From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro
DENVER -- In a presidential contest filled with unpredictability, there has been this one constant: When the time calls for it, Barack Obama can deliver a speech. He did it when he announced his presidential bid in Springfield, IL back in February 2007. He did it again with his speech on race after the Jeremiah Wright controversy, as well as in Germany, where he addressed a crowd of 200,000. And then there was that little keynote speech Obama gave at the previous Democratic convention, which launched his national profile. Now, just four years later, he's back as his party's presidential nominee, and given what's at stake -- the keys to the White House -- tonight's speech at Invesco Field in front of an estimated 75,000 people is undoubtedly the biggest of his life. And it just so happens to occur on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech. Chief strategist David Axelrod told NBC/NJ's Athena Jones and other reporters yesterday that Obama will talk about "the risks of continuing down the road we're on, which is plainly what Sen. McCain is offering. And he's gonna talk about an alternative path that's rooted in the best of what this country is and the kind of future that we can build if we take it." Axelrod added that Obama's goal is to talk to the American people directly about the challenges the country faces and what it will take to solve them.

*** The Clintons owned the Pepsi Center: Well, for the part of the convention that took place in the Pepsi Center, the Clintons arguably gave the two best speeches, with Michelle Obama and Ted Kennedy both deserving of the top two spots as well. There were a couple of others that stood out, including the stem-winder delivered by Brian Schweitzer on Tuesday night. All of this is another way of saying, the bar is not too high for Obama tonight. But it's also another way of saying that Biden speech fell a tad short of expectations. (You could tell that having just three or four days to prepare for a big convention speech was a tall order. But the Obama folks don't expect him to deliver big speeches. They expect him to deliver on the stump.) In short, the Clintons owned the Pepsi Center; it's now up to Obama to own Invesco.

*** A split-screen day? Drudge was the first yesterday to shout this news: "McCain has decided on his running mate" and will unveil that choice tomorrow. Other news organizations soon followed. Indeed, it could be a split-screen news day with half the press corps desperately trying to break the McCain VP news before tomorrow. Just like last week, there's a contingent of the press corps that believes the short list of Pawlenty, Lieberman, and Romney may NOT be the end of the list. Speculation that a woman is being considered has created separate credible rumors today about Kay Bailey Hutchison, Sarah Palin, and Meg Whitman. McCain is more capable of a surprise than Obama. Then again, McCain wants to be respectful of the short list, since he spent his fair share of time on it in '88, '96 and even '00. The general consensus today seems to be that Romney's stock is down; Pawlenty's is steady; and Lieberman's up.

*** Mother Nature against the GOP? As if the Republican Party didn't have enough going against them, Mother Nature does not look like a political ally as the possibility of a serious hurricane bearing down on the US coast during the GOP convention. There's no way of speculating about what it means other than to say -- it is what it is, and nobody can do anything about it other than prepare citizens for the storm. But the last thing McCain needs is a reminder of Hurricane Katrina, whose three-year anniversary comes tomorrow.

*** Today's convention schedule: Thursday's theme is "Change You Can Believe In." The featured speaker, of course, is Obama. Other notable speakers include (in order): Gov. Bill Ritter and the Colorado congressional delegation, Howard Dean, Rep. John Lewis (as part of a tribute to the 45th anniversary of MLK's "I have a dream speech), Gov. Bill Richardson, Gov. Tim Kaine, Al Gore, and then Sen. Dick Durbin, who introduces Obama. Also, Jennifer Hudson sings the National Anthem and Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson gives the Pledge of Allegiance.

*** The RNC's response: Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Sen. Jon Kyl, former US Treasurer Rosario Marin, and Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams hold an RNC-sponsored press conference to argue that Obama is wrong on national security.

*** Also in Denver: There's a unity breakfast with civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King III and Al Sharpton, to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the "I Have A Dream" speech, at 9:30 am ET at the Colorado Convention Center.

*** On the trail: McCain arrives in Vandalia, OH in advance of his big rally tomorrow in Dayton. Obama delivers his address accepting the Democratic nomination.
 
Countdown to GOP convention: 4 days
Countdown to Election Day 2008: 68 days
Countdown to Inauguration Day 2009: 145 days
 
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The New York Times looks at some of the potential risks of tonight's speech before 75,000 at Invesco Field. "With daunting challenges of logistics, style and substance, the plan was hatched before the Republicans began a concerted drive to paint Mr. Obama as a media sensation lacking the résumé to be president. Now Obama aides are feeling all the more pressure to bring a lofty candidacy to ground level, showing that Mr. Obama grasps the concerns of everyday Americans."

"On Wednesday, workers were still making changes to Invesco Field, home to the Denver Broncos, so it would feel more intimate, less like the boisterous rallies that served Mr. Obama so well early in the primaries, but also created the celebrity image that dogs him. They were still testing camera angles, so Mr. Obama would appear among the giant crowd, not above it. They took steps to reduce the echo effect, familiar to football fans, of speaking in such a cavernous space. Planners scrapped their idea to turn the audience of 75,000 into a giant phone bank, in response to fears that the cellphone system would crash (people will instead be asked to text-message friends and neighbors to support the campaign, program aides said would be effective nonetheless.)"

A Democratic senator told MSNBC's David Shuster that Obama's speech tonight might be a bit different than what some may be expecting in a big stadium. Per this senator, Obama himself said the speech will not have the kind of soaring rhetoric some may be expecting.

The New York Post goes to the extreme with Obama's speech set up for tonight, which has some Roman columns. Its cover: " 'O' my God." But as Politico's Ben Smith points out, "Republicans who are mocking Obama's appearance haven't mentioned it, but George W. Bush accepted his own nomination in 2004 on a set with a similar neoclassical theme, with columns rising on either side of him… Indeed, the Bush set and the Obama sets currently look strikingly similar, with the podium set well in front of the columns, and connected by a path."

The New York Times profiles Obama. "Even before he entered public life, he began honing not only his political skills, but also his mental and emotional ones. He developed a self-discipline so complete, friends and aides say, that he has established dominion over not only what he does but also how he feels. He does not easily exult, despair or anger: to do so would be an indulgence, a distraction from his goals. Instead, they say, he separates himself from the moment and assesses."

"But with … Obama officially becoming the Democratic presidential nominee on Wednesday night, some of the same qualities that have brought him just one election away from the White House - his virtuosity, his seriousness, his ability to inspire, his seeming immunity from the strains that afflict others - may be among his biggest obstacles to getting there."

