There is one reason the Democratic Party is in the political ascendancy - the George W. Bush Administration. Let's face it, the Democratic Party is, by and large, craven and toothless. It stands for little and does even less. But they will be swept into complete control of the Presidency and the Congress in November because the Bush Administration has been the worst in the history of the Republic. Today's New York Times offers headlines that remind us this is so.

First, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is promoting a $20 billion plan to double the size of the Afghan military: [More . . .]

Obama's ten day Hawaii vacation begins today, as do the Olympics. The Democratic Convention starts August 25. So Obama's VP announcement will come sometime between the 18th and the 25th. If the Vice President is going to be anything more than an afterthought (and at this point, it seems clear that the Obama camp does not want the Vice Presidential choice to get much attention at all imo), it will have to be early in that 7 day period. Why not just before the Convention? In my opinion, yesterday's events (with Barack Obama shrewdly offering Bill Clinton a Wednesday night speaking spot) made clear that to the degree the Democratic National Convention is not about Barack Obama, it will be about Bill and Hillary Clinton. Because of that, Ann Kornblut makes me chuckle when she writes:

[Wednesday night], officials expect the vice presidential nominee to dominate the stage, along with, potentially, a separate keynote speaker (the role that Obama filled in 2004)

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Late Night Denver Convention News:

• Oprah Winfrey has forked over $50k for a house in Denver for convention week.

• Protest groups are appealing yesterday's ruling in their federal lawsuit against the City and County of Denver and the Secret Service. They will file their appeal in the streets of Denver. The ACLU of Denver says it won't appeal the decision.

• How well received was yesterday's announcement that 1/2 the tickets for Obama's acceptance speech will be reserved for Coloradans? 60,000 tickets were requested in 24 hours.

• An E-town concert has been set for August 25 with James Taylor, David Crosby, Graham Nash and Ani DiFranco. Tickets go on sale Thursday, the cost is $50 to $85.

This is an open thread.

Bill Clinton will speak at the Democratic Convention in Denver Wednesday night, before the VP candidate. Wednesday night is also when the balloting takes place.

Sen. Barack Obama is off to Hawaii tomorrow on vacation. That means no VP pick until next week, less than 3 weeks out from the Convention.

There's still no resolution as to whether there will be a roll-coll vote at the convention or whether Hillary will ask for her name to be placed in nomination. Newsweek's Jonathan Alter, in Catharsis in Denver? today writes [More...]:

Do you get the feeling BushCo wants the Hamdan case to just go away? This news should fuel that view:

A military jury gave Osama bin Laden's driver a stunningly lenient sentence on Thursday, making him eligible for release in just five months despite the prosecutors' request for a sentence tough enough to frighten terrorists around the globe. Salim Hamdan's sentence of 5 1/2 years, including five years and a month already served at Guantanamo Bay, fell far short of the 30 years to life that prosecutors wanted. It now goes for mandatory review to a Pentagon official who can shorten the sentence but not extend it.

Here is an issue:

It remains unclear what will happen to Hamdan once his sentence is served, since the U.S. military has said it won't release anyone who still represents a threat.

George Bush won't be President then. Hamdan will be released imo. And the dirty truths will be swept under the rug.

Anyone want to buy half a tunnel? Detroit's Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick went to Windsor to lobby for the sale of Detroit's half of the Detroit-Windsor tunnel to raise money for the cash-strapped city. That turned out to be a bad decision.

Kilpatrick is facing perjury, obstruction of justice, and other criminal charges. A bail condition prohibits his travel outside of Michigan without the court's permission, which Kilpatrick failed to obtain before venturing into Windsor. A judge revoked Kilpatrick's bail today, sending him to jail for at least one night.

The mayor’s lawyers sought an immediate appeal, but the circuit court judge who will take up the matter put off a hearing until Friday morning.

