This just in this morning.
Former Gov. Mark Warner of Virginia, now the favorite in that state’s Senate race, will be the keynote speaker at this year’s Democratic convention. This is the featured role that Mr. Obama was given in 2004.
Mr. Warner will speak on Tuesday night, the second day of the convention. In a statement, David Plouffe, the Obama campaign manager, said:
As governor of Virginia, Warner used his experience in business to help deliver jobs and hope to the citizens of Virginia. His work creating jobs in southwest and southside Virginia is a model for the rest of the country.
Like Barack Obama, Mark Warner is not afraid to challenge the status quo to bring people together and get things moving. It’s that kind of spirit and innovation that resulted in his selection as keynote speaker on a night when we will be discussing how to renew America’s promise.”
As for the Democratic platform, the section on abortion received attention yesterday for language that differs from 2004 and that now seems meant to appease those Democrats who are not staunch supporters of abortion rights.
The Washington Post points out the new language:
The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right. The Democratic Party also strongly supports access to affordable family planning services and comprehensive age-appropriate sex education which empower people to make informed choices and live healthy lives. We also recognize that such health care and education help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and thereby also reduce the need for abortions. The Democratic Party also strongly supports a woman’s decision to have a child by ensuring access to and availability of programs for pre- and post-natal health care, parenting skills, income support, and caring adoption programs.
In other convention mentions, The Rocky Mountain News interviews a few people who claim they were told they would have to spend hours volunteering for the Obama campaign in order to qualify for tickets to the rock-star event at Invesco stadium where Mr. Obama is to make his acceptance speech on Thursday night. The campaign says that ticket availability isn’t based on paying those dues, but this account comes on the heels of some discussion earlier this week by Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic that those long lines of people waiting to get into the stadium might be handed cell phones and calls lists and be asked to help register people to vote.
Meanwhile, Mr. Obama continues his vacation in Hawaii, where he attended a large fund-raiser with an island theme last night. The campaign was tight-lipped about attendees; in fact, a reporter for The New York Times was asked to leave the grounds after he tried to interview some people who were entering the event.
The Obama campaign has also kept the media away from the house where the family is staying, refusing to let reporters stake out a public beach near the property. The Politico reports that Mr. Obama’s vacation rental — which is said to have 10.5 bedrooms — is owned by Lakeside Enterprises, whose general partner is a Democratic fund-raiser, Jill Tate Higgins. But the campaign says the Obamas rented the house without knowing who owned it, and rented it for this vacation at market value. (The Politico makes the comparison to the Clintons, who often stayed for free at supporters’ homes in places like the Vineyard when they were a presidential couple.)
Now on to the McCain front. Senator John McCain heads to Michigan today, where his campaign says he will hold a late-afternoon news conference. On Tuesday, he spent a second day in Pennsylvania with former Governor Tom Ridge. Michael Cooper of The New York Times reported that Senator Joe Lieberman blasted Mr. Obama, saying that unlike him, Mr. McCain would always put country first.
In addition, Mr. McCain reminded supporters at his event about Mr. Obama’s controversial primary remarks that small-town voters in places like the Keystone State cling to their guns and religion. Mr. McCain promised, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, to visit as many “hamlets” in the state as possible and said:
“I’m going to tell them I think they are the heartland of America, that the values they hold dear are the strength and character of America,” Mr. McCain said. “They’re the reason why the people in Georgia today are looking to America . . . a beacon of hope and liberty.”
Shelf LifeJim Rutenberg and Julie Bosman of The New York Times profile the anti-Obama book author, Jerome R. Corsi, whose previous endeavors include “Unfit for Command” against Senator John Kerry in 2004. Parts of his latest book, “The Obama Nation,” have already been refuted, but the book will nonetheless land at the top of our best seller list this weekend.
Strange Bedfellows In the South, Ralph Reed, whose bid for lieutenant governor was foiled a while back because of his ties to Jack Abramoff, revealed as the details spilled out of one of Mr. McCain’s inquiries into gambling lobbying for native Americans, is back in the news. This time, he’s inviting fellow Georgians (from the state of Georgia, that is, and not the country in the news) to join him at a fund-raiser in Atlanta for his newfound friend, Mr. McCain. Mr. Reed, the former head of the Christian Coalition, may still help the McCain camp with conservatives in a state where Bob Barr, the Libertarian presidential candidate, is expected to steal away votes from the Republican ticket.
VeepWatch: Stumping for the Arizona senator in Indiana yesterday, Rob Portman, the former Ohio representative and Bush-administration budget official, said he had not been asked for financial information — perhaps a sign that he’s not being vetted as a possible running mate for the Republican ticket.
As for Senator Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, The Washington Post takes a look at concerns people would have if he were to be chosen as No. 2 on the Obama ticket.
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