As reported yesterday, Obama and Biden will campaign in Pennsylvania the day after the convention. Now we've learned that on Saturday, the duo will head to Ohio, where they will first attend a memorial service in Cleveland for Stephanie Tubbs Jones before holding a rally in Dublin. On Sunday, the two will discuss the economy in Toledo.

 

The Washington Post's lead story: "Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois completed an improbable and historic journey here Wednesday when he was nominated by acclamation as the Democratic candidate for president, becoming the first African American to lead a major political party into a general-election campaign. Obama, who just eight years ago attended his first Democratic National Convention and who four years later shot to national prominence with an electrifying keynote address at the gathering in Boston, was given a final symbolic boost Wednesday by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who moved from the convention floor to suspend the roll call of the states and formalize her former rival's nomination by acclamation."

The New York Times says that Obama's nomination "brought to an end an often-bitter two-year political struggle for the nomination with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, who, standing on a packed convention floor electric with anticipation, moved to halt the roll call in progress so that the convention could nominate Mr. Obama by acclamation. That it did with a succession of loud roars, followed by a swirl of dancing, embracing, high-fiving and chants of 'Yes, we can.'"

However, it's worth pointing out that Obama will officially be the "nominee" until the conclusion of his acceptance speech," per the language of the Democrats' "Call to Convention."

Clinton biographer David Maraniss of the Washington Post says that Bill Clinton's speech last night "framed the case for Sen. Barack Obama and against the Republicans in a way that no one at this convention had done before. Only a day earlier, when there was some unease among Clinton's associates about whether he was being straitjacketed in what he could say in his speech, Obama tried to defuse the situation by saying Clinton could say whatever he wanted. Good call, as it turned out."

"Perhaps not even Obama himself could have conjured up an oration so powerful on his behalf. Not only did Clinton utter the words 'Barack Obama' 15 times, they came in his first sentence and his last, and there were long riffs about the candidate in between."

Bill Clinton strode onstage to Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop" and promised that "America must always be a place called Hope," endorsing Barack Obama as an inheritor to the spirit of his first presidential run."

The New York Daily News' cover: "My man Bam."

The New York Times notes that Joe Biden accepted his party's VP nomination "with an ode to his middle-class upbringing and a blistering attack on Senator John McCain. On tax policy and the war in Iraq, on health care and terrorism, on the minimum wage and on Russia, Mr. Biden said, the contrast was clear between Mr. McCain and the Democratic presidential nominee, Senator Barack Obama."

More: Mr. Biden, who referred to his childhood struggle with stuttering, made a few verbal slips, including referring to Mr. McCain as 'George.' 'Freudian slip, folks,' he said. 'Freudian slip.' … And in another apparent slip, he also referred to $200 million in taxes on corporations when he meant to say $200 billion in tax cuts for companies."

More on Biden's speech: "It was red-meat stuff for the 4,233 Democratic delegates packed into the Pepsi Center for the party's national convention, many of whom were looking to Biden to fill a role they say presidential nominee Barack Obama badly needs - that of an aggressive and experienced attacker. 'The choice in this election is clear,' Biden said. 'These times require more than a good soldier. They require a wise leader.'"

John Kerry, the party's nominee four years ago, went after both the Bush Administration and the McCain camp with fervor last night, NBC's Abigail Williams observes. "They misread the threat and misled the country! Instead of freedom, it's Hamas, Hezbollah, the Taliban and dictators everywhere that are on the march. North Korea can build more bombs, and Iran is defiantly chasing one," he said.

Speaking with unusual precision, Kerry soothed nagging fears about Obama's foreign policy experience while bringing doubt to McCain's. "When Barack Obama promised to honor the best traditions of both parties and talk to our enemies, John McCain scoffed, George bush called it the false comfort of appeasement, but today Bush's diplomats are doing exactly what Obama said, talking with Iran so who can we trust to keep America safe?"

The New York Times reports that McCain "has decided on his running mate, two Republican strategists in contact with Mr. McCain's campaign said Wednesday. He is expected to reveal his choice at 11 a.m. Friday at a rally at a basketball arena in Dayton, Ohio… Republicans close to the campaign said that the top contenders remained the same three men who have been the source of speculation for weeks: former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and, possibly, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut."

Speaking of Lieberman, Politico's Martin writes that Karl Rove called the Connecticut senator to urge him to withdraw his name from VP consideration. "Lieberman dismissed the request… Lieberman 'laughed at the suggestion and certainly did not call [McCain] on it," said one source familiar with the details. 'Rove called Lieberman,' recounted a second source. 'Lieberman told him he would NOT make that call.'"

NBC/NJ's Matthew E. Berger yesterday wondered if McCain's three-day VP swing (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) actually rules out Lieberman since he famously doesn't campaign on the Sabbath. Yet Berger notes that the McCain schedule has the campaign leaving Dayton en route to Pittsburgh by bus on Friday beginning at 2:00 p.m. It is a four-and-a-half hour drive, so they would be able to arrive in Pittsburgh before Shabbat begins at 7:38 p.m., according to chabad.org, if they leave close to on time.
 
And while McCain and Lieberman are scheduled to be down most of the day Saturday, the rally in Washington, PA is scheduled for 6:00 pm. The Sabbath does not end Saturday until 8:37 p.m. It would be a long time to keep a crowd waiting, but not completely out of the realm of possibilities.

The McCain campaign released a Web video hit against Obama that's reminiscent of one he unveiled against Romney before the New Hampshire primary. It contains images of violence and terrorism and questions Obama's ability to lead.

From NBC's Luke Russert
While Joe Biden's speech was no doubt important, Bill Clinton was once again the story of the night. Greeted by throngs of boisterous supporters who did not stop clapping for five minutes, Clinton delivered a speech that many felt he was incapable of giving, a speech praising his wife's former opponent Barack Obama.  

The most significant line of the night was: "Sixteen years ago . . . we prevailed in a campaign in which the Republicans said I was too young and too inexperienced to be Commander-in-Chief." By directly comparing himself to Obama, he reversed the past seventeen months of casting doubt on Obama's readiness to lead. Personally, Clinton amazes me. No matter what he does or whom he upsets, he always manages to come back and be accepted. By ripping Obama for the past seventeen months, Clinton had burned many bridges. Amazingly they were rebuilt tonight.  

On to Biden. To me, the speech sounded like an intervention. My colleague Domenico Montanaro gave me the title, "an intervention for the country." And that is what the speech was. It wasn't fiery or loud. It was calm, cool and almost pleaded for a Republican-free America.

