McCain-Palin VP Liveblog

8:22 CT: The Palin rumors seem to have been dismissed, for now. It’s known that Lieberman is in Dayton, but people are still skeptical that it will be him, for good reason: aside from foreign policy, there’s not a lot of common ground with McCain. Mitt Romney has also been eliminated. Some other possibles are Tom Ridge, Charlie Crist, and Bobby Jindal. Also Rob Portman

8:38: It’s come to the point where Jeb Bush is reminisced about. Politico is reporting that it is not going to be Lieberman either, or at least unlikely.

8:49: The McCain campaign apparently wants to build suspense. I’m surprised they don’t want discussion of the person on the morning news.

9:02: It’s back to Palin apparently? John Harwood of CNBC and the Chicago Tribune is reporting that it is Palin.

9:15: Chuck Todd wants to avoid a Gephardt embarassment.

9:26: Politico is reporting it’s Palin as well. Bold choice. Notably, Jonathan Martin still couches his language with a bit of uncertainty. But there hasn’t been any denials so far on Palin that I’ve seen.

9:34: Palin has praised (parts of?) Obama’s energy plan.

9:37: NBC news is also now confirming. Mike Murphy likes it.

9:47: Andrea Tantaros at Fox News likes the pick. Oddly she talks about violence against women’s issues as compared to Biden, who wrote the Violence Against Women Act. She makes the point that Alaska is far from Washington and could take the Change mantle from Obama.

9:50: They’re pretty shamelessly going after former Hillary supporters. Bill Sammon is worried about Biden’s foreign policy experience in a debate. He compares Palin to George W. Bush in 2000, in expectations working against Biden. Tantaros says that Obama innoculates Palin against experience attacks. Well, sure, but it goes both ways.

9:57: These folks are happy.

10:00: You’re going to see this a bunch.

10:01: Chuck Todd says that it appeals to the social conservatives like Mike Huckabee, and the economic conservatives like Mitt Romney.

10:04: I think liberal blogger Matt Yglesias best describes what will be the Democratic view of Palin, and I also what I think is a fair summation of the ethics investigation into Palin:

All things considerd, if you’re going to get involved in an abuse of power scandal, one that involves an attempt to fire a state trooper who “had been involved in a divorce and child custody battle with Palin’s sister, Molly McCann” and who “was briefly suspended for ten days for threatening to kill McCann’s (and Palin’s) father, tasering his 11-year-old stepson, and violating game laws” doesn’t seem like the worst possible way to go. Certainly by the standards of Alaska GOP corruption it’s kind of small potatoes.

But of course the weird thing about the Alaska Republican Party is that while they send these endlessly re-elected legislators to DC to push for hard-right legislation, pork, and various forms of sleaze they’re running a government based on a weird form of socialism in one giant swathe of sub-arctic wasteland. Normal governors don’t get involved in controversies about state-owned dairy farms and the like (I believe it was Mikhail Gorbachev who moved to privatize the agricultural sector) and there’s no other state whose oil tax revenues are big enough to just cut the entire population welfare checks. It’s a bit hard to know how you shift from that into non-fantasyland world of federal policymaking.

10:09: Ambinder lists the pros and cons of Palin. Also, Kailey Bay Hutchison avoided answering the question of whether Palin is ready to be commander-in-chief on MSNBC with Andrea Mitchell. She also seems to intimate that the Vice President does not have to be ready to be C-in-C, since “the President is the President.” She concludes by saying flat out that we have to trust McCain. Note to the McCain campaign: Hutchison is not a good surrogate for you.

10:17: Obama campaign is highlighting her job as a mayor two years ago, “where her signature achievement was to raise taxes.”

10:19: Joe Klein:

Well, who knows, really? But it does reinforce McCain’s independent trope. She is a reformer, way outside the Washington establishment, a terrific speaker, apparently, a great life story, a pro-lifer who chose to have a Down syndrome child…and she is a she. Is she ready for prime time? Would she be ready to take over if John McCain were incapacitated? In a weird, clever, way, Palin’s inexperience serves to illuminate Obama’s…and so Democrats, especially Joe Biden, would probably be wise to tread carefully here. The Republicans can easily make the argument that they got their ticket order rightside up–experience over a compelling new face–and the Democrats got their order upside down. They can make that argument…we’ll see how it flies. I do think that it’s safe to say, without qualification, that McCain will win Alaska now–then again, Alaska is the only one of the 50 states that Obama hasn’t campaigned in.

10:20: I’m taking a few minutes of a break.

10:22: Kelly O’Donnell on MSNBC: Everything I know about Palin, I learned from Wikipedia.

10:25: One last thing before I take a 20 minute or so break. As far as liberal reaction, Daily Kos points out that Palin has been favorable to creationists. Mydd, which towards the end of the primary became home to a lot of Clinton fans, is very negative based on the experience, but are a lot more skeptical on what her appeal will be.

10:52: Interestingly, Powerline is not a fan of Palin, because of her lack of foreign policy experience. See here and here.

11:01: Are Republicans serious that a Presidential candidate needs experience, but a Vice Presidential candidate does not?

11:11: iPol thinks Palin is the new Dan Quayle. I’d point out that at a minimum, Quayle actually became VP in 1988. Almost every single Republican or conservative that knows Sarah Palin likes Sarah Palin. Of course, when you have a large budget like Alaska does, likeability is basically defined by being not corrupt, which she has really done in her career.

11:16: Everyone in the McCain campaign is holding something that looks a whole lot like glowsticks.

11:16: McCain is in the hall.

11:22: He thanks the runners up, and introduces her as a reformer and someone with executive experience. He touts her as a former union member and someone who is married to a union member, who really touts how she grew up.He touts her reformist credentials.

11:28: She comes out accompanied by her family. The contrast in age to McCain is stark. This is also not quite the spectacle of an introduction that Obama-Biden was.

11:30: She speaks. First giving thanks to McCain, and introducing her family. Nate Silver is struck by how McCain has changed his message back from Country First back to Washington reformer. Her husband Todd is a world champion snow mobile racer. Her oldest son enlisted in the Army and is about to ship off to Iraq soon. She talks about taking on corruption, including “the good ol’ boy network.” Talks about bipartisanship, including her stand against the infamous Bridge to Nowhere.

11:36: McCain looks relatively awkward next to her for some reason.

11:39: Palin gets to the Country First argument, and now being a “time for resolve,” and referencing his time as a POW. She cites John Glenn’s glowing review of McCain that must have been from a long time ago.

11:43: Talks about it being 88 years after women gained the right to vote, specifically mentioning Geraldine Ferraro and Hillary Clinton. Apparently Carolyn Mosely-Braun and others don’t count? Nah, it’s actually just a direct political appeal to Hillary voters.  She’s likeable in this setting, but remember: on a Friday of a holiday weekend, and a lot of people will not be paying attention. Her speech next week is far, far more important.

11:46: This has been a long week, for obvious reasons. I’m going to let this sink in and come back with a longer take tomorrow or Sunday. Enjoy the holiday weekend, folks. Take a two day break for politics, and if you’re in Ohio, keep Stephanie Tubbs-Jones in your thoughts tomorrow.

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Sarah Palin? Nope. Or Maybe After All?

Things could change in the next few hours, but signs at the moment point to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as John McCain’s VP. That could still change, though, and we are following it.

Update: ABC News knocked it down. Nothing to look at here.

Update II: Now it’s being reported it is her after all.

