It's official:  Nanacy Pelosi entered a motion to nominate Barack Obama by acclamation, it was seconded and carried. Discuss.

Time/CNN has just released new battelground polls and it shows good news for Obama!

Colorado:  McCain 47, Obama 46

Nevada:  Obama 49, McCain 44

New Mexico:  Obama 53, McCain 40

Pennsylvania:  Obama 48 McCain 44

http://www.time.com/...

Youtube video embed not working, watch here:
http://therealnews.com/...

I've read a few diaries complaining about the coverage of the Convention, and part of the criticism is the TV celebrities think it's all about them.  From what I saw, the celebrities reminded me of a pre-game or half time football show with Howie and Bradshaw.  There was no game, just their opinions and jokes about a game.

I'm no celebrity and I'm sure it comes with the territory.  It's a hard job, although it pays quite well.  And I like Olbermann and Maddow and a few others.  But I see a diary on the Rec list by Keith Olbermann about his issues with the NY Post.  Maybe on another day, it'd be all cool.  Hey, Keith's on our side.  And the NY Post sucks.

But today an African American will be nominated for President by a Party that prior to the Civil War accomodated slavery and, under Woodrow Wilson, segregated the civil service.  It's also a Party that fought in the 1960s to bring civil rights to all.

This is truly historic.  There should be diaries about Barack Obama on the Rec list.  It's his day.    

KO has a good correction to my title in the Update, which I adopted in part in the Updated version.

More, after the fold

What a loser.

Many of us are befuddled by the reggaeton star Daddy Yankee endorsing John McCain.  

Daddy Yankee has an assault charge, as well as realllly racy and disrespectful lyrics.  Meh. Mainstream hip hop pretty much.

But even more befuddling is the fact that the McCain campaign is embracing his endorsement, when they cried super foul at Ludacris and his support for Barack Obama.

Comedy. After spending the first two days of convention coverage obsessing over the non-existent PUMA onslaught and Party disunity that doesn't exist, the media now tell us that:

Democrats to Shift Focus From Clinton to Economy

In case your were wondering, it appears as though Barack Obama is totally fed up with the mainstream media right along with us.   Last night while watching the convention, he even switched the station from MSNBC to CSPAN.  Barack's asking us to do something unprecedented in Presidential elections--to target (read:  boycott) the media.

I found the official boycott form on his website just now.   You can send it out in 3-4 quick clicks of your mouse.  The link is below and includes a sample letter provided by the campaign.  You can tweak it to your liking if you have the time or just leave it.

On Monday, I tried to get some writing done, but it was impossible -- between media interviews, saying "hello" to cool bloggers and citizen media mavens from all over the country, doing panels, greeting visiting dignitaries, and catching up with people from progressive groups, it was impossible to get much work done.

So I was a bit frustrated.

Today I was in a better frame of mind: there was no way I was going to write during the day, so why pretend? I did more of that stuff above, and actually enjoyed it this time. I decided it wasn't going to take away from my work, but it would be my work. And when everyone cut out to the parties, I would instead head back to the hotel and do the other part of my job -- writing.

Since I don't have a twitter account, I'll collect some random thoughts in this post:

• The tradmed crawling around the Big Tent are asking the same stupid questions they asked in 2004. You'd think they would learned a thing or two the last four years and updated their list of questions. It was depressing that some of the best questions I've gotten have come from foreign reporters.
• The tradmed may be obnoxious, but lots of cool people trotting around inexpensive video gear to put up on their vlogs. Cheap technology and YouTube are wonderful, wonderful things.
• Free all-you-can-drink New Belgium beer at the Big Tent rocks. On Monday, I was all over the Fat Tire. Today I went with the Sunshine Wheat. Damn I love wheat beers, a result of living in German three years. Yum.
• Atrios is right: for all the bitching news media do about the lack of news at conventions, they all still insist on showing up. Is it the parties? Probably. Because they're not really needed.
• If it wasn't for the news media at the convention, bloggers would have far less to write about.
• It has been surprising, on the other hand, seeing how many print journalists are now trotting out video cameras for their papers' websites. We truly are headed to a world were the distinction between "print" and "broadcast" will erase.
• I did a panel today organized by the Hispanic Institute and The Common Good. On the panel, moderated by MSNBC's Dan Abrams, was me, Gov. Bill Richardson, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Harold Ford, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (NY), Tucker Carlson, DeeDee Myers, Faye Wattleton, and Newsweek's Richard Wolffe.
• I was wearing jeans, t-shirt, and sports jacket. I wore a button-down shirt on Monday, but it's too freakin' hot for those. So Tuesday I went with the more casual look. When I arrived, the other panelists were dressed professionally, as is usually the case. I get a kick being the most comfortably dressed person at these kinds of events. It reminds me how lucky I am to do what I do for a living.

  Harold Ford shows up right before the start of the convention, and he's wearing jeans (though with a button down shirt). I'm surprised. He always dresses super smart, tailored suits and all. So I point to the jeans as Abrams opens up the panel and whisper, "what's with those, I'm usually the only one with jeans." He whispers back, "I learned this look from you." I laugh politely. He looks at me seriously, "No, I really got this look from you." I wish I was as persuasive with my politics...