The star of the night was Beau Biden. Maybe I'm biased towards sons who talk about their fathers, but Beau Biden straight dominated and owned the room. He was personable, authentic and came across as a leader. I'll say tonight: Beau Biden just launched his 2014 Senate campaign. Obama came out at the end and looked hip with the mike in his hand and not speaking behind the podium. Obama gave a little teaser to the adoring crowd but clearly all was saved for tomorrow's performance.

Well, I got up at 3:15am this morning to do the Today show, so I am checking out. I'll be back tomorrow, live from Invesco Field for one of the most highly anticipated speeches of the 21st century.

REGISTER TO VOTE IF YOU ARE 18.

You can see  more of Luke's reporting on the iCue Web site.

From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones
DENVER, Colo. -- Barack Obama surprised the crowd in the convention hall Wednesday night, appearing on stage after running mate Joe Biden's speech.

"Hello, Democrats!" he shouted to applause. "I want everybody to now understand that I am so proud to have Joe Biden and Jill Biden and Beau Biden and Mama Biden and the while Biden family with me on this journey to take America back."
 
Moments before the senator took the stage, volunteers passed out "Obama-Biden" signs.  A roar went through the hall as he entered and people scrambled to snap photos.

He praised the Delaware senator for his speech and again complimented his wife and his former rival Hillary Clinton, as well as Bill Clinton, who spoke earlier in the night

"I think Pres. Bill Clinton reminded us of what it's like when you've got a president who actually puts people first," he said. "Thank you Pres. Clinton."

Obama closed by saying the convention was moving to Mile High Stadium to "make sure that everybody who wants to come can join in the party and join in the effort to take America back."

Afterwards, "We are Family" played as Biden's family joined Obama and Biden on the stage.

From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones
IN THE SKY OVER COLORADO (Earlier) -- Campaign chief strategist David Axelrod gave reporters a preview of the speech Obama will give Thursday night at Invesco Field.

"The speech is substantially written but as with all Obama speeches, he'll be refining it and buffing it up and working on it, I'm sure, right until the very end," Axelrod said during a briefing near the end of the flight from Montana to Denver today.

Obama began thinking about tomorrow's speech during his vacation in Hawaii, and had been the chief writer, crafting a first draft and then working with others, including speechwriter Jon Favreau.

"[Obama's] the best speechwriter in the group, and he knows what he wants to say and he feels strongly about that," said Axelrod, who explained that the senator usually writes a draft in long-hand and then types it into his computer.

He said the speech would lay out the case for change and set the stakes in the election. Obama will talk about "the risks of continuing down the road we're on, which is plainly what Sen. McCain is offering. And he's gonna talk about an alternative path that's rooted in the best of what this country is and the kind of future that we can build if we take it."
 
Obama's goal is to talk to the American people directly about the challenges the country faces what it is gonna take to solve them, Axelrod said, adding that he would not shy away from drawing contrasts with John McCain on such issues as the economy and foreign policy. 

Axelrod's response to the McCain campaign's criticism of the Democratic convention as a celebrity phenomenon suggested he felt the Republican did not have standing to make such remarks. "I know that Sen. McCain and his people are shooting barbs about the opulence of our convention from the mountaintop in Sedona at the McCain estate," he said. "I don't think that warrants a response."

He could not say how long the speech would be, because it was still being edited and said that while Obama was grateful to Hillary Clinton for her support and her strong speech, he did not know whether the senator would talk about his former rival on Thursday.

Axelrod said the speeches by Bill Clinton in 1992, Ronald Reagan in 1980, and John F. Kennedy in 1960 had "particular interest" for Obama as he searched for inspiration. And he repeated a comment Obama made earlier in the week -- that this speech would not be like the one he delivered in 2004 when he was new to the national stage.

Obama will be speaking on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, but Axelrod would not say whether the senator would make any reference to that historic address.

From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones
FROM THE FLOOR
DENVER, Colo. -- Constance Eve, a former English professor who runs a supportive housing program for single women in Buffalo, N.Y., was pleased with Bill Clinton's speech and spoke emotionally about her love of the former president and his wife.

"The Clintons are superb people," she gushed.

Eve, who said she was more than 70-years old, said she had voted for Hillary Clinton in the primary but was getting behind Barack Obama.

"We have to," she said. "We have to."

NBC's Mara Schiavocampo went to the floor of the Democratic National Convention and got reaction from delegates and attendees on Clinton's speech last night.

And what are bloggers like the Daily Kos' Markos Moulitsas and even Darryl Hannah up to?

From MSNBC.com's Tom Curry
In a breakfast pep talk to Democratic donors this morning at the Brown Palace Hotel here in Denver, New Hampshire Senate candidate Jeanne Shaheen said her opponent, first-term Republican Sen. John Sununu was until last week the Senate's most endangered Republican.

"But when Ted Stevens got indicted I think that maybe" put Alaskan Stevens at the top of the endangered list, she noted.

"We're hoping for an indictment against Sununu, but it hasn't happened yet," she told the crowd.

When I asked her as she was exiting the donors' event what she meant by the "hoping for an indictment" comment, Shaheen got flustered and said, "Oh no, I was kidding. So I should probably not have said that. I was just -- trying to be funny."

Sununu defeated Shaheen in 2002.

She said her comment was not intended to be an allusion to the 2002 phone-jamming case in which three Republican operatives were found guilty of violating federal communications law by arranging for the flooding of Democratic and union phone lines -- disrupting Democratic get-out-the-vote efforts and perhaps helping elect Sununu.

Helping make the case for more Democratic money to be poured into the Shaheen-Sununu battle, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D- Minn., in her introduction of Shaheen told the Democratic financiers that "one thing you might not know about this race in New Hampshire -- it is actually in the most expensive media market of any of our targeted races -- you might not think that," but she explained "you need to buy Boston television. And Jeanne is just ripping it up in New Hampshire. Everywhere I go, I hear people talking about her."

From NBC/NJ's Matthew E. Berger
The McCain campaign reportedly plans to roll out its vice presidential choice throughout the weekend with rallies at sports arenas in Ohio on Friday, Pennsylvania on Saturday, and Missouri on Sunday.
 
If the plans are to be believed, it may very well rule out the potential for Sen. Joe Lieberman to be McCain's running mate. Lieberman, a religious Jew, does not campaign on Saturdays and most likely would not drive in the bus that is transporting McCain and his new VP. Lieberman was known to even skip his official Senate nomination at the Connecticut Democratic convention because it was held on a Saturday, and he adhered to the Sabbath while running with Al Gore in 2000 as well. He does vote when the Senate is in session on Saturdays, but walks to the Capitol.
 
