As Gustav barrels towards Louisiana… I was thinking it’s time to look back on what has happened in the political world over the last few days. Not the best segue, I know, but I’m trying.

Obama’s speech: I’m getting mixed reviews on this. In one way, many dems are happy that he finally took time to explicitly spell out the differences between his party and the Republican party. However, others say all he did was a great job of polarizing the middle of the roaders by attacking John McCain’s bravery when it comes to fighting al-Qaeda and taking a strong liberal stance on a variety of other issues.

Palin as V.P.: The evangelicals are finally happy with a candidate! Apparently, as soon as McCain announced Palin would be his running mate, there were hugs and tears at churches across the country. As a pro-life, middle class mom with a son in the military–she appeals to those conservatives who feel like a line-up of senators might produce more posturing than action in the White House.

Gustav and the RNC: Certainly, a man gunning for the country’s top post cannot carry on with festivities as a hurricane possibly more dangerous than Katrina heads toward the coast. Word has it McCain may give his acceptance speech Thursday night at the site of where the storm hits.

Feel free to share your thoughts on what has happened over the last few days as we wait with baited breath for what’s going to happen next.

Someone certainly capitalized on all the the disenfranchised dems who wanted to see a woman be on a presidential ticket. John McCain has tapped Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate in November.  44 year old Palin, mother of 5, was mayor of a small town in Alaska just two years ago.

This is certainly a risk for McCain since she is a virtual unknown on the national stage, but she definitely encompasses the image of the average, middle class citizen who has made her way through all the ranks in the political arena. She started out in the PTA, then city council, then mayor, Lt. Gov and now Governor.

As Gustav moves toward the red states, word has it that changing the date of the Republican National Convention is up for consideration. Already, Perry has announced he will not be attending and Crist from Florida may also be a no show. The list of Republican governors not planning to attend anymore also includes Louisiana governor Jindal and Mississippi’s Barbour.

The TX Republican Party has been busy the last week putting out it’s own anti-Obama videos that are making it on dozens of websites and FOX newschannel. The newest one talks about Obama’s “friends.”

The democratic watch party at Scholz beer garten was interesting last night. It was easy to pinpoint the die hard Hillary supporters (those with tears in their eyes when she took the stage) and the Obama fans…those who couldn’t contain their excitement.  They came together by the end of the night though and it seemed like a happy crowd that stumbled out of the bar.

The next watch party there will be this Thursday night when Obama takes the stage. I’m sure the turnout will be much bigger for that.

Meanwhile, the republicans here in Travis County promise some watch parties for their convention next week. I’ll keep you posted as to the logistics of those.

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: