Smothering the Hatchet  —  Hillary's former communications director on how to close the Clinton-Obama rift.  —  The New Republic has asked me what advice I would give to Senator Obama to improve relations with the Clintons during this convention week.  —  To be clear, I believe …

A Joe of His Own?  —  The anguished cries of Hillary supporters pierced the midday calm here on Saturday, as Barack Obama confirmed that his vice presidential choice was not Clinton, who got about 18 million votes this year running against him, but rather Joe Biden, who gained the support …

Focused  —  I attended a Frank Luntz focus group consisting of 21 undecided voters (Add: equally divided between men and women, a range of ages—20s to 70s, I'd say) yesterday and the results were stunning: bad news for both Obama and McCain, but slightly worse—I think—for Obama.  Some observations:

Cindy McCain's Mission to Georgia  —  It's not every aspiring First Lady whose comfort zone is a war zone, but such is the case for Cindy McCain, who left Monday on a mission to Georgia to assess the civilian casualties caused by the Russian invasion.  —  McCain is traveling …

Zombie: The Denver Games — Opening Ceremony  —  (Zombie's reports are cross-posted at Pajamas Media.)  —  Although the Democratic National Convention doesn't start until today, Monday, August 25, the protests against the convention started the day before on Sunday.

FIRST THOUGHTS: KICKING OFF THE CONVENTIONS  —  From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro  —  DENVER — We're about to start an historical two-week convention bonanza — it's sort of the opening ceremonies of the political Olympics, as we called it last week.

Accentuate the Negative  —  So the Obama campaign has turned to the politics of personal destruction, attempting to make a campaign issue out of John McCain's inability to remember how many houses he has.  And the turn comes not a moment too soon.  —  Over the past month or so many Democrats …

‘Rocky’ Reports: Springsteen, Bon Jovi, to Accompany Obama on Thursday Night  —  NEW YORK Will Barack Obama's backup band at Invesco Stadium for his acceptance speech Thursday night included Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi?  —  Denver's Rocky Mountain News reports on its site today …

Fox News reporter Griff Jenkins tasked with ‘causing trouble’ at Democratic convention.  —  Yesterday, Fox News reporter Griff Jenkins waded into the Re-create '68 protest outside the Democratic National Convention in Denver, where he was greeted with expletives as he antagonized the crowd by asking …

Gallup Daily: Race Tied as Democratic Convention Starts  —  PRINCETON, NJ — The last Gallup Poll Daily tracking polling conducted before the beginning of the Democratic National Convention shows Barack Obama and John McCain tied at 45%.  —  The latest update includes two days …

Durbin: McCain's a baller, too  —  Barack Obama may be able to drain a three pointer when the cameras are rolling, but John McCain has at least some metaphorical game.  So said Obama's own Illinois colleague and campaign co-chair, Sen. Dick Durbin, at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast with reporters on Monday morning.

Are the Denver Dems Downing Stocks?  —  Are the Denver Dems downing the stock market today?  The Dow is off 230 points, starting right from the get-go.  So-called market analysts are blaming financials and the credit crunch as they always do.  But there's more.