Certainly, Lieberman could skip the Saturday event and rejoin McCain on Sunday outside of St. Louis. But it would be an awkward way to roll out an already controversial running mate.

From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones
BILLINGS, MT -- Obama told a group of veterans and military families here today that McCain's long career of service was not enough to earn their votes, arguing the Arizona senator would not fight for ordinary Americans.

"I honor John McCain's service to our country, You know, he served in uniform with honor and distinction," he said. "We owe him gratitude for that. But we don't owe him our vote."

He then laid out what he said would be the choice in this election, saying McCain's tax policies and his plans for the economy would leave average families out.

"Do we have a president who gets that people are struggling everyday, who gets that veterans are struggling everyday? Or do we have somebody who doesn't get it?," he asked. "Who wants to give more tax cuts to the big corporations including Exxon-Mobil? $300 billion worth, while leave 100 million people without any tax relief whatsoever?"

The senator was introduced by Sen. Jon Tester, who will fly with him to Denver this afternoon. And Obama praised Gov. Brian Schweitzer for his convention speech last night -- and again complimented Hillary Clinton as well as his wife, Michelle.

"We've had a great convention so far. We've got -- we've had two powerful women speak back to back on each night with Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton," he said.

Obama spoke for about 20 minutes before taking questions on veterans' issues, making college affordable, and dealing with high energy prices, arguing that McCain had been "asleep at the switch" when it came to promoting renewable energy.

He reiterated his stance on nuclear energy, contending that while it should be part of the approach to carbon-free energy, it would be hard to expand the use of it until storage and disposal issues are resolved. And he hit McCain for his position on a proposal to store nuclear waste at Nevada's Yucca Mountain.

"Not surprisingly, a whole bunch of people in Nevada were like 'hold on a second.' John McCain is in favor of Yucca Mountain, except it turned out that he didn't want the stuff shipped through Arizona to get to Nevada," he said to laughter from the crowd. "Somebody said we could have used some of his houses as -- That wasn't my joke, that was this gentleman right here, so I'm not gonna take credit for that one."

The McCain campaign has said Obama was against nuclear power, but the Democrat sought to make it clear that was not the case.

"I do think that nuclear power's gonna have to be part of the overall mix. We can't take anything off the shelf," he said.

McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds emailed this response to Obama's speech: "Barack Obama's attacks are no substitute for experience and good judgment. Sen. Obama's opposition to the surge, his refusal to support an 'all of the above' energy policy, and his opposition to tax relief for small businesses shows that he lacks the experience and judgment to lead. As Obama's allies gives speeches about national security at his national convention, voters know the world is too dangerous to elect a commander-in-chief with Obama's inexperience. As Hillary Clinton said, speeches are not the same thing as experience."

From NBC's Katie Primm
DENVER -- Last night, when Hillary Clinton walked out on stage to begin her speech, only three people were leaning over from their barstools listening at the Avenue Grill here in downtown Denver. But by the time she finished, a crowd of people burst into applause.

The clientele at the Avenue Grill was a mixed bag. Some had supported Hillary from the beginning, even going out to caucus for her in February. Others had been anxiously awaiting her departure from the race so Obama could become the nominee.

But as Clinton spoke, the reactions were the same -- nodding heads, laughter, applause, and the repeated phrase "She nailed it."

Those three diehard Clinton supporters who had been glued to the TV before she even came out admired her composure and likened her to "a laser beam when she speaks" for her contact with the audience. (However, they were not fans of the orange pantsuit and thought that was her biggest misstep.)

More people started listening in earnest when her "No way, no how, no McCain" line prompted one patron to shout out "Start attacking -- let's go girl!"

And that's when the Obama supporters began to wander over as well.

One woman in particular related that she had been almost ostracized from her other friends when she revealed her initial support for Obama. As a middle-aged white woman, she said many of her friends told her she was betraying her gender by not voting Hillary. But those friends have come around and are now fully supporting Obama because, as she said, "there is no other option."

From NBC/NJ's Matthew E. Berger
The Obamas and the Bidens will take their show on the road beginning Friday, with a bus tour that will start in Pennsylvania -- and will later head to Ohio and Michigan. The tour, entitled "On the Road to Change," will be the first campaign appearances for both candidates since formally accepting the Democratic Party nomination and will include both Michelle Obama and Jill Biden.

Details for the events have not been finalized. An Obama campaign press release said the tour would focus on economic issues. It will serve as counterprogramming as the Republian convention kicks off in Minnesota.

From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro
DENVER, Colo. -- With a backdrop of PUMAs on the prowl here, Clinton donors upset they're not staying at the Ritz-Carlton (as the New York Times wrote), and word that Bill Clinton won't attend Obama's speech tomorrow night, Hillary Clinton last night delivered on two fronts: 1) she gave a full-throated endorsement of Obama, and 2) she made it clear to her troops that voting for McCain was unacceptable. "No way. No how. No McCain," she said. As some Hillary watchers told us, it was her finest speech. It was an impressive balance of anti-McCain sound bites and the case for the Democratic way of governing. She really did strike a Goldilocks balance of preserving her own political future and being for Obama. Yet even better than her speech were the pictures on TV. For all the tension and hard feelings that exist here in Denver, you couldn't tell when you watched her speech. It looked like a unified party. To be sure, last night's speech won't end some of the tension and hard feelings. But both ObamaNation and Hillaryland got what they wanted out of last night's speech. (PUMAs, for those that don't know, are the "Party Unity My A--" crowd -- ardent Hillary backers, refusing to vote for Obama.)

VIDEO: Clinton urges her supporters to back Obama. NBC's David Gregory Reports.

*** When your staff doesn't do you any favors: All that said, who in Hillaryland thought it was a good idea to step on the best speech of her political career by giving blind quotes about a future presidential campaign? She got tremendous accolades from Team Obama, but some Clinton staffer had to spill beans about the speech's motivation to the New York Times. "Mrs. Clinton is almost certain to run for president in 2012 if Mr. Obama fails this time, several Clinton advisers said Tuesday, and any such plan could possibly founder if the Clintons' negative feelings show through this year." It's actually a good example of how no good deed goes unpunished by her staff, and it's another reminder of how undisciplined her campaign would be right now had she won the Dem nomination. It's no wonder there's so little trust between the candidates when staff  -- particularly hers, in this case -- undermines her unity efforts.

VIDEO: NBC's Andrea Mitchell and Chuck Todd weign in on Clinton's DNC speech and her husband's upcoming speech.