• Bill Richardson answered the first question, then disappeared. I get that some of these VIPs are busy people, but that seemed a bit weird.
• Don't tell my wife, but I've got a crush on Amy Klobuchar. I suddenly want to move to Minnesota. She also stuck around the whole time.
• Tucker Carlson did the typical "concern troll" thing, claiming that Obama would win if only he made eliminating affirmative action a top item on his agenda and campaigned on it. We all laughed at him.

  When I was addressed by Abrams a few questions later, I prefaced the answer to that question with a quick aside: Never trust Republicans bearing advice to Democrats, because they don't have our best interests in mind. The crowd was appreciative and cheered. Carlson fumed: "how open minded", as if being "open minded" meant taking electoral advice from the guys trying to defeat us in an election. What a tool.

• Klobuchar followed up with a suggestion that the panel vote Tucker off the panel, just like he had been voted off Dancing with the Stars. Did I mention I have a crush on her?
• An audience member asked why the media was obsessed about the Hillary/Obama supposed conflict. Dan Abrams fielded the question and said it was legitimate issue, and that they stood by it, and that since McCain was running ads on it, they couldn't offer good political coverage and ignore it.

  I jumped in (paraphrasing), "McCain has three ads on the theme, you've featured them all, yet their campaign is only actually airing one of them. You are doing the campaign's dirty work, and doing it for free!" The crowd approved.

  Abrams, suddenly under siege, admitted that was a valid critique.

• The crowd also liked the pin I was wearing. Printed up on Monday by Netroots Nation's Nolan Treadway (with help from others?) it says: "Ask me how many houses I own". (Christy took a picture of it.)
• So someone then asked me how many houses I owned. I think I calculated it at three percent of a house. The bank owns the other 97 percent.
• After the event, I was interviewed by a couple of adorable high school students. They asked me what the top three issues for kids should be. I answered 1) cost of higher education, 2) lack of jobs for graduates, 3) McCain talking about a draft, and 4) national service for all high school grads. Yeah, that's four, and yeah, I know some people don't like the idea of mandatory national service.

  I also told them that kids today are better able to integrate their politics into their lives thanks to social networking tools. That makes them more socially aware, more engaged, more tolerant, and more progressive than perhaps any generation before them. I dig the millennials.

• Back at the Big Tent, got to say "hello" to Ned Lamont and Rep. John Hall. Sen. Salazar passed through, pleased as heck that the convention was happening in his home state. Clay Johnson Aikens (not the American Idol guy) of the Sunlight Foundation and I lobbied him on electronic filing for Senate fundraising reports (which presidential and House candidates must do, but the Senate is oddly exempt), and promised to sign on as a co-sponsor to the relevant legislation. I can't believe that legislation is even controversial, but Republican John Ensign has been trying to kill it with a poison pill amendment.
• I wouldn't say Warner did terrible, but it's not good for anyone to come before or after Brian Schweitzer. I'm quite pleased his national profile is rising. He's the face of the Democratic resurgence in the Mountain West.
• But rising to the occasion, Hillary Clinton was perfect. I'm quite convinced she would've been our nominee had she voted against Bush war in Iraq, and she would've been a great nominee. .
• A stole a glimpse at the Cubs-Pirates score. Cubs won! But uh oh, Zambrano got hammered again. Like a good Cubs fan, I'm starting to panic. See? There's little difference between Cubs fans and Democrats. Neither of us are used to winning. And one bad poll/bad outing by your star pitcher, and we start assuming the worst.
• Back to Clinton, did you notice that she wore a Daily Kos-orange outfit? A signal to the PUMAs that their gig was up? Well, she could beat them with a 2x4 and they still wouldn't get the message because it ceased being about Clinton a long time ago...

  I am jealous that women politicians get to be creative in their outfits and use color. I love color. I loved Pelosi's minty green outfit at Netroots Nation. Guys, on the other hand, don't have such flexibility. My own readers panned me when I wore an orange tie on Meet the Press (they didn't like the brown sports jacket either). I cried for days. Either that or I said "Fuck all of you!" I can't remember which it was.

• I hadn't had a chance until late last night to peruse the chatter in the comment threads, and I'm surprised at how many whiners there are about the convention. I think it's been great. Monday night was awesome. Tuesday night was also awesome. I can't predict if Wednesday and Thursday will be awesome, but I'll go out on a limb and predict that yes, they'll be awesome too. (Sadly, that last sentence is better than 98 percent of the political "analysis" offered on television.)
• I could be in better spirits because I don't have to hear the yakkity yaks blabbing away incessantly, talking over speeches like Brian Schweitzer. Damn they love the sound of their own voices. Could they please shut the fuck up and let people digest the proceedings on their own? Do they have so little regard for their audience that they think people need DC- and NYC-based blowhards to tell them what to think?

  And yes, the simple answer is "yes".  