While Kilpatrick is incarcerated, his chief of staff will be acting mayor. A statement that "residents can be assured government will continue to operate as usual" is hardly reassuring, given that business as usual in Detroit's city government is awfully dysfunctional.

Hillary chatted with folks today. Here is a highlight:

Questions #4:

Hey Hillary you are such a great person I went to a rally of yours during the primary in New Hampshire & did some campaigning for you here in albany ny you put a smile on my face every time I saw you whether in person or on tv. You are a strong women don't give up keep fighting for whats right. I hope our country can take a new step in the right direction once Barack Obama is president. I want to say if he does ask you to be his VP you should and you would make a great vice president Mrs. Clinton:)

God Bless

Larry D.
Albany ny

Answer:

I have said repeatedly that I will do whatever Senator Obama asks me to do. I am really focused and enjoying being back in the Senate and working on behalf of my New York constituents. This is Senator Obama’s decision and his alone and I am going to respect the privacy of that process by not discussing it.

About a week ago, Kevin Drum wrote about a new book that discusses polling fallacies. Kevin quoted Taegan Goddard discussing "The Opinion Makers by David Moore:

The author — a former senior editor of the Gallup Poll — says that today's opinion polls misfire due to an intrinsic methodological problem: survey results don't differentiate between "those who express deeply held views and those who have hardly, if at all, thought about an issue."

I would have framed the issue differently. The problem with polls on issues is they rarely describe how intensely a respondent feels about an issue and how they will vote because of that issue. Case in point - today's Ras poll on Hillary as VP:

Unconventional Denver, an anarchist protest group, says if Denver turns its $50 million security grant over to programs that help the people and calls off its occupation of Denver, it will sit the convention out.

Otherwise, they intend to show the Convention is just a bunch of corporations and lobbyists partying behind closed doors and a wall of heavily armed police. Their goal is to disrupt the spectacle. Democracy is not behind those doors, it's in the streets. That's where hope and change can happen. [More...]

On Morning Joe, Chuck Todd said that the "feeling in Chicago," presumably referring to the Obama campaign, is that Hillary Clinton is seeking treatment that she would never have given Barack Obama had the roles been reversed. If they REALLY believe that, then they are fools. If Hillary Clinton were the nominee, Barack Obama would have been the vice presidential nominee a month ago. I can not believe Todd is passing on this foolishness.

Todd said something else that is quite foolish - that the last few days have given Obama the "high ground" in how he treats the Clinton camp now. The high ground? Is Todd crazy? Suppose that were true, how in the hell does "having the high ground" help Barack Obama with Clinton supporters? How does it help him win in November? Or is that NOT the goal?

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Update 8/7: Here's my breakdown of yesterday's federal court decision upholding Denver's planned protest zone.

In a 71 page ruling available here, a federal judge in Denver today upheld Denver's planned protest zone for the Democratic National Convention, finding the plan does not run afoul of the First Amendment. As the Denver Post reports:

The demonstrators wanted the public-protest area moved closer to the delegates coming in and out of the Pepsi Center, and they wanted parade routes to end closer to the venue.

Law-enforcement officials and Denver representatives argued during a one-day trial that there has been a robust effort made to allow groups of all backgrounds to demonstrate and that security concerns superceded the demonstrators' need to be closer to the delegates.

The last paragraphs of the ruling:[More...]

Didn't Gov. Tim Pawlenty get the memo? Republicans aren't supposed to praise Barack Obama. They're supposed to mock him while misleading people about his positions.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, often mentioned as a possible running mate for Republican presidential candidate John McCain, said Wednesday GOP candidates would do well to adopt a positive tone like that of McCain's Democratic rival, Barack Obama.

"Say what you will about Barack Obama," the Minnesota Republican told a conservative group, "people gravitate when you have something positive to say."

Why has Pawlenty gone off-message? Did John McCain tell him he won't be the VP candidate? Was he referring to McCain when he followed up with "They don't want to follow some negative, scornful person"?