*** Just askin': Did anyone else notice those "Hillary" signs that had the "hillaryclinton.com" address at the bottom? Always be debt retiring! Indeed, immediately after her speech, her folks sent out an email to contribute money.

*** The gloves come off: After last night's round of speeches, we don't think anyone is now going to wonder whether the Democratic convention is going too soft on McCain. In speech after speech, Democrats unloaded on the Arizona senator. They brought up his multiple houses, pointed out that he has said he doesn't understand the economy, and (of course) tied him to President Bush at every opportunity. Beyond those attacks, though, they hit him hard in two ways that could end up proving especially damaging -- because McCain's campaign doesn't seem to have a clear response to them. The first was Mark Warner's future-vs.-the past hit. "The race for the future is on," he said, "And it won't be won with a president who is stuck in the past." The McCain camp issued this tepid response to defend a candidate who admits he's not a big computer user: "Whether it's been rooting out corruption in politics, fighting global climate change or calling for a new strategy in Iraq John McCain has a record of making bipartisan change, and Barack Obama does not." The second hard hit came with this line by Hillary: "[McCain] still thinks it's okay when women don't earn equal pay for equal work." How does a candidate losing women by double digits respond? We'll find out next week…

*** Schweitzer's stem-winders: By the way, last night's keynote was supposed to be Mark Warner, but the governor with unlimited ambition who lit up the hall was Montana's Brian Schweitzer. Who knew he could give the rah-rah stem-winder? While he didn't get much attention from the networks, he was on in the 10:00 pm hour, and he got the crowd so worked up, the anchors had to take notice. One of the few surprises so far…

*** Biden's big moment: Now we turn to tonight's program… Before last Thursday, it appeared Joe Biden would never get a moment like this. He wanted it, ran for president twice to get it, but it seemed the dream was going to die. And then, Obama gave Biden political redemption. The Delaware senator has been preparing for this moment for half his life. He's been a senator for more than half his life. As he likes to point out, he was the Obama of the '88 campaign. Biden may have the unenviable task of having to follow Bill Clinton tonight, but if anyone is up to the task, it's him. Ask any union member about Biden's ability to bring down a house. He's got it in him; let's see if he can pull it off.

*** Elvis is in the building: We swear that tonight's featured speech is Joe Biden, seriously, it is. But it's not the speech that's getting the early buzz -- that belongs to the anticipated remarks of Bill Clinton. What will he say? How will he say it? Will he make an Obama pitch or a generic argument for the Democratic way of governing? Our sense: Bill's a competitive guy, he wants to show Obama why he'd be an asset and why he might be better suited at making the case against McCain.  The one thing that would surprise us: If someone ends up describing the speech as unremarkable.

VIDEO: Romney appears on Morning Joe, handicapping Biden as a VP contender.

*** No rest for the weary: Politico reports that McCain's pick is coming Friday, and the CW is back pointing in Romney's direction, who happens to be in Denver. He was pretty solid today on Morning Joe, talking up the need for McCain to carry Michigan. He sounded like a guy ready for the call.

*** A good day for the DSCC, a bad day (maybe) for the DCCC: Alaska held its primaries last night, offering the possibility that the state's longest-serving Republicans -- Ted Stevens and Don Young, both whom face legal/ethical troubles -- could go down to defeat. Well, it turns out that one may. Per the Anchorage Daily News, Young trails GOP challenger Sean Parnell by fewer than 200 votes. A Parnell win would complicate the Democrats' chances of winning the seat. Somewhat surprisingly, however, Stevens -- who is indicted and faces a trial on corruption charges in the fall -- easily won his primary. And that's good news for Democratic challenger Mark Begich, who now seems even more in the driver's seat in that contest. [***UPDATE*** Young is actually now ahead by 145 votes with 429 of 438 precincts reporting. Democrats are gearing up either way, believing that Parnell's inability to pull away from a candidate under investigation by the FBI, signifies, one strategist said, "the more Alaskans saw of Parnell, the less they liked him."]

*** Today's convention schedule: Wednesday's theme is Securing America's Future (a focus on foreign affairs, as well as a tribute to veterans, active duty military, and military families). The marquee speakers are Bill Clinton and Joe Biden. Also speaking: Sen. Evan Bayh, Sen. Jack Reed, former Sen. Tom Daschle, Sen. John Kerry, Gov. Bill Richardson, Rep. Chet Edwards, and ex-congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth. Also, the formal roll-call vote takes place in the afternoon.

*** The RNC's response: Rudy Giuliani, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, and former Treasury Secretary Rosario Marin hold a press conference in Denver to rebut the Democrats on the issue of national security.

*** Also in Denver: Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer and Dem Senate candidates hold a press conference at 1:15 pm ET at the Colorado Convention Center to discuss the upcoming Senate races, 1:15 pm ET... Officials with the Western Majority Project discuss energy issues at 4:30 pm ET at the Colorado Convention Center.

*** On the trail: McCain is in Arizona, where he does some filming for his campaign. Obama holds a discussion with military families in Billings, MT.

Countdown to GOP convention: 5 days
Countdown to Election Day 2008: 69 days
Countdown to Inauguration Day 2009: 146 days

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 Washington Post's Balz writes,
"Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton roused the Democratic National Convention
here Tuesday night with sharp criticism of Sen. John McCain and a
full-throated endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama ... urging Democrats to
put the long and bitter primary battle behind them and unite to take
back the White House in November.

But you think this will make some in the Obama campaign happy?
"At the same time, advisers said, Mrs. Clinton wanted to ensure that
her star turn at the convention could never be portrayed as
insufficiently enthusiastic, should Mr. Obama lose the election in part
because swaths of her supporters ultimately did not vote for him. Mrs.
Clinton is almost certain to run for president in 2012 if Mr. Obama
fails this time, several Clinton advisers said Tuesday, and any such
plan could possibly founder if the Clintons' negative feelings show
through this year."

The AP's Ron Fournier writes, "By the time
she was done, Sen. Clinton had delivered a strong, convincing
affirmation of Obama and, just as importantly, a thumping of McCain.
She did her part. Her husband takes the stage Wednesday and then Obama
must make his case to the American people that he will be ready on Day
One." More: "Clinton seemed to say, even if Obama is everything she
said during the campaign, he's still a better man than McCain. The
speech was as much of an attack on McCain as it was an embrace of
Obama. 'We don't need four more years of the last eight years,' she
said."

