SanLuisObispo.com: Politics

View from cheap seats doesn't dampen enthusiasm

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:37 PDT

The air was thin, the sun was strong and the view of the stage was horrible. But that didn't dampen the enthusiasm of Democrats who sat in the cheap seats all the way at the top of Invesco Field at Mile High.

"The sound's going to be better up here," unconvincingly insisted Ellen Little, 19, of Charlotte, N.C. She stood out in her orange dress in Section 503, a lone sentinel for Obama lounging alone with her iPod four rows from the top of the stadium.

And on top of everything, she's afraid of heights! "Eleanor Roosevelt said 'Do one thing every day that scares you,'" Little said, shrugging. "Heights scare me, so I'm up here."

Obama uses speech for high-tech outreach

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:32 PDT

Forgive some of the 75,000 people amassed at Invesco Field Thursday if their thumbs are bit weary by the time Barack Obama takes the stage for a triumphant acceptance of his presidential nomination.

In the hours before he made his entrance, these supporters were being asked to text message the Obama campaign and their friends and to make phone calls from specially tailored call sheets as part of an unprecedented effort to mobilize voters and get nonvoters to register.

The speech itself may or may not become a seminal moment in the campaign. But this effort to combine telecommunications, microtargeting techniques and Obama's known ability to draw a crowd could be remembered as a shrewd and groundbreaking calculation to expand Obama's vote base.

Obama sketches promise of America

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:27 PDT

Barack Obama is offering himself to Democrats and the nation as the embodiment of the promise of America.

In excerpts of the speech that he will deliver later Thursday before a crowd of 75,000 at Invesco Field and to millions tuned in on television, Obama said that his story is part of the promise "that has always set this country apart."

He told delegates and thousands more gathered in Denver "that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well."

Post-convention 'bounce' averages 10 points

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:27 PDT

And now comes ... the wait for "The Bounce."

One thing presidential candidates hope they'll get from their nominating conventions is a healthy "bounce" - a gain in popularity as measured by public opinion polls. Since both parties' 1964 gatherings, candidates have enjoyed an average 10 percentage point gain in their margin against their opponent, based on calculations from figures provided by The Gallup Poll.

But this year could be different with the two conventions almost back-to-back.

McCain makes decision on running mate

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:22 PDT

Republican presidential candidate John McCain decided on a running mate early Thursday, and one top prospect, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, abruptly canceled numerous public appearances.

The Arizona senator will appear with his No. 2 at an Ohio rally on Friday, aides said, though they provided no details on McCain's pick.

Without explanation, Pawlenty called off an Associated Press interview at the last minute, as well as other media interviews in Denver, site of the Democratic National Convention.

Analysis: Oprah, Affleck! Obama's goldmine or risk

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:17 PDT

Hollywood hasn't contributed official speakers to Barack Obama's convention this week. But, man, have celebrities flocked to Denver in droves. Oprah's in the house! Was that Matthew Modine just now? Oh, wow, there's Anne Hathaway.

All that, along with Thursday's final-night lineup featuring A-list performers like Sheryl Crow and Stevie Wonder and Obama's splashy acceptance speech in a packed football stadium, will be scooped up greedily by Republican John McCain, as grist for his refrain-of-the-moment: that his Democratic opponent is all flash and no pan.

Camp McCain has already gotten mileage out of mocking the Democrats' stage set for Thursday's speech at Invesco Field, where Obama will stand before four ivory columns on the 50-yard line. "The Temple of Obama," they call it.

Democrat's vision will collide with reality

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:12 PDT

Barack Obama is accepting the Democratic nomination Thursday night with a lofty vision for the nation's future that is far easier to articulate than to accomplish.

The next occupant of the White House will inherit a half-trillion-dollar budget deficit that will severely crimp any plans for spending on new programs, as well as the messy endgame of the war in Iraq and growing energy and health-care challenges. A look at Obama's promises and the realities he would confront:

THE ECONOMY AND DEFICITS

Dean tells delegates turnout vital this fall

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:56 PDT

Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean has told the party's convention delegates that John McCain is a "yes man" for President Bush's policies.

Dean said the Democratic Party is much more robust than it has been in recent years and attributed it to hard work on the part of the rank and file.

The former Vermont governor declared that Barack Obama and Joe Biden "know that this isn't just about turning red states blue. It's about turning this country around."

Tropical Storm Hanna forms as Gustav soaks Jamaica

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:46 PDT

Tropical Storm Gustav closed in on Jamaica Thursday at near-hurricane strength as the death toll in Haiti rose to 51 while Tropical Storm Hanna formed in the Atlantic.