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Obama Convention Speech

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DNC Convention Speeches Day 4: Al Gore and Barack Obama

4:45 CT (ish): David Plouffe talks about the voter registration drive.

5:12: Jennifer Hudson does the national Anthem: That girl can sing!

5:31: Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter is speaking, and he sounds like he has a hairball in his throat. He’s talking mostly about western values.

5:36: DemConWatch: “You’ll notice there are 3 podiums at Invesco - two on the sides and the main one in the center. Word is that only Gore and Obama will speak from the center podium.”

5:45: Howard Dean is introduced by a Howard Dean video, which had to be authorized by … Howard Dean. Lovely. Angelo notes that it’s similar to the guy from ALong Came Polly that paid for the camera crew for his E True Hollywood story. Dean talks his 50 state strategy, and talks in more generics about no being able to afford 4 more years of the same. He tries to bring out the red meat, but is stunningly bad at riling up the crowd. I think it’s because he frames things very poorly. He line that McCain is not a maverick, but instead a yes man would be good if it was a climax, not said as a throwaway line.

5:58: John Lewis is out next, introducing the tribute to MLK. Also, both Lewis and Dean used the main podium; so much for only Gore and Obama using it. Lewis discusses being at MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech. He’s a civil rights legend, and he discusses the paththe movement has taken, and what it means to nominate Obama and what is done.

6:08: Bernice King says that Obama was nominated not because of the color of his skin, but because of the content of his character. She introduces Martin Luther King III. He talks about how proud his father would be, but that there is more work to do.

6:14: A DNC video. The musical accompaniment? Fake Empire, by The National. Good song, but I don’t think it’s really the message Democrats want to send.

6:33: will.i.am and John Legend perform that silly Obama “Yes we can” song.

6:40: James Dobson prayed for rain tonight. Skies are clear in Denver, but Hurrican Gustav looks threatening next week during the Republican Convention. Way to go.

6:46: Sheryl Crow time. At least for the people there. Airborne Toxic Event on here.

6:57: Obama’s campaign just sent out a text to all those who signed up reminding them that his speech is tonight.

7:03: Mark Udall, Senate candidate and son of Mo Udall, talks about western politics.

7:07: Veep runner up Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine is next. He attacks McCain a bit and alks about when he lived in Honduras a bit. The theme is putting into action what you believe in. It’s not like McCain has a storyline here that would dwarf working on the streets of Chicago. On the plus side, he’s showing far more energy than he did for his SOTU response. He finishes by getting the crowd to yell the mountain to move aside.

7:14: Bill Richardson time. He’s a governor, by the way. He’s pushes back against the celebrity mantra. He gets the crowd riled up. I missed a bunch ordering dinner.

7:30: Stevie Wonder is out as Al Gore’s opening act. He jokes about McCain recycling the policies of Bush, and talks about how differences between presidential candidates matter, citing 2000. He then talks at length about the climate crisis and how American innovation can solve it and how special interests and oil companies are preventing that. He’s being very blunt in his criticisms of Bush and in the stakes for this election. He gives America a history lesson on Lincoln, and condemns the Mexican War in the process.

8:05: Michael McDonald time. I still can’t believe he’s there.

8:15: Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of Ike, addresses the crowd.

8:16: A tribute to retired generals includes what I think is the only appearance by Wesley Clark this convention. Scott Gration discusses his history with Obama, and why he is qualified to be C-in-C, mainly focusing on judgment, integrity, and patriotism.

8:23: Joe Biden is back for more. Of course, one address would not be enough for him. The one person he says hello to? Harry Reid. Go figure. He jokes about playing for the Denver Broncos. He goes through a list of people Democrats want to help. Biden introduces a number of ordinary people who are going to speak. And the only person he says goodbye to? Harry Reid. How odd.

8:28: A truck driver from Michigan is first.

8:30: An insurance agent from Ohio talks about the emails about him are lies. I can’t imagine anyone who took the time to watch C-span coverage of the convention is that misinformed. It’s the least informed people who are susceptible to that.

8:33: A pet store owner from Florida is very unhappy about the Bush years.

8:34: A woman from New Mexico discusses education.

8:37: Pam from North Carolina is next. Her husband lost a job and needed surgery; then she did. :She should immediately be put in a commercial. She also was a Republican.

8:40: A lifelong Republican from Indiana is next. His name is actually Barney Smith. He lost his job when it was replaced overseas. Saying that Barney Smith should go before Smith Barney erupts the crowd, and they chant his name! Whoever wrote these deserves a raise.

8:49: Obama’s prepared remarks.

8:51: The music plus the ridiculous spotlights make this seem like a disco hall.

8:56: Dick Durbin is here to introduce Obama. He starts by referring to Obama’s 2004 keynote. Durbin talks about people needing change, and how people are now familiar with Obama.

The video introducing Obama starts. It’s a good biographical story.

9:12: Here he is.

9:14: Long applause. This is going to go long, I think. He thanks HRC again right off the top, and President Clinton right after. He also thanks Ted Kennedy and Joe Biden.

9:57: Liveblogging this seemed a bit unnecessary. You’re going to have watch it. Very impressive.

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Clinton To Be DNC Nominee?

If you’re confused by the title, don’t ask me, ask The New York Times.  They are currently running a Google ad with the headline “Clinton To Be DNC Nominee.”  And people wonder why they say print is dead…

Here’s a screenshot of the ad:

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DNC Convention Speeches Day 2 - Including Bill Clinton, Joe Bide, John Kerry and Elijah Cummings

All times are central…

4:00: And so it begins, the first item on the agenda is the nominating speeches and casting of the ballots.  Howard Dean makes some mundane announcements.  I will admit, it’s mildly humorous listening to Dean make these kind announcements, they seem oddly appropriate for him.

4:21: Nancy Pelosi is running the nomination process, while wearing what appears to be half a ball gown.  Two candidates will have their names placed into nomination - Obama and Clinton.

4:24: The woman placing Clinton’s name in nomination is mainly discussing her own biography and is mixing in a lot of Spanish.

4:27: Hillary’s first nominating speech is being delivered by the third youngest delegate at the convention.

5:44: When it becomes Illinois’ turn in the roll call, they yield to New York.  Hillary Clinton enters the convention hall to cheers.  Hillary Clinton takes the mic and announces that in the spirit of unity and makes a motion to suspend the rules to suspend the roll call and also moves to select Barack Obama as the nominee by acclamation.

5:48: Nancy Pelosi calls for vote.  She asks for all those in favor to say “yay.”  Then she calls for those opposed, but doesn’t even give the convention a chance to respond to the “no” before declaring Obama the nominee.  The music starts to play, the song “Love Train.”

5:54: Schumer takes the podium.  He must have ran backstage, he was just on the convention floor a few minutes ago with Hillary Clinton.

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DNC Convention Speeches Day 2 - Including Keynote Mark Warner, Hillary Clinton, and Eleanor Holmes Norton

4:01 CT: We’re here and ready to go.

4:17: Mayor Shirley Franklin of Atlanta calls the meeting to order. And time for prayer, which conveniently recalls most of the Democratic platform. The colors are presented, the pledge of allegiance is stated, and the national anthem is sung. Not to offend little kids, but the National Anthem isn’t one of those things that sounds better when sung by a children’s choir.

4:23: This segues awkwardly into a hip-hop video featuring DC. It’s for Eleanor Holmes Norton, who literally comes out saluting and yelling about being an Obama-Biden Democrat. She wants representation for the 600,000 members of DC. She’s showing more passion than anyone did yesterday. The power segues into being a bit over the top as she’s just yelling at the end.

