This Ain't Your Father's Smoke-Filled Room

Sen Barack Obama (D-IL) is promising a political convention for the people. He's breaking with the tradition of accepting the Democratic nomination in front of convention floor delegates and taking his speech to an outdoor venue open to the general public. From an Obama Campaign email:

On Thursday, August 28th, he's scheduled to formally accept the Democratic nomination in a speech at the convention hall in front of the assembled delegates.

Instead, Barack will leave the convention hall and join more than 75,000 people for a huge, free, open-air event where he will deliver his acceptance speech to the American people.

Deadlock Danger

The lack of a clear front runner for the Republican Presidential nomination has party leaders worried about the first contested GOP convention in 60 years. And that could give a huge advantage to the Democrats. From the Associated Press:

Even if Republicans choose a nominee before they convene in Minneapolis-St. Paul on Sept. 1, there's a good possibility he will emerge weeks or even months after the Democratic nominee is chosen, giving Democrats an advantage in fundraising, organizing and campaigning. Congressional Republicans particularly wanted an early nominee to draw voters' attention from President Bush, whose low approval ratings could hurt the entire party in the fall.

Democrats aren't out of the woods. Democratic leaders are bracing for a long, drawn out battle between Senators Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama for their nomination. (AP)