The Boston Globe
calls Clinton's speech an "impassioned call for unity." "In an address
closely scrutinized for perceived slights against Obama, Clinton threw
herself fully behind the man she battled and often criticized during a
long and at times bitter primary campaign."

Peter Canellos:
"This was a Clinton speech that didn't require any parsing of words. In
a fiery call to arms last night, Hillary Clinton tried to clear up the
one thing that hadn't been clear before: Her level of enthusiasm for
making Barack Obama president. In past speeches, she has offered
sincere endorsements of Obama, but then gone on to extol the
accomplishments of her own campaign. This time, perhaps sensing a
greater urgency, she offered repeated appeals on Obama's behalf."

The New York Post puts Clinton on the cover, calls her: "Bam Ma'am."

The New York Daily News' cover: "Heal-ary!"

"Obama on Tuesday applauded and cheered former rival Hillary Rodham Clinton as she declared her support for his candidacy, and urged her own backers to rally behind Obama in his contest with Republican John McCain. 'She did a great job. I think she made the case for why we're going to be unified in November and why we're going to win this election. She was outstanding,' Obama said after Clinton addressed delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Denver."

Biden said that Hillary Clinton delivered a "tremendous" speech last night, saying that the party will be united. "She knocked it out of the park," Biden said when asked by NBC's Andrea Mitchell about Clinton's message. "This is a unified party. This is a unified convention." Biden said he spoke with his colleague from New York for 20 minutes tonight, but didn't elaborate on what the two discussed.

The presumptive Democratic veep made the comments as he took his first look at the convention floor from the podium in preparation for his speech tonight. He has no public events scheduled Wednesday, saying that his speech is "almost done."

The AP fact-checks some of the Democratic speeches, including this applauded one-liner from Clinton: "And in 2008, he (McCain) still thinks it's OK when women don't earn equal pay for equal work." "THE FACTS: In April, Senate Republicans killed legislation aimed at removing limits on how long workers can wait before suing their employers for pay discrimination. The bill was designed to address a Supreme Court decision that threw out a discrimination case brought by an Alabama woman. McCain said he opposed the measure because it would lead to more lawsuits, although he was campaigning that day and did not vote."

With his jaw clenched and eyes welled up with tears, the expression on Bill Clinton's face told more then a thousand stump speeches ever could, NBC's Louis Burgdorf observed.

Pegged to the foreign policy night of Obama's convention, the McCain camp says it's up with a new TV ad -- to air in key states (read: not it's regular battleground buy) -- that hits Obama on the issue of Iran. It goes, "Iran. Radical Islamic government. Known sponsors of terrorism. Developing nuclear capabilities to "generate power" but threatening to eliminate Israel. Obama says Iran is a "tiny" country, "doesn't pose a serious threat." Terrorism, destroying Israel, those aren't "serious threats"? Obama -- dangerously unprepared to be president.

Some nuggets on tonight's big speakers:
Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE, Obama's vice presidential pick)
-- Delaware's longest-serving senator. He was first elected to the Senate when he was 29; five weeks later, his wife and infant daughter were killed in a car accident.
-- Currently chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; also chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee during the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominees Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas.
-- A son of Scranton, as the Obama campaign is emphasizing, his grandfather was a state senator in battleground Pennsylvania.
-- Ran for president in 1988, but bowed out after he was accused of plagiarizing a speech from a British politician.
-- Suffered a brain aneurysm in 1988.
-- Son Beau Biden was elected Delaware attorney general in 2006. He is also going to be deployed to Iraq in October as a member of the National Guard.
-- Advocate of Amtrak -- commutes to 80 minutes each way daily to DC from Wilmington; he's come to know the Amtrak crew workers personally and hosts an annual Christmas dinner for them.
-- Used against him by the right, this quote defending Obama's belief that Afghanistan is the central front on the war on terrorism: "If John wants to know where the bad guys live, come back with me to Afghanistan," Biden said. "We know where they reside. And it's not in Iraq."
-- Affectionately called "The Champ" by his father, a car dealership manager.
-- The gregarious Biden who famously answered, "Yes," in an NBC News debate about whether or not he could keep his gaffes to himself, actually suffered from a stutter as a child.
-- Named his dog, "Senator" when he was in college.
-- What's with Joe Biden and root canals? In 1991, during Clarence Thomas' hearings -- while he was chair of the judiciary committee -- Biden had to go to the dentist twice in the middle of the night for a root canal, so he wouldn't miss any hearings. Ironically, he found out about being selected by Obama as his vice presidential pick when he was with his wife at the dentist, where she was getting a root canal.

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)
-- The 2004 Democratic nominee endorsed Obama Jan. 10 -- after Hillary Clinton's New Hampshire primary victory.
-- Volunteer on Ted Kennedy's first Senate campaign in 1962
-- In 1972, he was the only Democratic candidate for Congress to lose a district that George McGovern won.
-- Facing first primary challenger in his 24-year Senate career, long-shot Ed O'Reilly
-- Criticized Bill Clinton's rhetoric leading up to the South Carolina primary: "I mean, being an ex-president does not give you license to abuse the truth, and I think that over the last days it's been over the top."

Bill Clinton
-- The former president is a New York superdelegate. No word on if he, like his wife, will cast his roll call vote for Obama. And it's unclear if he will attend Obama's speech at Invesco.
-- Compared Barack Obama's win in South Carolina to Jesse Jackson's, inciting charges of inserting race into the campaign: "Jesse Jackson won South Carolina in '84 and '88. Jackson ran a good campaign. And Obama ran a good campaign here."
-- In the wake of the primary campaign, in which some thought he crossed a line in his criticism of Barack Obama, he's sought to repair his image, telling ABC News from Rwanda in the beginning of August: "There are things I wish I'd urged her to do, things I wish I had said, things I wish I hadn't said. But I am not a racist, I never made a racist comment, and I didn't attack him personally."
-- In the same interview, he also appeared reluctant to give a full defense of Obama's readiness to be president: "You can argue that nobody is ready to be president. I certainly learned a lot about the job in the first year, He clearly can inspire and motivate people and energize them which is a very important part of being president. And he's smart as a whip so there's nothing he can't learn."
-- As recently as Tuesday, The Hill reported Bill Clinton seemed to question whether Democrats were making the right decision in nominating Obama, posing a hypothetical question to a group of foreign dignitaries in Denver: "Suppose for example you're a voter. And you've got candidate X and candidate Y. Candidate X agrees with you on everything, but you don't think that person can deliver on anything. Candidate Y disagrees with you on half the issues, but you believe that on the other half, the candidate will be able to deliver. For whom would you vote?" He added, "This has nothing to do with what's going on now."