4:29: Ted Sorensen, speechwriter for JFK is next. The crowd is half empty for him, but he’s half blind, so it all balances out. I’m surprised he’s there speaking, but there’s not much to say about it. He’s just extends the Obama-JFK comparisons.

4:35: Rep. Mike Honda is here. Apparently Rep. Bob Chevrolet got bumped. Either that, or we’re even outsourcing our last names now. Is nothing sacred!? At any rate, Honda likes to consider himself a teacher, and talks about education policy. This is not the red meat that Democrats need. Let’s hope there’s some strong attacks coming later on tonight for the Democrats sake.

4:40: David Gipp from North Fakota speaks next. He’s a Native American, and President of the United Tribes Technical College. He’s also got a shiny vest on with a bolo tie. Mitakuye Oyasin, y’all. Gipp quotes Sitting Bull in calling for everyone to sit together and figure things out.

4:45: Rep. Linda Sanchez is next. Two men in an elevator in DC apparently thought she was a staffer. She talks about programs that help uniions and the lower class. She’s actually a natural public speaker.

4:49: Iowa Gov. Chet Culver is next. He thanks everyone that helped Iowa during the floods. Segues into a discussion of energy, and attacks McCain for voting against tax credits for renewable energy 11 times. Talks about the effects of renewable energy in Iowa. And then into a bunch of stuff about the election being important. Well, it’s a start.

4:53: Gov. David Patterson of New York is out next. He gets a rousing ovation, and chants of his name. “Thank you, my time is up.” :He talks about being blinded as a child, but still graduating from law school, only to be rejected from a job for being blind, but becoming Governor of New York anyway. He even jokes about being lucky enough even though others may have worked harder or been more qualified. He talks about economic indicators: he’s at such a rapid pace in his statistics that I can’t keep up. Re: McCain: “If he is the answer, the question must be ridiculous.” He stumbles a bit towards the end, but still, some good red meat that really sets the tone for tonight.

5:00: Musical interlude.

5:10: The Congressional Black Caucus takes the stage for the tribute to Stephanie Tubbs Jones, who passed away last week. It stays classy. They recall her life and priorities (even if you disagree with them). I really don’t have much to add.

5:22: A video tribute to Democrats who have passed away since the last convention. It doesn’t fit within the screen, at least for me. Awkward.

5:27: Patrick Leahy comes out, and brags about living on a dirt road in a small town. He talks about why rural America will be helped by Obama, especially jobs disappearing and people living in poverty. He criticizes McCain for not offering any new ideas; he touts Obama’s tax cut plan and jobs plan. He insults McCain’s internet ignorance and says that internet in rural areas is key to development. He also talks about crime, and the law he worked on with Biden. Hammers home the “change we need” theme.

5:32: Chris Van Hollen talks about new candidates for the House. He talks about seeing a portrait of JFK in Sri Lanka ten years after JFK died. He talks about the need to restore that through a larger majority in Congress, touting achievements that are apparently not that popular based on Congress’ approval ratings.

5:44: Cecile Richards, daughter of Ann Richards, Keynote speaker in 1988, is next. She is the President of Planned Parenthood. She talks about Obama being a leader in reproductive rights (her framing, not mine). She says that McCain has vowed to appoint justices to overturn Roe v. Wade.

5:48: Dennis Kucinich comes out next. He’s as silly as ever. He goes off on Iraq and defense spending. He sounds like he auto-recorded his speehc. Every word is disconnected from those that come around it. This is the stuff that appeals to the base but is so crazy that no one else takes it seriously at all. Awkward analogy of the night: Kucinich yellign at America to go from down to up. At the very least he woke up the crowd.

5:54: He’s followed up by California State Controller John Chiang. Who promptly drags this back into the biographical. Yawn.

5:58: Video interlude of a regular persion.

6:00: Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle tlks about being inspired by JFK to join the peace corps. More JFK. Yawn. He talks about hard work and playing by the rules. What “rules” are these exactly? Laws? He eventually gets back to talking about JFK.

6:06: Joe Manchin, Gov. of West Virginia is out next. He talks about America needing to bridge partisan divides to get change accomplished on energy, health care, and transportation. West Virginians have apparently earned “a PhD. in life”  and cannot afford any more Republican leadership. Manchin says that only Obama has captured the dreams of Americans; I have no idea what that means in reality.

6:12: Hillary Clinton introduces a bloc of Democratic women in the Senate, starting with Sen. Barbara Mikulski. Mikulski comes out firing, shouting that Democrats getting things done, starting with equal pay for equal work. She’s literally offstage within a minute, and Barbara Boxer is now on stage. She talks about legislative priorities, such as energy and Climate Change, that will get done after the election.

6:16: Mary Landrieu from Louisiana is next, and she talks about Katrina and Rita, and that Obama will run FEMA better.

6:18: Sen. Blanche Lincoln from Arkansas is next. She talks about health care is needed. Clinton talked about how women in the Senate have a lot to say, and yet their speeches are literally all about a minute long.

6:19: Debbie Stabenow from Michigan is next. She talks about the economic plan of Obama, as much as one can talk about a plan in 45 seconds.

6:21: Maria Cantwell from Washington is next. She talks about how energy independence needs to be a top priority .

6:23: Clair McCaskill gets a second chance to make a first impression. So does Amy Klobuchar.

6:26: They all come out to wave; Angelo points out that this is like the first wives club. The picture of Obama with the women of the Senate pops up. They don’t zoom in enough to get a good look at Clinton.

6:28: Ed Rendell is next. Can he stay on message? Rendell talks about Bush and Cheney promising in 2000 to develop alternative energy, and breaking their promises. He cites statistics that compared 2000 to 2008. Rendell says that McCain’s advisors lobbied for energy company, and that McCain’s record does not reflect support of alternative energy. He goes through some parts of McCain’s record of him not supporting energy. This is what this night needs to be for Democrats. Unite through a common opponent. He talks about Obama and Biden’s energy plan. Good speech.

6:36: Rep. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin is next. She talks about the imjpact of people who are uninsured and underinsured in regards to health care.

6:40: Re. Xavier Becerra is here to talk about workers. Yes, just workers in general. He makes a very bad pun out of the work conservatism.

6:44: John Sweeney is out next, President of the AFL-CIO. I’m not going to write anything, I’m on break. Back. Long story short: free choice for unionsis good. Accurately representing that he’s only talking about open ballots instead of secret ballots: bad.

6:50: Robin Golden, a president for a local union in Michigan is up next. He’s actually a better speaker than Sweeney. His job and all the jobs in his union are moving to Mexico in two weeks. He just got diagnosed with diabetes too. Let’s hope he got this weekend comped.

6:55: Rahm Emanuel is next. He brags first about the 2006 midterms. He segues into criticizing Bush-McCain economics. Harsh, but nothing particularly notable.

6:59: Obama video asking people to get involved.

7:00: Alejandra Escovedo plays music.

7:06: The announcer is unable to say the word “commemorative.”

7:10: Katherine Marcano, a flood victim from Iowa, speaks next. She speaks with an accent only Tom Tancredo could hate. She talks about her sister who has Cerebral Palsy. She talks about health care, economic opportunity, tax cuts for the middle and lower class, and a credit card bill of rights. (Biden’s record on credit cards notwithstanding?)

7:14: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is next. He goes down the “McCain voted with Bush 95% of the time” road. Yawn. McCain won’t bring change, Obama wil, rinse, repeat.

