Ted Kennedy is expected at the convention on Monday night

I'd been hearing this rumor for a couple days and it was buzzing around Denver today. The article from the Washington Post, to which I linked yesterday, seemed like foreshadowing. But the news from Boston is that we can expect Senator Kennedy to appear tomorrow night at the convention:

In a development that is sure to bring the house down, US Senator Edward M. Kennedy is expected to attend the Democratic National Convention, most likely to deliver a speech tomorrow night.

Kennedy is battling brain cancer, and his doctors are said to be worried that his treatment has compromised his immune system and that attending the convention could put him at further risk. Still, the senator has recently told people that he has a speech written for the convention and that he badly wants to come, pending a final medical consultation.

Buzz has built among Massachusetts politicos that Kennedy would come, and today a source close to the family confirmed that he had made a decision to come.

``He is definitely planning to be here,'' said the Kennedy family confidant. ``The whole Kennedy family will be in a special section. It should be quite moment.''

Quite a moment is an understatement. Read the rest of this post...

Good news for Oprah. She's back on Emily's Tivo.

The Democratic primaries were tough, no doubt. All of us had friends who were fiercely supporting Clinton or Obama. Friendships were strained -- and the subject often wasn't even discussed. Now, those wounds have largely healed. But, I've recently been made aware that one relationship hadn't quite been patched up. That would be the one between Oprah Winfrey and one of her top fans who is also my very good friend/Clinton supporter Emily Giske. But, on the eve of the convention where both Oprah and Emily will be in attendance, even that one's been fixed according to Emily's post over at Huffington. It's pretty funny:

I have watched, taped or tivo'd the Oprah Show for decades, I have lived my best life with her, Have had Aha moments and have consulted her magazine and web site. Oprah helped me figure out if I was in a good relationship or not -- on a regular basis.

While Oprah had her hometown hero, I was and still am a HUGE fan/supporter of Hillary, New York's favorite daughter. I would watch each primary night like other folks watch the play-offs and the superbowl and my heart was broken in June when it was all over.

So I stopped watching Oprah. I partly blamed her. For six months I refused to think about her. Right before Super Tuesday when I saw Oprah, Gayle and their new pals Michelle, Maria and New York's own Caroline campaigning I turned off the TV and deprogrammed my TiVo.

Now I am in Denver. I know Oprah might be here so I have to face the situation head on.

It is two months since the end of the primaries and I am still a Hillary fan. I always will be. But it is time to take our country back. I know I will cry Tuesday night when she speaks....I will always be proud of the eighteen million cracks on the glass ceiling.

Supporting Obama was easy. I am a Democrat. But, making up with Oprah has been a different story -- but I am ready to move on.

When I see Oprah in Denver I want her to know there are no hard feelings. She did what she thought was best for her country, just like I did. But we are on the same team now. Oprah, Gayle Michelle (especially Michelle) and me. It has to be the winning team.

So when I see Oprah I will let her know...she is back on my TiVo.

Oprah must be relieved. And, this is a sign that the healing is pretty much complete -- just in time for the convention. The great thing about Emily's post is it sounds just like her -- and she means it (even though she doesn't really know Oprah.) Emily has cracked me up for almost 25 years. Love her. Read the rest of this post...

"John McCain's family owns more homes than you own shoes."

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Joe Bungalow, we ask you to peek in your closet and count how many pairs of shoes you own.

Five pairs? Maybe six?

Consider this: John McCain's family owns more homes than you own shoes.

Read the rest of this post...

"For a vet, McCain's record sorely lacking"

From the News Leader (VA):

On July 7, at a town hall meeting in Denver, a Vietnam veteran confronted John McCain about his support of veterans' issues.
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"I have a perfect voting record from organizations like the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion and all the other veterans service organizations," responded McCain.

Although this sounds good, it is inaccurate and misleading. The VFW and American Legion do not compile congressional voting records, and other veterans' organizations that do compile records aren't favorable.

Disabled American Veterans is an organization that was founded following World War I, and today has 1.4 million members.

It not only tracks this legislation, but tracks how politicians vote. John McCain is documented as having voted with DAV-supported legislation 34 percent of the time. Barack Obama has voted with the DAV 89 percent of the time.

Another organization that tracks legislation important to veterans is Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the first and largest organization dedicated to those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

IAVA is only concerned with bettering the lives of returning veterans, and advocating for their rights. Its records show McCain voting with IAVA 58 percent of the time, and receiving a "D" rating. Obama voted with IAVA 89 percent of the time, receiving a "B-plus" rating.

Read the rest of this post...

Cheapo United Airlines reportedly talking about charging for food on flights abroad

That's nice. I can't wait until someone has a diabetic seizure, or passes out from hypoglycemia, because United's CEO was too cheap to feed someone during a 12 hour flight. This is truly disgusting. I found out about it from a United flight attendant, who was none-too-pleased about the talk.

As I've written before, our airlines pretty much suck. Brian Komar of the Center for American Progress and I spent all of last night stuck at O'Haire because we got bumped from our direct flight to Denver from DC. Well, bumped is a nice way of saying that United decided to change the flight time to 1:30pm instead of 5pm, and forgot to tell us. Oops. But you'll be glad to know that United's person at the check in couldn't have cared less. "Oh, so it's my fault," she said to me. No, lady, it's my fault that your idiotic company moved our flight up four hours and didn't bother telling anyone. How about a voucher, how about bumping us to economy plus, in exchange for the fact that you bait-and-switched us on our direct flight we purchased? I don't think so. So we flew via Chicago, the flight was delayed 5 hours, and I arrived in Denver 5 hours late at midnight, then got to pay for a $90 taxi cab, rather than ride with my guys earlier in the evening.