• I listened in briefly to a cop and some convention goers having a nice chat as we tried to get a cab to the hotel. He was saying how uneventful the convention had been, how well-behaved protesters had been, and how everything appeared to be going nice and smooth. Knock on wood, I suppose. I don't know how the TV blowhards have been portraying that stuff, but from my vantage point, it's been quite civil and -- dare I say it? -- even tame.

Maybe I should get a Twitter account, huh?

i'm an anarchist, a democrat, a mystic and a kossack.  these are sometimes hard to reconcile... this (first!) diary of mine is an attempt to discuss the complexities of navigating these (superficially) opposed agendas.

so i've promised this post for a while (over at my blog), but it is in no way an attempt to decisively determine the right or wrong in this topic...

WHAT DO THE ANARCHISTS WANT THIS ELECTION CYCLE?

first off, the anarchists are no monolithic block, and there are always differences of opinions.  but make no mistake.  there are a lot of anarchists who are decidedly against the democrats and are disinterested in voting.  some are protesting the convention.

New York senator Hillary Clinton's speech Aug.26, 2008 at the Democratic National Convention in Denver was a classic political speech, in that she threaded the needle between those clamoring for her to support Obama, and those clamoring for her to stay true to her campaign.

I'm an Obama supporter, and I didn't feel like Hillary needed to apologize, not at all. I'm also realistic in understanding that Obama will never get a ringing endorsement from her. What he needed was for her to try and move her supporters over to Obama's column, and she did what she had to do. Will they move over? It's up to them, but she did what she had to do.

We REALLY need to bring down the Rethug presidential nominee John McNicotine.  The only way to fight back against his attacks on Obama is to attack his qualifications for the presidency.  Kerry should have done that against Bush.  Well, as long as the Rethugs insist on telling lies about our nominees, we need to spread the truth about theirs.

Maybe I am dead wrong, but after watching Hillary Clinton's speech last night, it brought me back to reality. It made it crystal clear the reason why I support Barack Obama.
All the hype lately and all the hoopla about the Conventions have made me lose sight of why I choose to support Obama. I am not criticizing Hillary's speech, it was a good speech, but it was a political speech, just like so many speeches that have come before.
There were those who criticized Mark Warner and his Keynote speech, but I loved it, Warner's speech was, I think, what the whole Obama campaign stands for. Yeah, we are Democrats, but we need to be post partisan, it is imperative that we all work together, not only for the future of America, but for the future of the world.

She did it.  She said what needed to be said (mostly).   Hillary Clinton not only declared her support for Barack Obama's candidacy for president--"Barack Obama is my candidate. And he must be our President"--she implored her people to do likewise.  It was, by most accounts, a very good speech, and one that will likely aussuage many of her supporters to accept the fact that her "inevitable" candidacy would not be successful, no matter how hard they hope for it, and no matter how stridently they declare their support for her.  

But is what Clinton said last night going to be enough?  Is it going to be enough to change the media narrative in sufficient enough degree to quell the dissent that the media appear hellbent to foment for the sake of a story?  Knowing the way corporate media love to drive sentitments, rather than reflect them, the clear answer to that question "No."

She needs to do more.

I wrote a snarky convention diary yesterday which drew a little return fire, which was mostly meaningless one liners. You are a dickhead etc. It did not accomplish the purpose of starting a discussion of why we support Obama and why we believe in him other than he is a democrat and we have no choice.

Look, ummm, I don't know how we let the Republicans throw the "un-PC" tag at us whenever someone suggests anything about John McCain's age.  But the fact of the matter is this: there IS such a thing as too old to be President.  Your cognitive abilities DO deteriorate with age.  This is scientific FACT (this, by the way, is also why we need term limits in the United States Senate).  It hits at a different age for different people, but when you can't answer "How many houses do you have?", you have crossed that threshold.

I spent some time this evening watching the Democratic National Convention in Denver. I saw Hillary's powerful speech and thought she did a very good job of pointing out to her supporters that the worst thing they could do with their bitterness regarding her loss is to turn it into a vote for McCain.

Those are my words, of course, but she made that point very clearly. She made a number of other ones, and had some catchy slogans. That's not the point of this diary. Here I'm trying to make a simple point.

Time to get back to the business of endlessly pointing out just how wrong John McCain is on foreign policy.

Ya'll remember the SURGE, don't you?  You know the tactic that McMilitary single-handedly forced the Bush Administration into.  He has that much power and creds at The White House, you know.  The man is a walking marvel.

Well, it seems that one of McPander's three people he would call on if he were pResident (and possible Veep shortlister, yeah right) Gen. David Petraeus simply will not say that the progress in Iraq was due solely to the SURGE.  Did Petraeus mention the Anbar Awakening?  Why, yes, children he did.  The one that occurred before the SURGE?  Right again.

Please come along for some pie (in Johnny's face)

That's the headline of a Gallup Poll released today.

Of course, this isn't true.  Obama will cut the taxes of over 95% of American families and only reverse the Bush cuts for the top 1%.  Figure out your own Obama Tax Cut here: http://alchemytoday.com/...

If you're feeling generous, donate your Obama Tax Cut back to the campaign.