7:21: Pauline Beck comes out to read a prewritten speech off a sheet of paper. She’s the one Obama worked with for SEIU. There’s no emotion in her voice. Yeesh.

7:24: Anna Burger, President of the SEIU and Change to Win, is out next. She just talks about how unions are good. Umm, sure.

7:28: Janet Napolitano, Gov. of Arizona and owner of perhaps a deeper baritone than Obama, is out next. She compares McCain to Goldwater, Mo Udall, and Bruce Babbitt in losing. She said she agrees that McCain does not understand the economy as well as he should. She criticizes McCain on the economy before mentioning Phil Gramm’s comments.

7:36: Gov. Jennifer Granholm of Michigan leads a town hall about how to transition to clean home grown energy. Jim Rogers who is a CEO of Duek Energy, Jim Bauer a former steelworker who is now a wind power worker, Aimee Christensen who advises on energy, and Jerome Ringle the President of the Apollo Alliance. Google for more info. Rogers says the important thing is to make the investment today to get on the road to a low-carbon road. Granholm touts the 5 million jobs that Obama plans for. Bauer talks about getting a new job. Christensen talks about the new breed of cleaner vehicles made in America. She says that McCain’s drilling solution will only affect prices by 2030, according to the Bush Administration. Apparently the Apollo project references the Apollo program, not the Greek god Apollo. Either that or Granholm has no idea of Greek mythology. Ringle emphasizes how many jobs that new energy can generate, one by one. Literally. Someone needs to get paid to fly to Denber and attend corporate parties comped. That’s a job.

7:50: Jim Whitaker, Mayor of Fairbanks, registered Republican, comes out to endorse Obama. Compliments Obama’s intellect and pragmatism. He talks about expanding energy sources, including natural gas. He emphasizes Obama’s “steely resolve” - even gritting his teeth when he does it.

7:54: Gloria Craven, a recently laid off textile worker, speaks next. She talks about some problems she’s had.

7:57: Nancy Floyd talks about renewable energies.

8:04: Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is here. One of her ancestors was a maid to a President. She’s very dry. She turns the phrase “there’s no place like home” into an attack on McCain. Further attacks McCain for “country club economics.” She puts me to sleep talking about Obama’s plan. She sounds like a robot: Robelius or something.

8:10 Federico Pena, former Mayor of Denver, speaks next. He talks about fixing air pollution in Denver, and how America can face this energy crisis. Talks in general about Obama’s energy plan.

8:16: Rep. Nydia Velazquez is introduced to Huey Lewis’ The Power of Love. She talks about the problems of McCain’s small business plan.

8:23: Bob Casey gets the speech his father did not, and mentions his father right at the start. Apparently Pennsylvania is finally ready to fight for good jobs. Says that Obama will lead and heal, and he knows that because his daughters told him. He compliments Obama for both talking about sports and about jobs. He’s very excited about Joe Biden, and says that no one knows Joe better than Pennsylvania, apparently forgetting that Delaware exists. And yet he gives the biggest buildup for mentioning Clinton. How odd, that someone on the ticket gets the biggest build up in his speech. He cites his disagreement with Obama on abortion, but says Obama shows respect to him. He doesn’t mention who believes what on abortion, though. In other words, yes, Casey was very bitter about how his father was dealt with in 1992. Very, very bitter. Says that McCain is not a maverick; going by his record, he is a sidekick. Not a bad line, actually. Good lord, Casey acctually woke up the crowd. But on the other hand, they’re probably chanting to avoid hearing him. Mentions his father again, who said that there’s one question: what do you do when you had the power. Say that Obama and Biden wil luse the power to help people.

Suddenly his endorsement of Obama over Clinton is crystal clear. yeesh.

[Angelo is now taking over for John]

8:32: The plaintiff, Lilly Ledbetter, from the pay equity case against Goodyear is now speaking.  She’s discussing her fight against discrimination over wages in the workplace.  She’s a pretty good speaker.  Given the historical significance of today for women’s issues, it makes sense to have her speaking so close to Clinton’s speech, which is coming up in about an hour.

8:38: Time for a musical interlude! The song, “I’m so excited.”  It’s somewhat humorous that this song is being played on HRC’s night, given that call for excitement is premised on the idea that you shouldn’t think about the future, but instead get all excited about the past.

8:41: Mark Warner’s turn.  He starts by talking about the future and the strengths of America if we all try.  He then transitions into a brief biography on how he got into the cell phone industry when it first started.  He credits the uniqueness of America for his ability to do this.  He ties this to Obama’s story.

8:46: I must admit, so far this speech is a bit underwhelming.

8:47: Warner’s biggest criticism of George W. Bush: He didn’t ask people to do enough after 9/11.  Really?  Is that really the best criticism?  I understand the desire for Democrats not to wade too deep into partisan territory in these speeches, but, aren’t there just a few more serious things worth criticizing Bush over other than he didn’t ask people to do more service?

8:50: Talks about the prospects for America’s future.  On energy: more efficient cars, built in the US.  That’s a job!  He starts to list other things, but this section of the speech starts to loose its tightness.  But don’t worry, good news for his speechwriter, he can always get a job building a turbine or one of these new cars they keep talking about.

8:52: I guess Warner’s Keynote is really only with his his Virginia race in mind.  Otherwise, the tone and structure of the speech simply doesn’t make political sense.

8:53: Notes that this election isn’t about the past, it’s about the future.  Indeed.  All elections are.

8:55: Warner toots his own horn by discussing his success at managing the budget while he was Governor of Virginia.

8:58: Warner discusses a letter that Jefferson sent to Adams, where we wrote: “I like the dreams of the future, better than the history of the past.”  Overall, a somewhat underwhelming speech.

9:00: Ohio Governor Ted Strickland is up.  Unfortunately for him, the speech hasn’t been fed through the teleprompter.  He handles the absence of his speech pretty well.  On a side note, have I ever noted how much I really hate canned speeches?

9:03: He starts off his speech by discussing the economy.  Then transitions that into critiques against McCain.  I don’t mind criticism, but I wish it were slightly more effective and substantial than what I have heard so far today.  For some reason, the attacks on McCain today have had the same quality of a “your mother. no, you’re mother” exchange.

9:07: Either the teleprompter isn’t working properly, or Strickland didn’t really practice this speech, because his execution is really unpleasant.

9:10: Thankfully, Strickland finishes up.  Why is everyone yelling?  Also, it’s worth nothing that both John and I believe that HRC is going to have an Ann Richards moment this evening and will nail her speech.

9:11: Deval Patrick is up now.  He’s giving a brief bio.  I’m just grateful to finally hear an effective speaker.  Patrick is hitting the economic theme and the importance of protecting the economic interests of the regular Americans.

9:16: Patrick is a good speaker, but even his speech seems to be missing something.  I think it’s a problem with tonight’s theme of the convention, it just seems as though all of the speeches are somewhat forced.

9:18: He notes that there will be challenges to changing the status quo.  Calls for

9:20: Brian Schweitzer is up.  The very first thing he talks about is his decision to pick a Republican for Lieutenancy Governor.  Goes on to note some achievements, including economic, of his bipartisan approach.  Smart.  It might have been enhanced if he added a couple examples of Obama undertaking or demonstrating a similar commitment to bipartisan efforts.

9:24: Schweitzer is clearly enjoying himself and is working the crowd very effectively.  HRC must be thanking her lucky stars at the moment.

9:25: His speech transitions to the topic of energy and climate change and the need to change our energy habits for both economic, national security and environmental reasons.