From NBC's Luke Russert
Another busy day today but the night was capped with an unbelievable story. I rush to the Pepsi Center and get in the doors just before Senator Clinton's speech. After the speech, the press scopes out the second floor to see President Clinton and try to get a comment from him.

After about 15 minutes of waiting, I see the trademark white hair and President Clinton walking down the hallway flanked by at least a dozen Secret Service guards. I quickly jockey for position on the left side of the hallway and avoid the Secret Service's attempt to move me out of the way. I catch Clinton's eye and promptly put out my hand. Not only does he shake it, he gives me a big bear hug.

He stops in his tracks while a blitzkrieg of flash bulbs go off and asks me, "How'd my girl do?" I respond, "Well, Mr. President. Judging from the crowd's reaction, pretty good." He then says, "She did great, I'm so proud of her. She hit a home run. Home run. Home run."

I walk with the president and long-time Clinton friend and trusted advisor, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee Terry McAuliffe. We board the elevator with a dozen Secret Service agents and proceed to exit the building. On the ride down I mention to McAuliffe that Senator Clinton seemed sad at the end speech and ask if her speech would give her closure. He responds, "She was over this a month ago."

A little while later, President Clinton's communications director Matt McKenna says the rest of the ride is "off the record." We exit the elevator and President Clinton enters his SUV, after taking a picture with some admirers. He then gets out of the car and goes to another part of the Pepsi Center.

It was an incredible experience and one that I will not soon forget. All eyes will be on the 42nd president of the United States tomorrow night when he addresses the convention and one can only imagine what type of speech he will give, supportive of Obama or supportive of his Democratic Party. If you're 18, REGISTER TO VOTE.

You can see  more of Luke's reporting on the iCue Web site.

 

There was lots of focus on Hillary, but Mark Warner was last night's keynoter: "Warner rebuked President Bush and GOP nominee-to-be John McCain, but his address was hardly a summons to political arms against them. He mentioned McCain's name only twice, and he said he'd learned in the cell phone business that made him millions that a strategy of tearing down the competition doesn't suffice."

The New York Daily News' Hinckley: "Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, the keynote speaker at a Democratic convention that has so far come down to two glowing stars, one revered warhorse and a lot of single-battery flashlights, exuded the quiet confidence of a man who wouldn't be surprised to find himself back at the same podium someday in a different situation."

Warner is the top story of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The Boston Globe's editorial board goes after cable news: "The best way to watch a political convention is on C-Span. That way Americans can make their own judgments unfiltered, without being told what to think by the nattering nabobs of TV commentary. The latest 'narrative' making its way around the Democratic convention here is that the Obama campaign hasn't learned the lesson of John Kerry's 2004 convention, in which the nominee failed to directly attack President Bush. CNN commentator Soledad O'Brien even asked late Monday night whether Michelle Obama's introductory speech shouldn't have been tougher on the Republicans. Of course, if the early days of the convention had presented a more negative tone, the talking heads would be complaining that the Democrats can only say what they are against, not what they are for."

The McCain campaign may contend that Obama is the "biggest celebrity"
in the presidential race, NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy notes, but its
candidate has spent most of this week hobnobbing with as many GOP
celebrities as his campaign can find.

On Monday, McCain kicked off the Democratic Convention with an
endorsement from Puerto Rican Reggaeton star Daddy Yankee. He then
hopped on a plane to fly up north for a fundraiser in Sacramento with
Patricia Heaton (from "Everybody Loves Raymond") and Arnold
Schwarzenegger. Heaton then traveled to Burbank, CA on McCain's
Straight Talk Jet Monday afternoon to attend a fundraiser at the
Beverly Hilton featuring stars from both big and small screens. Those
in attendance included Robert Duvall, Gary Sinise, Stephen Baldwin,
Craig T. Nelson, Dean Cain (Lois and Clark), Jon Cryer, and long-time
McCain supporter Wilford Brimley.

Then on Tuesday, McCain raised money in his hometown of Phoenix and was
introduced by TV and movie star Angie Harmon and her husband, long time
NY Giants defensive back Jason Sehorn. Capping off the star-studded
start to the week, McCain took a brief afternoon trip to San Diego
yesterday, making a surprise appearance at a fundraiser hosted by John
Voigt.

Politico reports
that McCain "is planning to rollout his vice-presidential nominee in
three battleground states this weekend, with large-scale rallies
planned for Ohio, Pennsylvania and Missouri, according to aides and
advisers. The GOP nominee-in-waiting will move to immediately change
the campaign conversation from Barack Obama's football stadium
acceptance speech Thursday to the new Republican ticket, to be revealed
at a noontime Friday rally in a Dayton, Ohio, basketball arena. McCain
and his running mate will then travel by bus to Pennsylvania, where
they'll hold an outdoor event at a minor league baseball stadium in
Washington County, just southwest of Pittsburgh. On Sunday, the duo
will head to suburban St. Louis for another event to be held at a minor
league baseball stadium, this one in O'Fallon, Mo."

Yesterday, McCain assailed Obama on several fronts, spoke of the Cold War -- and got in a POW reference. Some excerpts: "'The next president must bring to office a clear-eyed view of our nation's role in the world as the defender of the oppressed and a force for peace,' McCain told the American Legion national convention, which Obama is to address today.

"The presumptive Republican nominee pointed out that Obama asserted in his Berlin speech last month that the Cold War ended because major nations came together. 'Now I missed a few years of the Cold War as a guest of one of our adversaries, but as I recall the world was deeply divided during the Cold War - between the side of freedom and the side of tyranny. The Cold War ended not because the world stood as one but because the great democracies came together, bound together by sustained and decisive American leadership."

"[W]herever Romney went yesterday, from a downtown luncheon with several dozen reporters, to the Republican Party's 'Not Ready '08' press conference, he faced questions about whether his primary-campaign attacks on McCain will hurt his chances to become the vice presidential nominee. Romney's responses, monitored by McCain's aides, sometimes sounded like a dress rehearsal for the job."

Senator Barack Obama's campaign has been aggressively fighting back against an independent advocacy group's TV ad linking the Democratic nominee with Ayers… The advocacy group's main benefactor is a Texas billionaire who has given money to John McCain and other Republicans and who was also one of the main funders of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which went after Kerry.

Obama's "campaign has warned TV station managers not to run the ad and has asked the US Department of Justice to intervene. The Obama camp argued that the organization, the American Issues Project, is violating the law. Fox News and CNN have declined to air the anti-Obama ad, the AP says. But by Monday afternoon, the ad had run about 150 times in local markets in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia and Michigan, according to TNS Media Intelligence/Campaign Media Analysis Group, an ad tracking firm."

