Dem Campaign Chatter 9-1-2008

George Wenschhof

Today, on Labor Day, Obama is in Michigan and Wisconsin - He will be at a rally in Detroit and in the afternoon he will be at a BBQ in Monroe at the Plumbers and Pipefitters Hall local 671. Later he will host a "rally for America's Workers" in Milwaukee. Read more here.

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Gallup has it Obama 48%, McCain 42% - now, with hurricane Gustav hitting the gulf coast, and with a scaled back Republican Convention set to happen, will either of these events have an impact on the polling? Most likely, yes. A week from now, expect polls to show a tie or a slight McCain lead. Gallup.com has more here.

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The Republican convention today will only include the necessary call to order - also the approval of the Party Platform. It will be called to order at 4:00 PM ET and end by 6:30 PM ET. The Vice-President nominee, Alaska Governor Palin and Cindy McCain are in St. Paul, Minnesota. The LA Times has more here. As was the case with the Democratic Convention, Palin will accept the nomination on Wednesday evening.

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Anti-War Protesters to march on the Xcel Energy Center today - estimates of up to 50,000 will march to where the Republican Convention is being held even though President Bush and Vice-President Dick Chaney have already announced they will not attend the convention today due to hurricane Gustav. TheHill.com has more here.

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Clinton Strategist Howard Wolfson now on board with Obama - talk about unity! This is the guy who never stopped attacking Obama, even when everyone knew it was over for her. He now has a column in the Washington Post giving his support for Obama. Read it here. He talks about how they ridiculed his large rallies, actually knowing they could never do it. Sound familiar? Just like the current Republican "celebrity mantra" - they wish they had a candidate that motivated and inspired people to attend rallies.

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Russian President Medvedev spells out Russian Sphere of Influence - He discusses how Russia sees it's role in the world. In regard to recent events involving the republic of Georgia, he continued to recognize breakaway regions of South Osettia and Abkhazia. Keep an eye on this development. The NY Times has more here.