The GOP and it's leading spokespersons (well, Rush Limbaugh, but if it's all you got...) are all ready to make a huge fuss over the stage at Denver's Invesco Field.

Apparently there are columns in the backdrop.  Oh my.

What kind of hubris it would be to use columns in the background of a US electorial speech?  How assuming, how arrogant, gosh, how un-American can you get?!?

Here's a sneak preview:

Most of you are familiar with Godwin's Law, the notion that if you rely on Hitler or Nazi comparisons in a debate, you automatically lose that debate.

The general election has brought us The POW. The POW is used frequently by the McCain camp and Republicans to deflect from valid criticism of John McCain's politics and policies:

When the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, a close Bush ally, publicly questioned McCain’s marital infidelities, the McCain campaign responded by highlighting McCain’s background as a prisoner of war.

When Dems attacked McCain’s healthcare plan in May, McCain responded by noting his background as a prisoner of war.

Asked by a local reporter about the first thing that comes to his mind when he thinks of Pittsburgh, McCain responded by talking about his background as a prisoner of war.

Accused of possibly having heard the questions in advance of Rick Warren’s recent candidate forum, the McCain campaign responded by highlighting McCain’s background as a prisoner of war.

As with Goodwin's Law, the utterance of "POW!" this campaign season is a surefire sign that it's game over for the Republican trying to defend John McCain. After all, if you can't respond with substance, but rather have to resort to raising an issue McCain himself has previously said shouldn't be exploited in a campaign, you're pretty much backed into a corner.  

So what should we dub this diversionary tactic?  McCain's Law? POW'd? Share your ideas below, and in the meantime, check out this brilliant video:

POW!  You lose.

We had a great time last week with the Democratic VP Prediction Thread, where the bold and the foolish could go out on limbs all over the country (substantially burdening America's trees) and just... "call it".  There weren't any shockers, but good times were had - we laughed, we cried, we called one other stupidheads - we'll tell our grandchildren all about it some day.  

So here we are again.  McCain will pick his partner in (war) crime today or tomorrow, and make as much noise as possible to distract everyone from the good vibes emanating from Denver this week.  

Who's it gonna be?

I generally do not like using bad events as campaign fodder, but I think passing on this opportunity would be a huge error by the Obama Campaign.

Judging by the reaction of hundreds of bloggers watching Hillary's speech in The Big Tent Tuesday night, the verdict was unanimous...she absolutely nailed it. From her opening:

I'm here tonight as a proud mother, as a proud Democrat, as a proud Senator from the state of New York, as a proud American, and as a proud supporter of Barack Obama.

...to her line that needs to be made into an ad immediately:

It makes a lot of sense that next week John McCain and George Bush will be together in the Twin Cities, because these days they're awfully hard to tell apart.

...Hillary was on fire. She skewered John McCain, gave her unequivocal support to Barack Obama and she threw down the gauntlet to her supporters, declaring that nothing less than "the fate of our nation and the future of our children hang in the balance."

From start to finish, it was a powerful speech that left no question where her loyalty lies, what she expects from her supporters, and of course, what she thinks a John McCain presidency would mean. There was so much in her speech that is worth highlighting, but for me, this was the most powerful moment of the entire speech.

My mother was born before women could vote. But in this election my daughter got to vote for her mother for President.

This is the story of America. Of women and men who defy the odds and never give up.

How do we give this country back to them?

By following the example of a brave New Yorker , a woman who risked her life to shepherd slaves along the Underground Railroad.

And on that path to freedom, Harriett Tubman had one piece of advice.

If you hear the dogs, keep going.

If you see the torches in the woods, keep going.

If they're shouting after you, keep going.

Don't ever stop. Keep going.

My mother was born before women could vote. But in this election my
daughter got to vote for her mother for President.

This is the story of America. Of women and men who defy the odds and
never give up.

How do we give this country back to them?

By following the example of a brave New Yorker , a woman who risked
her life to shepherd slaves along the Underground Railroad.

And on that path to freedom, Harriett Tubman had one piece of advice.

If you hear the dogs, keep going.

If you see the torches in the woods, keep going.

If they're shouting after you, keep going.

Don't ever stop. Keep going.

If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.

Kudos to Hillary on a job well done.

I was recently lucky enough to interview Joe Garcia, the Democratic challenger in Florida's 25th Congressional District, and Daily Kos Orange to Blue Candidate. I'm happy to report that Joe is a genuinely awesome guy, and everyone in the organization was enthusiastic and really helpful. They took a lot of time to address my questions for PULSE, a small bi-monthly magazine in Naples, FL, and even though it's mostly distributed in the next District over from FL-25, I'm hoping the message will reach young people in Naples eager to make a real difference in a local race. I also wanted to share it with all of you.