9:28: Schweitzer hits McCain on taking money from oil lobbyists and for advocating policies that would provide additional funds to oil companies.

9:31: Takes a shot at McCain and houses, but it was subtle and funny.  He goes on to give one of the takeaway quotes from the night, “Barack Obama understands that the most important barrel of oil is the one that you don’t use.”

9:32: I just got word that MSNBC isn’t carrying Schweitzer’s speech.  Yet another example of how that network has reallly slid downhill.

9:36: Schweitzer riles up the crowd with an exceptional closer.  Bill Clinton and others are seen hysterically laughing.  Great, great speech.

9:37: Hillary Clinton’s speech is up.  The video introduction stresses her strength.  One thing that’s worth nothing: On the video, the name used for Bill was “Hillary’s Husband.”  A great, subtle piece of humor there.  I’m not going to blog the video, but it is very well put together.

9:41: Chelsea takes the stage to announce Hillary.  Hillary walks out wearing the orange pantsuit (I called this one earlier today).  The applause roars on for almost 3 minutes before she is able to start speaking.

9:46: She gives a strong call for party unity.  Notes that regardless of who they supported, they’re all on the same team and must now fight for the future.

9:47: Reminds supporters that failing to support Obama would mean that they have to suffer through 4 years of “failed Republican policies”.

9:48: Buttresses her call for party unity with a discussion about what presidential elections are all about.  In short: it’s about the policies that will help people.  Then launches into a recitation of personal stories from people she met during the campaign - she tears up a bit during this part.

9:53: Begins to tie her speech into the theme of the evening - renewing the promise of America.  Talks about key issues like health care, energy independence, civil rights (from women’s rights to gay rights), foreign policy, etc… Says that these are the reasons that she ran.  Asks her supporters to ask themselves, if they were in the campaign just for her or if they were in the campaign because they cared about the issues she was fighting for.  Good line.

9:59: Talks about the need to elect Obama to get these key issues addressed.  Reminds everyone that Democrats are able to achieve progress on these issues and gives a shout out to Bill Clinton (his face is priceless).

10:01: Here come the attacks on McCain.  Hits McCain hard on women’s issues (a sign that they feel the need to push back against McCain’s aggressive courtship of frustrated female HIllary supporters).

10:05: Rounds her speech with historical examples of women’s rights.  Also, she quotes Harriet Tubman, telling everyone to “keep going” and says that the only way to keep going is to elect Obama.  Adds that the fate of America’s future, asks voters to keep in mind their children and grandchildren.  Calls for this election to honor the sacrifices of those that came before us.

10:08: Overall, an exceptional speech.  5 stars.

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Obama Press Release: Statement on Russia’s Decision to Recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as Independent States

[Obama Campaign Press Release from August 26, 2008]

Statement from Senator Obama on Russia’s Decision to Recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as Independent States

“I condemn Russia’s decision to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states and call upon all countries of the world not to accord any legitimacy to this action.

“The United States should call for a meeting of the United Nations Security Council to condemn Russia’s decision in coordination with our European allies. The U.S. should lead within the UN and other international forums to cast a clear and unrelenting light on the decision, and to further isolate Russia internationally because of its actions. The OSCE must also send a serious monitoring group to Georgia.

“Georgia’s economic recovery is an urgent strategic priority that demands the focused attention of the United States and our allies. That is why Senator Biden and I have called for $1 billion in reconstruction assistance to help the people of Georgia in this time of great trial. I also welcome NATO’s decision to establish a NATO-Georgia Commission and applaud the new French and German initiatives to continue work on these issues within the EU. The Bush Administration should call for a US-EU-Georgia summit in September that focuses on strategies for preserving Georgia’s territorial integrity and advancing its economic recovery.

“Russia’s government must respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia and other independent states. Its refusal to do so calls into question its commitment to the responsibilities of membership to organizations such as the OCSE and the Russia-NATO Council, its application to join the WTO and the OECD, and makes it impossible for Congress to enact the civil nuclear agreement. If Russia’s government continues to violate the norms and practices of the international community, the United States and our allies must review all aspects of relations with Russia.

“Let us be clear, no one wants to see another Cold War with Russia. The United States and Russia have many mutual interests, and Russia has the potential to become a critical stakeholder in the international system. But Russia’s recent choices –not American or European decisions — are threatening this potential and reminding us all that peace and security in Europe cannot be taken for granted,” said Senator Barack Obama.

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McCain, Democrats, and Abortion: A Riddle Without an Answer

Here’s a riddle:

A number of Democrats and swing voters apparently think that McCain is moderate on abortion and Roe v. Wade. He is not.
Damon Linker points out that most Americans are moderate:

Just below 20 percent of Americans believe abortion should be legal in all cases and circumstances. A slightly smaller number believe it should be illegal in all cases and circumstances. The rest (roughly 60 percent) think it should “usually” be legal or “usually” illegal, showing that the views of a solid majority of Americans confound the purists on both sides of the spectrum. And yet both parties insist on sticking to their extreme positions.

Herein lies the question: how does the Obama campaign take that perceived middle ground from Obama, without angering further the women who he is already at risk of losing because of the Clinton scenario?

I’m not sure there’s an answer. Perhaps the best answer for Obama is to make this a fight of the extremes. Yet that will probably favor McCain, since apparently a lot of people already believe he’s a moderate. It’ll take some real ju-jitsu to make this perception go away.

This underlines, though, the desparate need of Democrats to define McCain over the next 50 hours.

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Carville: Half-Right on Democrats

James Carville wants more red meat:

Speaking on CNN, Carville said the party was too soft in its attacks on John McCain Monday night — the same mistake, Carville says, Democrats made at the 2004 convention.

“The way they planned it tonight was supposed to be sort of the personal — Michelle Obama will talk about Barack Obama personally, Ted Kennedy was a very personal, emotional speech,” Carville said. “But I guarantee on the first night of the Republican Convention, you’re going to hear talk about Barack Obama, commander-in-chief, tax cuts, et cetera, et cetera.”

“You haven’t heard about Iraq or John McCain or George W. Bush — I haven’t heard any of this. We are a country that is in a borderline recession, we are an 80 percent wrong-track country. Health care, energy — I haven’t heard anything about gas prices,” Carville also says. “Maybe we are going to look better Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. But right now, we’re playing hide the message.”

Carville’s predictably getting attacked by Obama pseudo-surrogate Andrew Sullivan, but Carville does have a point: this is the Democrats best and only chance to unite. And like Matt Yglesias says, uniting a party does not come from hugging it out (sorry Ari), but rather by blasting the hell out of the political opponent. That’s what got the party behind Kerry in 2004 (although that was done before the convention).

That said, Carville is missing one very obvious point: that many Americans had questions regarding the family and patriotism of the Obamas. They had to spend a day making people comfortable with them as people. The next two days need to be incredibly vicious against McCain: they really need to be on a Zell Miller type of level. They have the headliners (Clinton and Biden) to do that. The convention would then wrap up with Obama framing his choices against what McCain is offering.

That said, I’m not sure the Mark Warner message will be is needed. The only overarching message about McCain so far is that he’s Bush’s third term. That alone will not be enough to win.

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Keith Olbermann: Hypocrite?