From NBC's Lauren Appelbaum
Unlike last night, speakers at the Democratic convention this evening took off their gloves, attacking McCain and linking him to President Bush.

Pennsylvania on the attack
Although Clinton won Pennsylvania during the primaries and Gov. Ed Rendell enthusiastically supported the New York senator, both Rendell and Sen. Bob Casey took a lead in attacks with forceful language. Rendell went after the lobbyists working for McCain's campaign.
 
"If
you look past the speeches of John McCain, here's what you see: Many of
John McCain's top advisers top advisers worked as lobbyists for the oil
and gas companies. I guess that explains why he wants to give another
$4 billion-dollar tax break to oil companies. And if you look past his
speeches to his record, one thing is absolutely clear. John McCain has
never believed in renewable energy and he won't make it part of
America's future."
 
He also linked McCain to Bush on his energy
policy. "It's clear, the only thing green in John McCain's energy plans
are the billions of dollars he's promising in more tax cuts to oil
companies. And the only thing that he'll recycle is the same failed
George Bush approach to energy policy."
 
Casey, as mentioned earlier,
called McCain Bush's sidekick. "The people of Pennsylvania can't afford
four more years of Bush-Cheney economics, and you know what -- with
John McCain, that's exactly what we'd get. John McCain calls himself a
maverick, but he votes with George Bush over 90 percent of the time.
That's not a maverick. That's a sidekick."

Using McCain's words against him
Meanwhile, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano used McCain's words against him. On the stump, McCain often jokes about former Arizonans who failed in their attempts to become president, saying mothers in the state have almost given up on telling their children they can do anything, even become president. Napolitano said not so fast, McCain.
 
"Arizonans are also proud of their political tradition. From Barry Goldwater to Mo Udall to Bruce Babbitt. Now, there's a pattern here. There's a pattern here. Barry Goldwater ran for president and he lost. Mo Udall ran for president and he lost. Bruce Babbitt ran for president and he lost. Now speaking for myself and for at least this next election, this is one Arizona tradition I'd like to see continue."
 
Napolitano continued, attacking McCain once again using his own words. "Just as I am proud of Arizona, I like to be positive about my fellow Arizonans. So I wanted to say something positive tonight about Senator McCain. When I heard him say that the economy is not issue he understands as well as he should, my problem was solved because I can say to you tonight positively that John McCain is right. He doesn't understand the economy as well as he should."
 
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm went after McCain specifically about her state. "Senator McCain came to Michigan, and he told those who had been laid off, he said well, 'Your jobs are gone and they are not coming back.' Well, I tell you what, if he's president, he's probably right. If Senator Obama and Joe Biden are president and vice president, we will create manufacturing jobs in this country." 
 
The economy
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland also hit McCain on the economy. "John McCain has no problem hitting the snooze button on the economy because he's never been a part of the middle class. And I would say to him, Sen. McCain it's time for your wakeup call because we just can't afford more of the same."
 
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer took a jab at McCain's houses: "We want an economy that works for all of us, for people who are struggling to own just one home, let alone seven homes."
 
Said New York Gov. David Peterson: "The question in this race is which of the candidates will make the change that will restore the promise of America. Is it John McCain?," Peterson asked, enticing loud no's from the audience. "No? I'm shocked. Maybe that's because John McCain continues to claim that President Bush's policies have been great for the economy. In 2007, John McCain voted with the administration 95% of the time. So if he is the answer, the question must be ridiculous.
 
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius not only linked McCain to Bush, but also said he is resorting to Karl Rove politics. "Even though John McCain has spent 26 years in Washington voting over and over again against investing in renewable energy, John McCain does support some renewables. He wants to renew the failed Bush agenda for another four years. John McCain has also renewed the Bush Rove style of politics, focus on bringing down your opponent instead of lifting America up. But as a governor who works with the Republican legislature everyday, I can tell you we can't bring about positive change unless we fix our divisive politics."
 
Women's issues
New York Rep. Nydia Velazquez passionately expressed her frustration with McCain on equal pay. "John McCain has already proven to be more of the same. He has constantly opposed opportunities for women in the workforce, saying they just need training and education. Senator McCain should know that women already earn more advanced degrees than men. Senator McCain should know that we deserve and we will demand a level playing field. John McCain will not just hold back female entrepreneurs; he will hurt all small businesses."

From NBC/NJ's Carrie Dann
DENVER, Colo. -- On the night of a powerful message of unity delivered by a resolute Hillary Clinton, you'd think that the New York senator's former staff members would be uplifted, inspired, and energized.

Not so much.
 
"Where's the nearest river I can throw myself in?" asked one forlorn former aide exiting the Pepsi Center.
 
"I might cry," said another.
 
"Let's drink."
 
Former staffers agreed that Hillary Clinton's speech was on-point, effective and exquisitely delivered. But their frustration over her endorsement of Obama, rather than the nominating speech for which they long worked in vain, was palpable.
 
Some said they might not attend Obama's Invesco Field speech on Thursday at all.

From NBC's Mark Hudspeth
Senior Obama campaign adviser Robert Gibbs said in a statement to the traveling press corps: "After leaving the house party, Sen. Obama called and talked for several minutes with Sen. Hillary Clinton, saying how grateful he was for her support, that she gave a terrific speech, and that all those he watched with in Billings, MT were moved by her video and introduction from Chelsea. Also said he loved her line 'No way, no how, no McCain.'"

"Sen. Obama also called and spoke with President Bill Clinton for several minutes, saying Sen. Clinton could not have been better and made the case for change. Obama said he knew how proud he must have been watching as he was last night watching Michelle speak and how grateful he was for their support."

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Bill Richardson took a bit of a swipe at Bill Clinton after Hillary Clinton's rousing speech.

She was "sending a signal to her supporters -- and maybe her husband -- that they should go all out for Barack Obama," Richardson told NBC's David Gregory from the convention floor.

There was friction between Clinton and Richardson during the primary season after Richardson, who served in the Clinton cabinet, came out in support of Obama. Richardson even watched the Super Bowl with Bill Clinton -- as the former president was courting his support. When Richardson threw his support to Obama, former Clinton adviser James Carville went so far as to call the New Mexico governor, "Judas."

NBC News has confirmed that Hillary Clinton will be at Obama's Invesco speech. Bill Clinton's plans, however, remain unclear.