Three days down, one to go, and so far it's looking pretty good.  The Democrats had a few minefields to avoid in the convention - they had to defuse the infighting, get people excited for November, knock down McCain a few pegs, and do a good job presenting Obama to the people just tuning in.  So far so good.  There's still one more task to do tonight, but at least it plays to our strengths.  Barring an incredible choke, Obama should be able to deliver a good speech.

How do we know that the convention has been going well (and yes, I'm knocking on wood every time I type that)?  What issues are the conservative bloggers trying to raise?  They can't bring up riots or PUMAs or anything other than that the half built scaffolding looks a little pretentious.  Well as long as you don't look at the Republican VA convention or Bush in 2004.  That's all they have right now.

Meanwhile, McCain has his own crisis going on.  He has to try to find a way of getting his base to unite behind him while keeping the maverick image.  The VP issue is a huge problem for him to work around.  In a fun role reversal, Republicans are suddenly scared about the image they're presenting, "Sources also tell me that Karl Rove and other Bush White House operatives continue to push hard for Romney. But one wag told me there's a housing problem: Governor Romney has five; Sen. McCain and his wife have seven."  The housing silliness might end up causing McCain to irritate his base.  Good job there with pushing that.

Meanwhile, it sounds like the PUMAs might be doing some good, tempting McCain into a base annoying Hutchinson pick because he thinks that he has a shot of picking up most of Clinton's votes.  This is what happens when you don't understand the Internet.  You can fall for your own trolling.

The Republicans have a tough challenge next week.   Bush has to pass the torch to McCain to appease their base but if he's too blatant about it, he'll piss off everyone else.  Moreover, there's going to be a difference in viewer interest.  The Republicans really have a two day convention at most.  Their convention is going to open on Labor Day and the people who aren't busy barbecuing and drinking are likely to be more concerned with Gustav than watching Dick Cheney.  It could be the worst case scenario where the only ones watching are Democratic operatives who are looking for advertisement material.  Meanwhile Thursday is the opening of the NFL season.  Even if people turn in after the game to see the keynote (talk about an adrenaline drop off from the NFL to McCain), all of the buildup will be ignored.  

I'm not overconfident by any means.  I'm both a Democrat and a Seattle sports fan so I'm always waiting for the disaster to happen.  However, barring something horrible tonight, we accomplished our task incredibly well.  Now it's the Republican's turn.  

Well, it's official that John McCain wins biggest asshole of the 2008 campaign. He won't announce his VP tonight, but he will "leak" it to the media late tonight. Keeps getting more desperate, huh? First we hear that he might wait to announce until after the DNC convention to kill the Dems' bounce. Then we hear that he will announce it the morning after. Now he's leaking it the day of Obama's speech.

Fine.

It's now OUR job to find out who it is and beat the hell out of this story to get it noticed. I'm sure other reporters are on the job, but most of them are probably in Denver. If anybody hears anything, let's pound the drum until we get heard.

One person at Kos thinks it's Rob Portman based on speaking locations, but I think we can infer from Obama's schedule that that doesn't mean anything. Someone at Kos said that their uncle told them that his security company was notified to expect Secret Service backup for Ms. Hutchison. I have to admit, I give McCain credit for actually picking a woman. It's a complete and total pander, of course, but kudos to him if it's true. Anyone near that area? Anyone wanna help me call CNN to ask where the house cameras are?

Quick question: Would older female voters vote for McCain, who opposes women's rights in most forms, simply because he picked a 65 year old female VP that he knows full well probably has no chance of ever making it to President? I suppose anything's possible, but I'd actually like to hear from the Obama haters on this one. I'd like to see them justify that stance.

EDIT: Thinking about it, if anyone is in a position to do so, why not float that it's the pick anyway? At worst, it just puts McCain on defense and makes him look worse if he picks Pawlenty or Portman.

Having observed the disconcerting willingness of the mainstream media to play along with the McCain campaign's aggressive attempts to undermine Obama's presumed fitness to lead the nation as Commander-in-Chief in recent weeks it seems we may have reached a turning point.  For quite some time the media has agreeably aired tendentious narratives with a very 'Gee whiz' insouciance as to the actual content, not to mention replaying videos purported to be 'campaign ads' which ran in very limited broadcast markets but received millions of dollars of free exposure with cable and broadcast news audiences.  One wondered how long this would continue and now perhaps there is a sign of some reluctance to doltishly play along.

Consider today's piece from Jake Tapper, no Obama loyalist, to say the least, on the McCain campaign's most recent effort (emphasis added throughout):

We, in the media, have given a lot of airtime to the TV ads of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., this week, starring, as they do, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.

There's been evidence emerging that McCain's campaign isn't really running these ads anywhere, according to the Campaign Media Analysis Group.

"These were basically video press releases," CMAG's Evan Tracey tells the Wall Street Journal.

OK, so that's kind of dishonest of the McCain campaign.

Jake Tapper - Did Obama Say Iran Is a 'Tiny' Country That 'Doesn't Pose a Serious Threat'? ABC 27 Aug 08

OK, there's a self-evident piece of punditry for a start.  Only about eight weeks too late, but never mind.  Second thoughts but no contrition on the part of the national media, but you get that.  But it gets better:

Today's new McCain ad -- "Tiny," which you can watch HERE -- crosses a new line into dishonesty, however, beyond whether or not it's actually airing anywhere.