It's just one tale, but it's the same tale over and over again. Our airlines suck. They don't care about their customers, and they think we don't have redress when they screw us over. And perhaps they're right. But we don't have redress with Congress. And some day soon, cheapskates like United Airlines will want yet another federal bail-out. They'll want YOU to pay for THEM to continue treating you like crap. And when that day comes, I'll be proud to lead the charge against giving these misers even one dime.

Charging for food on flights abroad. They really are pigs. Read the rest of this post...

McCain plays POW card again to deflect criticism over housing gaffe

From Politico:

“I am grateful for the fact that I have a wonderful life,” McCain said. “I spent some years without a kitchen table, without a chair, and I know what it's like to be blessed by the opportunities of this great nation. Cindy's father, who barely finished high school, went off and distinguished himself in World War II in a B-17 and came back with practically nothing and realized the American dream, and I am proud and grateful for that, and I think he is a role model to many young Americans who serve in the military and come back and succeed.

McCain seems to be saying that the American people do not have the right to ask any questions of Johim, about any topic, because he was a POW. Just as interesting, McCain himself is now playing the POW card, something the media routinely claimed he was loathe to do.

Politico and TIME have warned that McCain is entering risky territory by so over-using his former POW status to deflect any and all discussion of any topic, even those topics totally unrelated to his POW experience. How McCain's former POW status is related to the fact that he can't remember how many homes he owns, how his wife's father being a Vet somehow exonerates McCain from the hypocrisy of accusing Obama of being an elitist when McCain's the far richer of the two, remains a mystery. What is not a mystery is the fact that McCain will continue to inject his former POW status to deflect questions about any topic. It remains to be seen if Americans accept this tactic, or reject it.

This video, that we posted earlier, is an example of some of the backlash that may be building:

Read the rest of this post...

Who will win the west is a real question in 2008 -- and could determine the next President

First Read has a quick take on the state of play in the Western states, based on some polling released today. The Denver Post, has a longer analysis of these battleground state polls, but here's what Chuck Todd and his crew are saying.

All very interesting. It's very close out here in the West (said like someone from the East Coast who is visiting for a week). And, that's due to a lot of hard work by the Democrats on the ground -- with some help from Howard Dean's 50-state strategy. You know the punditry never really thought these states would actually be in play. But, they are -- even Arizona, which says so much about John McCain. People who know him best don't like him. Read the rest of this post...

Philadelphia Inquirer, a paper that knows Joe Biden, mostly sings Biden's praises

Joe Biden is the Senator from Delaware, we all know that. But, Philly news covers Delaware politics and a lot of Delaware (not that there's a lot of Delaware) gets the Philadelphia t.v. stations. They know Joe Biden, so I was interested to see how the Philadelphia Inquirer's take on the Biden choice. All in all, pretty good:

Democrat Barack Obama's selection of Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware to be his running mate puts pressure on John McCain to choose an equally strong running mate for the Republican ticket.

Biden brings valuable foreign-policy experience as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Obama said he wanted a vice president who could help him to navigate dangerous international waters; Biden has a firm grasp of foreign affairs and national defense.

A senator for almost 36 years, Biden also understands how Washington works. He's an effective lawmaker and, for years, has been a prominent voice in evaluating Supreme Court nominees. The choice of Biden blunts the criticism that Obama lacks Washington experience.

On the electoral map, Biden could help Obama in Pennsylvania, where his family roots go back at least five generations. Biden was born in Scranton and lived there until age 10, when his family moved to Delaware. Obama said he wanted a running mate who would speak his mind and question his decisions; Biden fits the bill. He said famously in a primary debate that Obama wasn't ready to be president. Obama certainly hasn't chosen a yes-man.

The two didn't see eye to eye initially on the Iraq war, either. Obama opposed the invasion while Biden voted to authorize war. Since then, Biden has become an outspoken critic of the war and a leader in the Senate in trying to find workable solutions to the conflict.

The editorial also cautioned on Biden's capacity for gaffes. Obviously, Biden will have to be on guard for that. It's critical because the Obama/Biden ticket is running against the GOP's one-man gaffe machine: John McCain. Read the rest of this post...

Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

It's the Democratic Convention edition of the Sunday shows.

For what seems like the first time ever, the shows are crawling with prominent Democrats. From what I'm reading, there is only one Republican on all the shows combined. That would be the one-time inevitable GOP nominee: Rudy Giuliani. (He is giving keynote next week at the GOP convention.) And can you imagine how gross next Sunday's GOP equivalent of this pre-convention week preview will be?

The Obama campaign got off to a good start with the Biden announcement yesterday. Let's see how the key consultants and surrogates keep the momentum going today on the talk shows.

Here's the lineup:

ABC's "This Week" — David Axelrod, Obama campaign senior adviser; former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

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CBS' "Face the Nation" — Govs. Kathleen Sebelius, D-Kan., and Ed Rendell, D-Pa.; Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill.

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NBC's "Meet the Press" — Caroline Kennedy, co-chair, Obama's vice presidential search committee; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

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CNN's "Late Edition" — Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa.; Gov. Janet Napolitano, D-Ariz.; Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I.; Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C.; Terry McAuliffe, Clinton campaign chairman.

"Fox News Sunday" _ Govs. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Bill Ritter, D-Colo.; Robert Gibbs, Obama campaign spokesman.

This is the start of the Democratic convention t.v. show. The Republicans get theirs next week. A political convention is like a mini-series with a dramatic ending on Thursday night. All of the folks on today's talk shows have starring roles in the show (but none are the true stars.) That's the thing about conventions in general. There are a lot of VSIPs (very self-important people) in Denver right now -- as there will be in Minneapolis St. Paul next week. But, unless you're speaking on the big stage on Thursday night, you're basically an extra.



So, if you're watching, provide the commentary, please. Read the rest of this post...