Joe Garcia's Website

August 29th was also the day that Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, while John McCain and George W. Bush was laughing it up on the airport tarmac with a huge birthday cake in front of them.

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One of Vermont's "local" papers has a piece in it this morning which I noticed was an AP piece seconds into reading it (I hadn't looked at the byline yet).

I'll give an example.  The piece quotes Biden:

"Barack Obama will bring down health care costs by $2,500 for the typical family, and, at long last, deliver affordable, accessible health care for all Americans."

It follows that up with the "fact" about the story:

Obama's health care plan does not provide for universal health care coverage. He promises to make it affordable and would require children to be covered, but not adults. Estimates of how many would remain without insurance vary. Hillary Rodham Clinton said during the primaries that Obama's plan would leave 15 million people uninsured.

You know what's interesting about this?

It doesn't contradict what Biden says.  It presents the "fact" as though it's contradictory, in a format suggesting there were facts missed, but Biden refers to "affordable" health care, and the AP hack piece responds with a comment about universal health care.

More, after the fold, all of these from the August 28th edition of the Brattleboro Reformer, "FactCheck: The fuller story in Denver by Darlene Superville"

I've watched every day of the DNC so far, practically gavel-to-gavel. And I think several factors are going to come together as real post-convention polling starts rolling in.

I think we're going to get a plus-10 bounce out of this convention.

What do you think?

You may or may not be familiar with the way the US justice system works. 95% of cases are plead out or settled. Meaning that less than 5% go to court. The art of the deal is one of the most important skills for defense attorneys to posses. The system cannot handle it if everyone went to trial. The other feature that comes with this dealing is that the little fish turn over on the bigger fish. This means that these fish who inform are given a lesser sentence, even when the fish is particularly rotten. In this case the rotten fish is Jack Abramoff,

In my lifetime, I have had more than three barbers.

But, with an exception of a fourth that will always be near to my heart since we talked about the Knicks one day beating Michael Jordan and winning their third title, three barbers come to my mind right now as I witness the greatest day in my political life. I was too young to understand what went on in 1992 other than my Arkansas father screaming "Yes Clinton" and in 1996, where I thought a President getting elected twice signified his greatness, especially when Dan Rather was talking.

That quickly changed in 2004. And it further changed when I knew what fully went on in the 80's. And I just don't mean pissed off black folk in the urban communities of the East Coast.

Today was a crazy long day.  Between class and work (third day of class, first day of work) I walked out the door at 9:00 AM and walked back in the door at 7:30 PM.  I've had the most awful headache all day, which really sucks when you are studying histology!  Anyway, all day all I could think about was how excited I was to get home to watch Joe Biden's speech.  I was really worried I would miss it.  As it happened, though, I walked in the door just as Biden's son was introducing him.  I love the timing!  It gave me a good feeling, like it was a good Omen or something.

Second-to-last night is over and done...your closing thoughts?

As day three of the convention winds down, the crowd was treated to an unexpected visitor and we all got a preview of tomorrow night.

In other news, rumor has it that John McCain will name his running mate tomorrow ahead of Barack Obama's speech. It's hard to decide whether to laugh at the thought of a green screen running mate, or roll our collective eyes at what kind of a petty, petty person would do that. And if it turns out to be only a rumor, I'll apologize for calling him petty. I will, however, still call him an asshole.

Biden's speech began with lovely tributes to his family, including his mother, of whom he said:

My mother's creed is the American creed: no one is better than you. You are everyone's equal, and everyone is equal to you.

Biden ends by using his authority on foreign policy to detail how Obama's foreign policy judgment has time and again been correct while McCain has been wrong. Biden's foreign policy judgment will not be substituted for Obama's; instead, his credibility will be used to affirm Obama's judgment.

John McCain was wrong, and Barack Obama was right -- again, and again, and again, on the most important national security issues of our time, John McCain was wrong and Barack Obama has been proven right.

And here comes Obama, introduced by Biden's wife Jill.

MSNBC just flashed that the Obama car is driving to the Pepsi Center.

Joe Biden has been nominated and Nancy Pelosi informs us he's accepted.

The video and son Beau's introduction have really focused on Biden's remarkable story of commitment as a father; earlier, Quincy Lucas, an advocate on domestic violence issues, delivered a nominating speech focusing on Biden's longstanding work on the Violence Against Women Act.

Finishing, Beau Biden alludes to the fact that he will be deployed to Iraq this fall, asking the crowd to "be there for my father; be there for Barack Obama."

And now Biden is on...

Who has been your favorite speaker so far tonight? And how do the speakers compare to last night?