“It did go well,” David Carr writes in the New York Times, “give or take a chronic shortage of cabs, complaints from protesters about penning in free speech, and a memorable exit from Invesco Field that resembled the panicked abandonment of a very large ship. (‘Yes we can,’ shouted people over protesting police officers as they pushed down fences to escape.)”
Carr also notes that The Daily Show has put up a billboard near the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport that says “Welcome, Rich White Oligarchs.”
TIM: They didn’t even bother airing Jimmy Carter’s film about the state of New Orleans on the third anniversary of Katrina. The ex-president in prime time documenting this horror is less newsworthy than Pat Buchanan repeating what he’s been saying every day for weeks?
STEVE: I saw Junior speaking on a couple channels. He’s really good. I wish he were running!
TIM: “In our family he’s known as ‘Uncle Teddy.’And in Emil Jones’s family he’s known as… But I kid!”
*
TIM: Odd – “Still the One” was Clinton’s (er,”Stanton’s”) campaign theme in Primary Colors.
STEVE: The Bob Seger song or the Shania Twain song?
TIM: C’mon, it’s Orleans! Michael Berube said another of their tunes (“Dance with Me”) is the ultimate paradoxical tune because it’s impossible to dance to!
*
TIM: I’m programming a macro that types “booooooorrrrrrring” with one keystroke.
“Blagojevich joked with reporters at the Illinois State Fair on Saturday, deadpanning that he is booked to speak at four in morning in a men’s room at Denver’s Colorado Convention Center,” AP reports.
Actually, Blago is scheduled to speak from 4:12 to 4:13 a.m in a men’s room in Idaho, which will be wired by the feds in case he incriminates himself.
Help keep her on the trail for more great moments like the Barack Obama butterhead and John Edwards telling her that a great leader is “someone who is honest and very open” and that “America wants to feel like they can trust their president.”
“Every four years, the Democratic Party assembles a platform that outlines the party’s position on a number of issues,” the latest e-mail to supporters from Obama HQ says. “Traditionally, the drafting of the platform is not open to ordinary people. This year, that’s going to change.
“For two weeks in July, people all across America will hold Platform Meetings in their own communities to discuss the issues and share their input. The outcome of these meetings will be reviewed by the Drafting Committee as it creates the final Platform.”
So, in other words, anyone who wants to forward ideas to the platform-writers can, just like the old days!
This is another brilliant marketing move, but packaging change is different than actually enacting it. Nothing of consequence will appear in the party’s platform as a result of these meetings that otherwise wouldn’t. But it’s a nice, if empty, organizing tool that creates the appearance of engagement while party insiders do their thing.
In an e-mail sent to supporters, campaign manager David Plouffe reveals today that Barack Obama will forego the usual convention hall acceptance speech for an open-air event in Denver.
Why?
“Barack has made it clear that this is your convention, not his.”
Oh. I was guessing the stunning visuals.
“It’s going to be an amazing event, and Barack would like you to join him.”
Really? Me?
“If you make a donation of $5 or more between now and midnight on July 31st, you could be one of 10 supporters chosen to fly to Denver and spend two days and nights at the convention, meet Barack backstage, and watch his acceptance speech in person. Each of the ten supporters who are selected will be able to bring one guest to join them.”
Division Street is NBC Chicago’s blog about Chicago news and politics from the perspective of Steve Rhodes, a 20-year veteran of the newspaper and magazine world and more recently, the proprietor of the Chicago news and culture review, The Beachwood Reporter.
“Every four years, the Democratic Party assembles a platform that outlines the party’s position on a number of issues,” the latest e-mail to supporters from Obama HQ says. “Traditionally, the drafting of the platform is not open to ordinary people. This year, that’s going to change.
In an e-mail sent to supporters, campaign manager David Plouffe reveals today that Barack Obama will forego the usual convention hall acceptance speech for an open-air event in Denver.