The script reads: "Iran. Radical Islamic government. Known sponsors of terrorism. Developing nuclear capabilities to 'generate power' but threatening to eliminate Israel.

"Obama says Iran is a 'tiny' country, 'doesn't pose a serious threat,'" the ad continues. "Terrorism, destroying Israel, those aren't 'serious threats'? Obama -- dangerously unprepared to be president."

This is a dishonest representation of Obama's words.

Jake Tapper - Did Obama Say Iran Is a 'Tiny' Country That 'Doesn't Pose a Serious Threat'? ABC 27 Aug 08

Huh?  Did one read that correctly?  You bet.  I wonder if we are turning a little corner here, every little bit helps.  Jake Tapper continues, impressively, with a full quotation of Obama's original comments in his article and provides a video link as well, which you can see here.  Ironically, it's really worth watching.  And his conclusion?:

That is not even close to Obama saying Iran is a "tiny" country that "doesn't pose a serious threat."

Not even close.

Jake Tapper - Did Obama Say Iran Is a 'Tiny' Country That 'Doesn't Pose a Serious Threat'? ABC 27 Aug 08

Wow.  Simple, straightforward and unequivocal demolition of the McCain campaign's 'video press release' at first point-of-contact.  Bet they think twice about trying that again.  And let's hope this is an indication that the 'honeymoon' is over and the media, at least the print media, has woken up to the fact that they are being played like a violin by someone with a tin ear.

Incidentally, one usually includes a feedback link when the media drops a clanger so it seems only fair to provide one when they are actually doing their jobs, and let's hope to see more of the same for many cycles to come.  You may contact ABC here and show your support for genuine journalism.

One of MYDD's most notorious HR abusing trolls has returned, posting a diary begging forgiveness for it's trollish behavior.

Some weeks ago this poster left MYDD after begging and pleading in emails for everyone to leave MYDD for it's new blog (where it hoped to cash in on the election fever).  You all know of whom i speak.  It was a well-known HR abuser.  

When the mods refused to ban Clinton supporters from MYDD it left to make a new blog, and enticed others to leave here and join it (I know, I got one of it's emails begging me to leave MYDD).

Now that it's new blog has failed it has come crawling back here.  It started with a diary (which it swore it would never write here again) admitting that it was a troll all along.

For instance:

"I've spent the last two or three months demonizing and vilifying the people around here who said they couldn't or wouldn't vote for Obama"

Yes you have.  You have consistently demonized anyone who didn't agree with you.  It's nice to see you admitting your trolldom.

"I've claimed that none of them were true Democrats and said their motivations were purely self-centered. I've called them fools and Republicans. I've even called some of them racists."

Yes you have called many folks racist. It was your standard demonizing trick.  You should be ashamed.

"This is a site dedicated to electing Democrats"

This site is none of your concern.  You left here in a huff to start your own blog.  Again, I alert the mods to the fact that you tried to get people to leave here to join you (against MYDD terms of service).

To anyone concerned, here is a portion of the email it was sending around.

""I can't make the decision of what to tell people. We aren't entirely set up anyway. ...I can tell  you that anyone who visits the new blog, will be posting under a relatively strict set of guidelines. The MyDD troll fest is the reason we're doing this in the first place, and people will be banned for any sort of trolling.""

Yes and you broke MYDD rules by trying to lure people away from here.

MODS, be advised that this troll will only continue to attack people who disagree with it, HR abusing them and enticing others to do the same.

It is a deceitful, treacherous thing.  It lives under a bridge and lives only to pounce on the unsuspecting.

"Well. I'm here to issue an apology."

Apology refused.  Go back to your amateur blog that no one visits.  You've burned your bridges here.

"News Sites Love McCain...."
McCain has a 3 to 1 advantage on MSM sites: ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox!
* (See extended entry for reference)

HELP ACT, Please. YOU ARE NEEDED! Stop blogging to the converted. Obama is getting slandered with no rebuttals on USA Today! It seems like 10:1  ! So much so that folks are saying "where are the Obama supporters?".
http://www.usatoday.com/politics

Your comment can be one click away from 12 Million plus unique eyeballs a month!
Look for articles with 10 or less comments then you can be seen with the article forever!
McCain dominates on these sites too. It looks like no one supports Obama!
http://cbsnews.com
http://abcnews.com
Stop Blogging to the Converted!

The "Delegate Counter" has been an anachronism for two months. Can't you ship it off to NO QUARTER or some other crappy PUMA site. This horse has been dead for a long, long time.

Trust me. It's over! Let's move on, already. Hillary really wants you to do this.

OK.

We are past the primary.
We are past the nomination.
We are past the VP selection.
The Clintons have given great speeches.
Love and admiration has been shown towards both Hillary and Bill.

This is it.

In 1976, I unfortunately didn't have the chance to watch Barbara Jordan's Keynote Speech to the Democratic Convention in New York (I think I was at work). I do remember hearing and reading about her landmark speech. Jordan was the first Black Woman to give the keynote address to a national convention of a major American political party. Like the Gettysburg Address Barbara Jordan's 1976 Keynote Address will stand out in American History as one of great speeches. Barbara Jordan's visionary Keynote Address stands the test of time and sounds just as relevant today as it did in 32 years ago at the Democratic Convention that nominated Jimmy Carter.