It’s a strong title, I realize that, but it’s well suited given the self righteous fury that he tends to put on display.  While watching MSNBC during the convention, I saw a commercial where Olbermann rails against partisanship.  In it, Olberman says:

“We as citizens must at some point ignore partisanship, not that we may prosper as a nation, but that merely we may function as a nation.” [video]

As someone who is nonpartisan, I support the notion and in many respects would agree with it.  However, hearing that from Olbermann was striking, especially when I thought about an entry in his Daily Kos diary where he pretty much states that his mission is to help get Obama elected.  Back in June, Olbermann got into a little dust up with Josh Greenwald over Obama and FISA, in one of his responses Olbermann writes about softening his coverage of the issue so as not to hurt Obama:

Thus, as I phrased it on the air tonight, obviously Obama kicked the left in the teeth by supporting the bill. But anybody who got as hot about this as I did would prefer to see a President Obama prosecuting the telecoms criminally, instead of seeing a Senator Obama engender more “soft on terror” crap by casting a token vote in favor of civil litigation that isn’t going to pass since so many other Democrats caved anyway.

I’m fine with Olbermann supporting Obama.  My issue isn’t with that.  Rather, my issue is with pretending to be something that you have already acknowledged you are not.  You can’t argue for the necessity of nonpartisanship, while at the same time boosting that you soften your coverage on one candidate because you believe it’s more important for that person to get elected.  Sorry, that doesn’t make you nonpartisan.  If Olbermann wants any help on this subject, he’s more than welcome to drop us a line for advice, otherwise, pull the ad.  To anyone that pays attention, it just makes hurts his credibility.

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A Note About The “Tensions” Between Obama And Clinton Supporters…

There’s an awful lot of discussion about the rift in the Democratic party, the anger among Clinton supporters and general Clinton “drama.”  Dont buy it.  Yes, there are a significant number of Clinton supporters that are very upset about Obama being the nominee.  However, the reality of the tensions between the camps is not anywhere near the degree that it is being portrayed.  The story is being completely overblown and it’s probably the result of two major factors: 1) A lack of historical knowledge (conventions in the past have been significantly more controversial, with much stronger tensions between internal camps) and 2) Clinton drama sells and the media has largely made it clear that profit and not information is their primary motivation.

Some examples of the silliness out there (the overwhelming majority of the aforementioned ridiculousnes can be found on cable news)…

• Justin Gardner criticizes HRC for knowing that her critiques would be used against Obama by McCain in the general election.  Because, Obama didn’t run critical ads against HRC, right?  I’m not sure why her critiques against Obama in the primary (which by historical counts weren’t that harsh) are still an issue.
• The Guardian’s Michael Tomasky is really upset by all the Clinton drama, especially after reading reports that some Clinton people won’t be staying in town for Obama’s speech.  So, to demonstrate how ridiculous all the drama is, he throws a hissy fit.  How dare those selfish Clinton advisors/staffers who spent countless hours fighting in a primary leave before watching Obama’s speech live and in person, I mean, my goodness, the room may not even be filled now.  Let me get this straight, apparently, the Clintons are being bad because some supporters don’t want to stick around for Obama’s speech? This is the best the press can do to gin up the controversy even more?  Sigh
• The National Review has a laughable list of the 20 ways that “Hillary is being snubbed.”

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DNC Convention Day 2 - Cable News Coverage

If you’re watching the news and see something silly or noteworthy, let us know and we’ll include in this post…

9:33AM: Luke Russert is back on MSNBC.  *sigh* He discusses a drinking game a friend of his used to play everytime Giuliani would say 9/11, offers a suggestion that there could be one every time Obama says change.  Then goes on to talk about the Obama campaign needing to win the youth by 20% again.  I’m going to stop discussing his analysis.  It’s not worthwhile and he really shouldn’t be getting this much airtime.  OTOH, he’s not worse than many of the others I see on TV, so bravo.

10:05AM: On Fox News, Bill Richardson is interviewed by Chris Wallace.  He is asked whether he has reconciled with Sen. Clinton and Bill Clinton. He says that he has reconciled with HRC, but that he believes Bill is still mad at him.  When asked why he thought that, he said it was largely based off the fact that they haven’t spoken in a while.  Asked whether or not he has tried to contact Bill Clinton, Richardson conceded that he hadn’t and really has no basis for the feeling that Bill is still mad at him.

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Dean Compares Republicans To Slobodan Milosevic

On MSNBC’s Morning Joe, DNC Chairman Howard Dean compared Republican campaign tactics to those used by Slobodan Milosevic (yes, the one that was indicted for crimes against humanity for his actions in Kosovo; yes, the one that had his political opponents killed).  Ironically, Dean was discussing how divisive the Republicans can be at times.  I’m not entirely sure how this analogy isn’t equally as divisive.  Here’s the full quote:

DNC Chairman: The big thing here, the message from the younger generation is to us: would you please stop fighting about these things that you’re never going to agree on, get something done about the things that you do agree on.  That is Barack Obama.  Stop fighting about all these things.

You know, the Republicans are very very good at dividing people.  You know, they’re always ‘you got to be mad because this group gets that and that group doesn’t get that’.  That’s terrible for the country.  It’s a time honored way to win elections that people use in all kinds of different countries.  Slobodan Milosevic used it in Yugoslavia.

But, the real way to make the country better is to listen to what these young people want.  Stop fighting about these things that you don’t agree on.  You know, we’re reaching out to evangelical Christians.  It’s not because we’re going to get 50% of the evangelical Christian vote.  Because, young evangelicals care about poverty, climate change and Darfur and those are things that Democrat so why shouldn’t we work with them on the stuff we agree with.

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Live Blog Of John McCain On Tonight Show With Jay Leno

Adn we’re

11:02: With McCain’s birthday coming up.  Leno makes an age joke, then they joke about Leno’s age jokes.  Then McCain tells an age joke of his own:

11:03: They talk about Biden and McCain’s relationship.  Then McCain talks about Biden’s past praise of him.  Alright.  I mean, i think this could actually be a decent political argument, but not the way his campaign is doing it.  If they’re going to harp on the past praise, they need to talk about why it’s significant, otherwise it just seems silly.

11:10: This is a very long commercial.

11:11: Leno makes the “you don’t know how many houses you own” joke.  McCain responds by talking about not having a kitchen table while he was a pow, then gives the bio of Cindy McCain’s father.

11:13: While discussing the perceived negativity in the campaign, McCain hits Obama on not participating in the joint town halls and appearances noting that if they were able to participate in events together, they would be forced to be more collegial.

11:14: McCain praises Hillary Clinton.

11:15: McCain talks about the approval ratings of congress, which are at 9%.  Makes a quip about how that it can’t get any lower because “it’s already down to paid staffers and blood relatives.”  They’re making this argument, but again I don’t understand why they also aren’t reminding people that congress is in currently in control of Democrats.

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DNC Convention Day 1 - Convention Speeches, Including Michelle Obama and Possibly Ted Kennedy

Joining in progress, because I had stuff to do.  All times are central time…

5:45 CT: It’s apparently Hispanic Caucus Hour, as Joe Baca and Grace Napolitano just spoke, and now Silvestre Reyes, Chair of the Intelligence Committee and Representative from El Paso is speaking now. Nothing terribly interesting, and the speech styles are stunningly pedestrian, even for this hour of the day.

5:48: It is the Hispanic Caucus Speaking! Lou Dobbs is trying to contact the INS as we speak. The Representative from the South Bronx says it’s the poorest district in the country. Not if you count the salaries of the Yankees!

5:51: Nancy Pelosi apparently takes fashion advice from Lebron James.

