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Looking Ahead to Barack Obama's Big Speech Tonight
Tweet Share on Facebook August 28, 2008 Comment (1)DENVER—Here are a couple of good curtain-raisers on tonight's big speech from The Denver Post and Bloomberg (and I don't say they're good just because they quote the author of White House Ghosts). And of course I commend you to Jack's take as well.
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Barack Obama's Mission: Show Some Heart
Tweet Share on Facebook August 28, 2008 Comment (2)The candidate of cool has a cardinal mission when he accepts the Democratic Party's nomination for president before a cheering stadium crowd tonight.
Barack Obama has completed his arduous conquest of Democratic hearts; now he needs to reveal his own.
That's what I'm reporting in The Denver Post in the morning.
As Obama prepares to take the stage, Americans are telling pollsters two things. They are ready for change, but unsure of the course he wants to steer. They don't know what moves him, and they don't know that he understands and cares about their lives.
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A Good Roman Emperor
Tweet Share on Facebook August 28, 2008 Comment (6)Notice to all ancient history buffs! The head of a once 15-foot-tall statue of Marcus Aurelius, one of the earlier Roman emperors, has been discovered in Turkey.
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Biden's Speech Was Pretty Standard and Uninspiring
Tweet Share on Facebook August 28, 2008 Comment (13)At 8:18 p.m. MDT, by my watch, the Democratic National Convention nominated Joseph R. Biden Jr. as its vice presidential candidate. Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that Biden had accepted the nomination, had been asked to give an acceptance speech, and had agreed to do so: an observation of the formal rules of the convention, which are based on the rules of the House of Representatives, which I am told are the most complex parliamentary rules in the world.
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The Democratic National Infomercial—What's the Point?
Tweet Share on Facebook August 27, 2008 Comment (8)DENVER—It's national security night here at the Democratic Convention. As we've sat here in the Pepsi Center (if you're facing the podium, we're behind and to the right, giving us an obscured view of the back left quarter of the speaker's head), various Democratic senators and ex-senators—Jack Reed, Evan Bayh, Tom Daschle, etc.—have been trotted out to explain why John McCain's America would be dangerous, while the United States of Obama would be a shining beacon of security and freedom.
As each man spoke, their amplified voice was not quite matched by the hum of conversation as delegates chatted on the floor. And it made me wonder: Do we really need conventions?
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Bill Clinton's Speech—By the Numbers, Sticking to the Plan
Tweet Share on Facebook August 27, 2008 Comment (9)DENVER—Bill Clinton used to make his speechwriters crazy with his willingness and ability to ad lib speeches. When I was writing my book on presidential speechwriters, some told me how they could tell when he was not engaged with a speech text: He would either give it as written or toss it out completely. A Clinton engaged would use the written speech as a starting point or a framework. He would riff, rewrite as he spoke—truly remarkable.
Make of it what you will, but Bill Clinton ad-libbed very little this evening.
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Bill Clinton and 'Addicted to Love,' Really?
Tweet Share on Facebook August 27, 2008 Comment (16)DENVER—Bill Clinton just gave a rousing speech at the Democratic National Convention. He entered the stage to several minutes of cheering and went 10.33 minutes over his allotted time (I lost my office competition, I guessed he'd go 7 minutes over). Plenty will be written on the substance of the speech later, but someone who apparently doesn't have a keen sense of irony chose to play him off the stage with "Addicted to Love" by Robert Palmer.
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Veepstakes: Lieberman Watch
Tweet Share on Facebook August 27, 2008 Comment (1)Robert Novak writes that John McCain has received a stern warning against tapping Joe Lieberman as his number two. The word of caution came, Novak writes, from...Joe Lieberman. And he's apparently in disagreement with McCain's top strategists, who want Holy Joe.
Meanwhile, Jimmy P. at the DNC reports that it will not be Romney. Stay tuned.
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Obama, King, and the 'Greek Temple'
Tweet Share on Facebook August 27, 2008 Comment (9)DENVER—I haven't seen the already-mythical "Greek temple" from which Barack Obama will give his Mile High sermon Thursday night, but I suspect that—in spite of all the conservative hyperventilating—Josh Marshall is correct: On the 45th anniversary of "I have a dream," Obama's campaign is likely trying to evoke the Lincoln Memorial. (When I suggested this to Barone, he started rattling off the number of columns the memorial has—another reason why I love this job.)
Of course if Barack starts hurling lightning bolts, I'll stand corrected.
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The Scarlet Letter—L for Lobbyist
Tweet Share on Facebook August 27, 2008 CommentDENVER—There's a lot of chum floating around convention land, from the mini-bottles of Hogan & Harston antibacterial hand sanitizing gel to DNC water bottles to Lifetime network baseball caps to the assorted Obama T-shirts and Colorado shot glasses. But a particularly-sought prize (at least in some quarters) is the dreaded "Scarlet L." As in lobbyist.
