Last night opened the DNCC in Denver and I watched on our livestream from the Texaspolitics.tv site.  Senator Kennedy made an appearance against the advice of his doctors and clearly he was working on adrenaline. He gave a fiery speech and pledged to be on the senate floor come January.

Michelle Obama was the featured speaker of the night and she did a good job of introducing herself to America. We even got to see the kids talk to their dad via satellite.

The events are jam packed all week and we’ll be covering the goings on and reading the blogs of those that are attending. This was the first year that the DNC credentialed bloggers at the convention.

For you Dems out there who weren’t able to go to the convention, fret not. There will be a “unity” party at Scholz garden tomorrow night as Clinton gives her big speech (or throws a coup). They’ve reserved the space from 6pm-10pm, so go out and enjoy politics in the most honorable way possible… at a landmark Austin bar.

Scholz Garden:

1607 San Jacinto

474.1958

If you were awake at 3am this morning and part of the Obama team’s text messaging list, then you already know he has chosen Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware as his running mate.  Republicans are hoping the ‘loose cannon’ (he’s notorious for sometimes putting his foot in his mouth) will slip up Howard Dean style and let what comes out of his mouth determine his electability.

“There has been no harsher critic of Barack Obama’s lack of experience than Joe Biden,” said McCain spokesman Ben Porritt. “Biden has denounced Barack Obama’s poor foreign policy judgment and has strongly argued in his own words what Americans are quickly realizing — that Barack Obama is not ready to be President.”

According to a an AP news report released, Waco congressman Chet Edwards is on Obama’s short list as a potential running mate in November. KXAN Austin News is heading to Waco for reaction…you can watch the report tonight at 10.

2 attack ads have been released this week targeting each presidential candidate’s moral foundation..or at least the foundation upon which their homes were built.

The Texas Republican Partyb drew their pistols today and quickly responded to Obama’s ad criticizing the number of homes McCain has. The party came up with their own ad–this one brings us all the way to Obama’s brother’s house in Indonesia.

The TX Republican Party’s Response:

McCain plans to celebrate his 72nd birthday on August 29th by announcing who his VP will be. Names that are up in the air include Mitt Romney and Minn. Gov. Tom Pawlenty. However, McCain hasn’t ruled out Gore’s old running mate, Sen. Joe Lieberman. So, look out for the shindig folks..it’ll be happening at a rally in Ohio!

While some political insiders are speculating on the possibility of a meltdown spurred on by the Clintons during the DNC, Green Party contender Ralph Nader predicts just the opposite.  Apparently, Nader called ‘Politico’ and announced his prediction of Obama’s running mate: none other than Mrs. Clinton herself. Nader says the union is the only way for Obama to get everyone in the party on board to take on the Republicans in November.

Well, you’re in luck. Obama’s campaign manager, David Plouffe, sent out an e-mail tonight telling supporters that Obama could be close to announcing a running mate.  You can apparently be the ‘first’ to know by filling out this form.

Another politician, another extramarital affair. I can’t say I’m surprised as 3/4ths of the population apparently engages in this kind of activity. I am surprised it came out now and not while he was running for prez. According to Edward’s statement today, he admits to having an affair in 2006 with Rielle Hunter but he denies fathering her baby. However, apparently while he was running for the nomination, his campaign took care of all of her medical needs, etc.

Here is part of his statement that came out today: “In 2006, I made a serious error in judgment and conducted myself in a way that was disloyal to my family and to my core beliefs. I recognized my mistake and I told my wife that I had a liaison with another woman, and I asked for her forgiveness. Although I was honest in every painful detail with my family, I did not tell the public. When a supermarket tabloid told a version of the story, I used the fact that the story contained many falsities to deny it. But being 99% honest is no longer enough.” He continues. “But that misconduct took place for a short period in 2006. It ended then. I am and have been willing to take any test necessary to establish the fact that I am not the father of any baby, and I am truly hopeful that a test will be done so this fact can be definitively established. I only know that the apparent father has said publicly that he is the father of the baby. I also have not been engaged in any activity of any description that requested, agreed to or supported payments of any kind to the woman or to the apparent father of the baby.”

Meanwhile, if you are interested, check out the top ten political sex scandals… this is certainly not a new headline we’re seeing.

That’s the case if you believe what you read in the Sydney Morning Herald. The Aussies claim Obama will win a landslide victory and they don’t base it on speculation, they base it on the polls as they stand now. According to three renowned political scientists, and I’m pulling this directly from the SMH, “While no election outcome is guaranteed and McCain’s prospects could improve over the next 3½ months, virtually all of the evidence that we have reviewed - historical patterns, structural features of this election cycle, and national and state polls conducted over the last several months - point to a comfortable Obama/Democratic Party victory in November,” the three men wrote in Sabato’s Crystal Ball newsletter.

As a member of the media, I can assure you that at least at the local level, we don’t gather in a room every morning making our game plan to mislead the public in order to maintain ratings. Personally, I report what I read and see and I’ve never been told to portray something in a particular way in order to fulfill some person’s agenda.

Are they right down under or have they spent too much time in the sun? It’s a question we’ll have the answer to in under 100 days folks!