5:52: Nancy Keenan from NARAL says the pro-choice is the way to go. Her outfit is more of a failed abortion: Just a lot of red with a head sticking out. Seriously, though, it’s stunning how opaque McCain has managed to be regarding abortion. That’s going to explode at some point.

5:57: Amanda Kubik and others from North Dakota come out to YELL ABOUT THE YOUTH VOTE. And jsut to ensure they are taken seriously, she deliberately slips into a Fargo accent. And that’s it. This is like rapid fire silliness.

5:58: Obama’s political godfather Emil Jones Jr. comes out to speak. Mentions Obama working on high school dropout rates with him on the South Side of Chicago. Talks about meeting Obama again in the state legislature, and giving him ethics reform through the legislature, and how difficult it was, apparently because all politicians are greedy. Jones mentions a lot of other things Obama did in the state legislature. It’s stunning to realize that without Jones, Obama would not be in the Senate, much less running for President.

6:02: NEA President Reg Weaver. The speech seems more about redefining the NEA as pro-Obama than endorsing Obama himself.

6:06: Some DNC video talking about fear being a failed strategy, including Michelle Obama. I can only think about Batman Begins.

6:07: There’s some new age orchestra playing a cross between Kenny G and porn music. And there’s an Iraqi-American for Obama. Seriously, is the Democratic coalition that broad where the music has to be this nondescript? This is like stuff that was rejected as NPR break music for being too bland.

6:12: Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan talks about working with Obama on women’s issues in the Illinois State Senate, where they sat next to each other. Awww.

6:15: Dan Hynes jokes about losing to Obama in the Senate Primary. He takes credit for being the first person to call on Obama to run for President. Ummm, OK.

6:17: The Illinois State Treasurer talks about Obama being his basketball buddy. It’s Illinois hour at the DNC, apparently.

6:20: Illinois 20 minutes, apparently. Randi Wingarten, President of the AFT comes out to talk about education, including America being the “incubator of innovation.” Is education currently the equivalent of a premature baby? Her speech uses ridiculous hyperbole to make the point that public schools are important.

6:25: Sen. Amy Klobuchar! She calls the Bush leadership “subprime leadership.” Interesting turn on the phrase. She talks about Obama organizing an ethics reform plan while she was driving on the way to Washington. I’m not sure about dinging the Cheney Energy Bill when Obama voted for it, though.

6:29: A cover of Sly and Family Stone’s Dance to the Music makes my ears bleed. This is like a song Richard Simmons thought was not good enough to be in one of his videos.

6:31: The dais literally becomes covered with stars as they segue to highlights from Obama’s 2004 keynote at the DNC.

6:32: John Legend. Catch you on the flip side.

6:48: More music. Nancy Pelosi speaks at the top of the hour

6:55: Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown is moderating a townhall on the economy with Ned Helms, Lisa Olivares, Dr. Laura Tyson (economic advisor to Obama), Jon Schnur. The panel seems a bit rushed. They start criticizing McCain for not taking economic issues/problems seriously enough. Again, I can’t help but wonder if the 25 minutes of crummy music that took place before this rushed panel don’t belie or undermine the messsage that they are trying to send.

7:04: Brown really seems a bit wired. His tone is eerily similar to that Billy Mays guy who is always hocking products like portable light switches and magic cleaners on TV infomercials. Matt Yglesias: “Sherrod Brown giving us a taste of what it would have been like if Jerry Springer had run for Senate.”

7:05: I’d like a symposium on the hair of Democratic Senators. Between Biden, Sherrod Brown, Obama, Clinton and a couple more, you could easily fill up a day’s worth of discussion. Brown is one unkempt beard away from being given a free haircut with other homeless people in Denver.

7:10: Pelosi introduction video.

7:11: Nancy Pelosi! First up: a salute to the Clinton campaign. Cheers for which she promptly cuts off. And she repeatedly pounds the gavel as if just to show that she can. The only other person to pound the gavel this excitedly was Obama’s kid earlier today. Pelosi goes on to talk about what the Congress did, as if the approval rating was not in the gutter. She says McCain has the experience of being wrong. Pelosi ends up doing a slow motion reenactment of Gore’s up/down speech from 1992. She talks about being the first Italian-American speaker, seguing into it by ordering a hit on a heckler. Or actually by telling about how a five year old thought seeing Obama was a dream. It didn’t make sense in context, either. Wraps up by making a general plea for Obama/Biden.

7:25: Video about a first time delegate from Colorado, some old guy.

7:26: A Katrina survivor talks about evacuating with a few clothes and a hula hoop. A hula hoop? Ummm, what the hell? She talks about a 2X4 that Obama autographed giving her hope. What, is Obama a saint now with relics? Will locks of his hair be preserved?

7:29: Katrina video. It was bad. Apparently, it’s more important at the moment to show Katrina videos than to do anything about Fay, or even reference it in any way. It’s actually the Jimmy Carter video on Habitat for Humanity. OK, that’s a good cause, partisanship aside. This is about the only area of Carter’s public life in the psat 30 years that isn’t completely embarrassing to Democrats.

7:33: And Carter comes out with his wife, looking pretty frail. He doesn’t even speak.

7:35: Video on Obama’s law school experience, as a student and speaking.

7:36: Obama’s half-sister Maya Soetoro-Ng is next. She talks a lot about growing up, and their mother. Barack took hher to street gairs and musicals when they were growing up. The scary thing is that she’s a better orator than most others who have spoken, at least in style. She talks about fulfilling the dreams of mothers and making the country strong.

7:42: Jesse Jackson Jr. is next. Starts out by referencing MLK and Johnson submitting the civil rights bill. His cadence is exactly the same as his father’s, just a little less pronounced. He talks about how people underestimated Obama’s run for Senate; if you analogized that to 2008, he would be saying that the Clinton supporter drastically underestimated him. Jackson talks about Obama campaigning across the state of Illinois, making ti sound a bit more diverse demographically than it really is. Echoes Obama’s 04 speech in that all of America is one, not divided. Says Obama will heal the wounds of the last eight years. Gets a rise out of the crowd. “Freedom has never rung from a higher mountaintop than it does today.”

7:50: Music interlude: Lenny Kravitz’ “Are you gonna go my way?” which was - honest to god - released in 1993. They have music literally from before the Republicans took control and then lost control of Congress. Seriously. You’d think they could come up with something newer than 15 years old.

7:54: Joe Biden in the house.

7:58: James Brown’s “Gonna Have a Funky Good Time” is next. Joe Biden lookslike he’s having the time of his life with Howard Dean.

8:00: The band is up against the giant screen, and lit to come across as if they are the equivalent of Mystery Science Theater. Or perhaps they want to invoke The Shadow. Who knows what bad melodies lie at the heart of democrats? The DNC house band knows!

8:02: Joe Biden completely freaks out his Secret Service protection. Biden was at the edge of one of the platforms and leaned down over the railing completely with both arms to give someone down below a great big bear hug, freaking the agent out and wondering how to grab him from behind without creating a scene or an instant McCain ad.

8:03: Homes for Our Troops video. Apparently, the democrats plan to solve all problems by building homes for everyone. That’s one way to get around the mortgage problem.

8:06: Mike and Cheryl Fisher from Indiana are speaking. Let’s find out who they are together. They met Barack Obama personally and he listened to their concerns. He’s a machinist for Amtrak. He compliments the Obamas on being regular people like them. He takes a shot at the McCain gas tax proposal, while conveniently omitting that Hillary Clinton made the exact same proposal. He wraps up quickly. I’ll save him from any further wrath since he kept it short and clearly was an amateur who was nervous.

