I am the type of Democrat that will vote straight party ticket, from top to bottom, in a general election. They have my vote and usually my support. But I am not all Democratic voters. No politician is entitled to anyone's support or vote.

But what you see projected from the Obama camp and Democrats of late is the notion that Barack Obama is entitled to the support of all Democratic voters. No matter what you, I, pundits and bloggers think, that is not how politics works. If Obama can learn just one thing from Bill and Hillary Clinton, it has to be the ability to fight for every vote. To NOT act like you are entitled to anybody's vote. To act like you believe you have to earn their votes. More . . .

It turns out that the rest of the political world has caught up to me and Paul Krugman:

The central fact of this year’s election is that voters are fed up with Republican rule. The only way Mr. McCain can win the presidential race is if it becomes a contest of personalities rather than parties . . .

The Obama campaign, on the other hand, doesn’t need to convince voters either that he’s the awesomest candidate ever or that Mr. McCain is a villain. All it has to do is tarnish Mr. McCain’s image enough so that voters see this as a race between a Democrat and a Republican. And that’s a race the Democrat will easily win.

(Emphasis supplied.) You hear this from everyone now, including David Axelrod on ABC's This Week yesterday. So it is out with the Politics of Change, the Post Partisan Unity Schtick, in with the Politics of Contrast. About time.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

My sources tell me that Bruce Springsteen will close the Democratic Convention with an acoustic performance after Sen. Barack Obama finishes speaking Thursday night at Invesco Field. The Washington Post speculated about this yesterday

and the Las Vegas Review Journal reports it as fact.

The LVRJ says Bon Jovi is in negotiations to be the warmup act for Obama.

My earlier post on possible musical acts for Thursday night is here.

Hi. It's Sunday night and we just finished dinner here at Jerri's house where Lynn Goldsmith has now joined us for the week.  As the actual Convention inches closer, and I finished the final exam today for Journalism, I'm starting to feel those pangs again without Hunter. So, it's a blessing to be witnessing this (hopefully) historic DNC with two amazing women and listen to them talk, over a shared Pad Thai stir fry tonight, about their experiences at the1969 protest in Washington. [more...]

The protests in Denver began today. There was some attempt by protesters to block streets. It was peaceful with little resemblance to protests of conventions past.

What happened instead was a street-fair display of disparate causes, from anti-war fervor to climate control, immigrant rights and the legalization of marijuana. Participants paraded through the streets of downtown Denver peacefully as police — aided by the Secret Service, FBI and National Guard — kept watch from bikes, rooftops and helicopters.

Cindy Sheehan and Recreate '68 began the morning with a protest event on the steps of the state capitol in Denver. Later, there was a march from Civic Center Park to the Pepsi Center.

Cindy Sheehan spoke as did Glenn Spagnuolo of Recreate '68, Ron Kovic and the rap duo Dead Presidents. Recreate '68 had its own security guys at the base of the Capitol steps, wearing red bandannas. [More...]

Your turn.

CNN reports:

In a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll out Sunday night, 47 percent of those questioned are backing Obama with an equal amount supporting the Arizona senator.

Of all the non-Hillary choices, Biden is clearly the best one politically. And even he did not help according to this poll. In discussing polling, too many "analysts" misunderstand the importance of favorability findings. They place great stock in the silly "more likely/less likely" questions pollsters seem to love. Here is the bottom line - Hillary Clinton would have delivered millions of votes for Obama, no one else could:

Everything has been late in this general election. The Democratic nominee was not decided until June. The Democratic vice presidential nominee was not publically announced until August 23. The Democratic Convention does not start until August 25, the latest date in recent history. The Republican vice presidential nominee will not be named until August 29 at the earliest. And the Republicans will hold the latest convention in memory, which will begin ON Labor Day, the traditional kickoff of the Fall campaign.

After the end of the GOP Convention, only 3 weeks will pass before the first Presidential debate on September 26. That is likely to be the most important event of the general election campaign. Only 6 days later, the VP debate will be held on October 2. Just 5 days later comes the second Presidential debate on October 7. And the final Presidential debate comes 8 days after that, on October 15. After that just 20 days remain until the election.

Bottom line, this notion that "it's early" is simply wrong. Folks who say that are thinking in terms of previous electoral calendars. The fierce urgency of now is upon us already in this election.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

We've had some requests for an open thread -- here it is.

The radio stations in Denver are playing great music today. On right now: The Rolling Stones, You Can't Always Get What You Want. My favorite stations: Boulder's KBCO (97.3 FM) and 99.5 FM, The Mountain. They are streamed so you can listen on your computer wherever you are.

I'm not afraid the police are going to get out of control. Things have been smooth sailing here today. And the police on downtown streets aren't dressed in riot gear like they were in Boston.

The weather is gorgeous. Wish you all were here.

Things are running very smooth today in Denver.

Jane of Firedoglake and I drove downtown, parked behind the Denver County courthouse and walked two blocks to the Sheraton where we picked up our DNCC press passes for Monday's convention events at the Pepsi Center. No lines, very speedy. Everyone has to pick up a new pass every morning. For security reasons, each day has a different pass.

Then we hopped on the 16th St. Shuttle Bus which dropped us off on the corner of the Big Tent and we picked up our passes there, also very speedy. Along the way I took a few photos:

• A Code Pink Parade
• A Denver Sheriff's bus that transports prisoners across the street from the courthouse (it was parked and empty)
• Some Denver police officers, not in riot gear like in Boston

[More...]

CNN reports:

Clinton’s team immediately dubbed the ad misleading. "Hillary Clinton's support of Barack Obama is pretty clear,” said Clinton spokeswoman Kathleen Strand. “She has said repeatedly that Barack Obama and she share a commitment to changing the direction of the country, getting us out of Iraq, and expanding access to health care. John McCain doesn't. It's interesting how those remarks didn't make it into his ad."

By Big Tent Democrat

Matt Yglesias makes a good point:

Apparently on ABC this morning Mark Halperin was arguing that housegate would ultimately wind up being bad for . . . Barack Obama because . . . all news is good news for John McCain it “opened the door” to Rezko, Ayers, Wright and other attacks on Obama.

. . . [T]he underlying premises that a door needs to be opened for McCain to deploy those kind of attacks is bizarre. Nothing was stopping the McCain campaign from “going there” . . . They just weren’t doing it because they didn’t think it was the correct time[.] . . . But you’d have to be extraordinarily naive to believe that the McCain campaign was genuinely just not going to mention any of this stuff until Mean Ol’ Barack came along to make fun of the idea of being so rich . . .

Quite so. As silly as the idea that if Hillary Clinton had not mentioned Obama's lack of experience, McCain would not have mentioned it. There was a time when that argument was treated as NOT "extraordinarily naive" and "bizarre." Funny that.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only