Hanna, the eighth named storm of the 2008 hurricane season, is spinning about 1,500 miles east-southeast of Miami with 40 mph winds. Forecasters said Hanna could grow into a hurricane by Labor Day but likely wouldn't threaten the U.S. coast until later next week, if at all.

Meanwhile, Gustav's winds increased to 70 mph from 45 mph overnight as it took a turn toward Jamaica after leaving a total of 59 dead in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The center of Gustav was moving over the island's eastern shoreline at 2 p.m. EDT, about 40 miles east of Kingston.

New Orleans levee project not yet complete

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:46 PDT

The levees that ring New Orleans have been substantially fortified since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but the Crescent City is still far from protected if Gustav or another large storm were to hit before 2011.

Since Katrina, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been fast at work reinforcing and repairing the 325 miles of levees and floodwalls that protect New Orleans and neighboring parishes from the storm surges and flooding that accompany hurricanes.

A $15 billion upgrade to the hurricane protection system designed to protect the New Orleans area from a so-called 1-in-100 storm - a storm and associated surge that has a 1 percent chance of hitting in any given year - is scheduled for completion in 2011. As of June, the corps said that it had completed 48 construction contracts and had 47 in progress - some minor, some major.

Democrats get lift from convention; now it's Republicans' turn

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:26 PDT

Barack Obama and the Democrats had their moment, and it was a very good one. Now America pivots to John McCain and the Republicans.

Midway through the rare back-to-back political spectacle - the first time the two major parties have had their conventions on successive weeks since 1956 - Obama appeared to have boosted his chances of being elected president.

Insiders and analysts said the Democratic National Convention helped heal the rift left over from the long primary battle between Obama and the Clintons. Well-delivered speeches fleshed out a friendly story line of Barack and Michelle Obama as a loving and normal American family rather than the menacing caricatures of e-mail smears and satirical magazine covers. And running mate Joe Biden framed a forceful attack on McCain for the fall.

History echoes all around as Obama steps up to big speech

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:26 PDT

History was in the air Thursday as Barack Obama prepared to become the first African-American to accept a major party's presidential nomination.

He would do so on the 45th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s landmark "I Have a Dream" speech, which laid a spiritual foundation for the civil rights movement that Obama arguably culminates.

Obama was to speak Thursday night at Denver's Invesco Field at Mile High, one day after the 100th birthday of former President Lyndon B. Johnson, who signed two major civil rights laws in the mid-1960s that also helped prepare the way for Obama's ascendance. LBJ was to be remembered at the convention Thursday in a video tribute.

Obama's campaign chief urges hard work

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:21 PDT

Barack Obama's campaign manager has told Democratic National Convention delegates they will have to work very hard to beat Sen. John McCain this fall.

David Plouffe (PLUFF) was among the early speakers at the climactic final session of the convention was being gaveled to order Thursday night. It ends with the Illinois senator's widely anticipated acceptance speech.

Plouffe told Democrats that they'll have to "outhustle, outwork, out-think" the Republicans for the next 60 days. More than 75,000 people were crowding into Denver's Invesco Field at Mile High for Obama's historic speech, his first scheduled and official appearance as the party's nominee. He was on the stage briefly at Pepsi Center Wednesday night following Sen. Joe Biden's acceptance speech as the vice presidential nominee.

Federal agency issues warning on popular bassinet

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:16 PDT

The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission is warning parents and caregivers to immediately stop using a popular brand of bassinet after the death of a second baby attributed to the product.

The warning covers the Simplicity 3-in-1 and Simplicity 4-in-1 bassinets. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., one of the largest distributors of the product, said Thursday it is pulling the bassinets off of its shelves and its Web site.

"We are working with the supplier and CPSC and are directing store managers to remove product identified in the CPSC press release from store shelves and initiating a register block to prevent sale," Wal-Mart said in a statement. "In addition, we are in the process of removing this product from sale at Walmart.com."

Analysis: A racial milestone, but don't mention it

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:52 PDT

Barack Obama achieved a historic breakthrough with his nomination for president, but you wouldn't know it by tracking the official events of the Democratic convention's first three days.

In becoming the first black American to claim a major party's nomination, Obama has reached a milestone that many felt was at least a generation away. But the convention, like Obama's overall campaign, thus far has dealt with race lightly, obliquely, or often not at all.

Prominent black lawmakers addressed the Denver crowd Wednesday without mentioning the campaign's racial dimensions, which they eagerly and emotionally discuss in private. Americans watching TV might assume otherwise because convention commentators often discuss race. But they are drawing from interviews and other sources, not from the speeches that are vetted by the Obama campaign and that serve as a record of the four-day event.