8:09: SEIU Chicago President is next. More talk about what Obama did in Chicago. They’re really hammering that home, which is important because no one that needs to hear it is listening. Segues into an attack on McCain’s economic policies, where he abrubtly ends.

8:12: John Kerry and Teresa are on the floor. In his head, he’s here to be re-nominated.

8:15: Caroline Kennedy! We’re in the big time now. She says she is hear to pay tribute to both Obama and Ted Kennedy. She says that Obama inspires her the way her father inspired people, and that “Uncle Teddy” has been inspired too. She references Teddy’s “dream will never die” speech. Goes over a long list of his legislative accomplishments. He’s really going to go down as a important of a Senator as the likes of Webster or Calhoun. Maria Shriver is shown in the crowd. Caroline introduces the tribute video to Teddy, showing him sailing and emphasizing his connection to the sea. It’s a little condescending for John Kerry to talk about Kennedy with lines like “he likes the outside” though. That quickly segues into discussing his brothers, and a moral obligation to health care. Seriously, though, there’s a bunch of touching stories regarding Kennedy. including one where an inner-city girl read with him when she was young and eventually went to college and graduated. It’s humorous how Patrick Kennedy is portrayed in this video, just as a punchline.

8:29: And here he is! Massive applause, as you would expect. Maria Shriver is in tears. He says that nothing would keep him away tonight. He pledges to be there in January when Obama is sworn in. Wow. Teddy chant breaks out.  He gets so into the speech that you can see how much trouble he is having just to get through it. Most people - and I mean this - would give far less into a speech when in a condition like his. I didn’t expect a 5 minute speech; we’re over 6 minutes now and he’s still going. Kennedy wraps up with what will probably be a classic sequel: “the hope rises anew, and the dream lives on.” He’s not at his A game, but Teddy’s B game is way, way more powerful than a lot of other’s best. For someone who was iffy onspeaking, that was just a gutsy, gutsy performance, regardless of politics.

8:40: No one can follow that, so we’re in a music break.

8:43: If you want an alternative liveblog, checkout fivethirtyeight.com.

8:44: Video retrospective on Obama’s campaign for Senate, and getting the ethics bill passed. Claire McCaskill is in it.

8:45: True story from MSNBC: David Gregory wants to ask Teresa Heinz-Kerry a question, who is not mic’d and cannot hear him. So, naturally, he gets really close to her face and yells his question. She doesn’t take kindly to that. Way to go grab that MTP gig by the horns, Davey boy.

8:46: Who can follow Ted Kennedy? If you said Chicago City Clerk and former Illinois State Senator Miguel Del Valle, give yourself a high five. He laments having to follow Kennedy. He talks about knowing Obama since 1992. Somewhere, Bill Clinton is not listening to the 1992 election being analogized to now. He talks about what Obama did to help immigrants.

8:52: Candi Schmeider is out next, and says it is unlikely that she would be there. I still don’t know who she is. She says she works part time from home. She’s reading off the teleprompter way too fast for me to follow and write. She compliments his political book as being nonpolitical. Ahh, she became a precinct captain in Iowa for Obama. Now it makes sense. She says Obama inspired her to finish her degree and go into public service. She needs to slow down a bit on the speeches to do that. Otherwise, well done for a non-politico.

8:55: Jerry Kellman, who hired Obama to be a community activist in 1985, speaks. He talks about what Obama did on the streets. This is powerful biographical stuff that Obama should highlight; but in the shadow of Kennedy, it’s unlikely that it’ll get noticed at all. Everyone is still catching their breath. Also, Kellman is a very droll public speaker.

9:00: Sen. Tom Harkin from Iowa, who starts out giving a speech in sign language. Umm, OK. That quickly ends. Harkin is here to introduce former GOP Rep. Jim Leach. He gives a little bio on Leach, highlighting his bipartisanship.

9:03: Jim Leach talks about the need for a new ethic in Washington. This is very low-key, nothing like Zell Miller four years ago. Leach is very academic, highliting four major debates in American history. Leach highlights people like Vandenburg and Moynihan, and a number of presidents who took actions. Leach criticizes the GOP for gravitating to regulating values, undermining treaties, and having no fiscal discipline. This is terrifyingly bad. Someone is ripping the GOP in front of a room of hardcore Democrats and still can’t get a single applause line? Yeesh. No wonder the GOP is yawming over this speech. YAWN.

9:13: I hope Bill Clinton isn’t nearby. because Claire McCaskill’s kids are there to introduce her. (McCaskill in the past regarding Bill: I think he’s been a great leader but I don’t want my daughter near him.) Her son starts with their great-great grandmother. (Seriously.) The two girls just stand there and smile. That’ll get the Hillary people back on their side!

9:15: McCaskill takes the stage, and talks up Missouri. She quickly talks about how Obama’s story is America’s story. She also crticizes the Bush record on tax breaks for the rich. She highlights Obama’s support for equal pay for women, tax breaks for the middle class, and health care. The sell to women on the issues favors Obama. That’s his one big advantage going forward. She tells a story about her 80 year old mother G-chatting that no one over 30 will understand. Nate Silver: “And … it’s probably good that Claire McCaskill was not the VP nominee.”

9:23: Video introduction of Michelle narrated by her mother. The same general story I’ve heard a bunch of times covering the campaign, but it’s done pretty well.

9:29: Yes the video went six minutes. Craig Robinson, Michelle’s older brother and head basketball coach at Oregon State, is her to introduce her. Michelle has apparently memorized every single episode of the Brady Bunch. I’d have a witty remark, but I’ve never seen it. So, yeah. He mentions that Michelle wanted to dedicate her life in part to those who got picked on at school That must have looked better on paper. Robinson gives a basketball scouting report on Obama that’s a little too cute for me. Still, decent speech in whole.

9:35: Michelle takes the stage; I have one question: will NRO’s servers crash? You can see she’s a bit overwhelmed. She thanks her brother and mother for being there. She talks about her daughters being important, and her father dealing with MS. Compares her family to Barack’s, and talks about their family values. She’s avoiding the worst of the trite solipsisms or horribly abstract to the point of meaninglessness that she’s slid into in the past, but at the same time is nondescript. She talks about two anniversaries this week: women earning the right to vote and MLK’s dream speech. She talks about different types of families who work hard for something better; Obama has to define what that something better is, but this is a good start. She signals out Hillary Clinton for “18 million cracks in the glass ceiling” and Joe Biden for what he’s done. Nice shout out to HRC; very classy and in the right context. Says these various types of hope “is why [she] loves this country.” Talks about what she’s done in leaving her job at her law firm. (She’s doing well now, but that’s a fair point to raise.) She says Barack is running to end the war in Iraq responsibly, getting better health care, and providing better education. Matt Yglesias: “Why is Michelle Obama so much better at public speaking than all these professional politicians?” Angelo thinks it’s Barack coaching her a bunch, and I’d have to agree. She tears up a bit when she talks about her daughter being born. She ties themes from earlier in the speech - building the world as it should be, her father, and her daughters, into her final invocation asking for people to vote for him. Very good speech. Great execution, moderate level of difficulty.

9:55: Barack pops up on a little screen, live from KC. Their daughters repeatedly interrupt to say hello to him. It’s actually pretty funny. Few thngs are better than little kids around politics. I have no idea why. The bookending of the little girls when Carolin e Kennedy spoke earlier is interesting too.

That’s it for the DNC. We’ll be back soon to liveblog McCain on Leno. And all day tomorrow too.

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