• Momentum has finally pushed the Democratic Convention into high gear, with last night’s knockout speeches from Bill Clinton and Joe Biden and the painless roll call vote framing what the new Dem storyline will be coming out of Denver: The party is publicly unified, Barack Obama is prepared to be commander-in-chief, and that opposition to John McCain will be much more fierce and consistent (”More of the same!”) than anything we’ve seen since the end of the primary. What some perceived as a shaky beginning on Monday has suddenly shifted to become as good of a convention as the Obama campaign could hope for. This week in Colorado may end up meaning nothing to voters. McCain could blow folks away with a surprise Veep and continue punching Obama over the celebrity factor. But nothing that happened at the DNC (so far) will be blamed for any potential troubles ahead for the campaign or future defeat for Obama. And the Clintons are finally off the hook (again, so far). Will we all now stop lavishing them with more coverage than the Dem nominee and McCain combined?
  • Embarrassing and potentially devastating verbal gaffes are always possible come October or some other date, but Joe Biden has already proved that can at least be a solid attack dog for Obama and will have no second thoughts about taking on his friend John McCain during this election. His headliner speech was surely overshadowed by Bill Clinton’s rock star moment earlier, but Biden still managed to put together a speech that all running mates are expected to give; something that hammers the opponent while also laying out an emotional personal background story that ties in to the greater theme of the ticket. Biden did that on Wednesday. He occasionally hearkened to the broad, more grandiose themes of the Obama campaign- just to show that he could do it, but his real talent was in presenting a tough and feisty shell for himself and the campaign, sprinkling in some of his favorite Scranton/working-class sayings in making it clear that McCain will be hit hard. Joe Biden is performing as advertised.
  • All attention now focuses on Obama’s acceptance speech at Mile High tonight, the crescendo of the convention and the first event in this campaign that has the power to dramatically affect the outcome (no, not the VP pick). The debates are more important simply because there are three of them and they’re still ahead of us, but tonight’s speech provides Obama the chance to set the tone for the rest of the campaign and lay out that desperately needed retooled vision that his campaign has been pushing so hard. The esteemed Dan Balz writes that Obama must cut the cord on McCain’s “celebrity” attack theme  - and face head-on the similar concerns of swing voters - by making the case that this election is less about him and more about the general idea and ideals of change and turning the tide on the ills sapping the country’s strength (voters buy that). That specific tone could also be digested as bordering on arrogance - more of the “symbol” talk opens doors for negative ads. General consensus on the speech is that it has to lay out a good contrast between Obama and McCain while also presenting the Dem nominee as someone who has been humbled by the campaign and is ready to lead with others - not to simply lead others.
  • Plenty of mixed signals on the McCain Veepstakes front. After a half-week in which McCain himself admitted that he had settled on a running mate and then his campaign concurred anonymously, and a week when the date for the Veep announcement was pushed up and then back and then back again, (whew…) we have more confusion on the matter thanks to the good Senator. Asked about some insider buzz that an event in Pennsylvania this Saturday that features McCain along with Ridge and Romney is proof that one of them is his final choice, McCain casually remarked that he didn’t know the answer because “I haven’t decided yet.” So know JMac backtracks and either lies or admits that he doesn’t have a Veep. This no doubt fuels speculation that Joe Lieberman is the real target and that the campaign is working behind the scenes to calm down evangelicals who are sure to be enraged if Joe is the pick. And now we hear that n announcement tomorrow is again the plan. Talk about a roller coaster…
  • Take this for what it’s worth: Tim Pawlenty, long a Veep contender but recently pushed off the media’s short list for McCain, has been one of the more vocal GOP first responders on the ground at the Dem convention in Denver this week. He has personally appeared at press conferences and on TV multiple times to do rapid response opposing the latest “outrage” coming from the Pepsi Center. He has been especially harsh on Obama himself and the Clinton storyline, calling Obama “weak” and the Clintons “hypocrites.” Too late for this audition to make a difference?
  • More proof that McCain has a dangerous enthusiasm gap with the Democrats comes in the form of reports that the GOP nominee’s mega-rally (well, it was supposed to be) in Dayton, Ohio tomorrow - where he may unveil his running mate - is far from sold out and that the campaign has been forced to drop off thousands of tickets for free distribution at local GOP offices and, some reports say, they are even handing them out on the streets.
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