memeorandum: Democrats Keynote Speaker Is San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro (Elizabeth Hartfield/ABCNEWS)

7:20 AM ET, September 4, 2012

Top Items:

Right rallies for ‘Empty Chair Day’ — The right rallied on Labor Day to celebrate “National Empty Chair Day,” a show of solidarity with Clint Eastwood after his rambling address to an invisible President Barack Obama at the Republican National Convention last week.

Henry J. Gomez / Plain Dealer:
AFSCME President (and Cleveland native) Lee Saunders goes Eastwooding with Ohio Democrats

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and protein wisdom

Peter Slutsky / Change.org:
Democrats: Ask Betty White to Introduce President Obama at the DNC

Discussion: ABCNEWS, USA Today, Moonbattery and Truthdig

BuzzFeed:
Labor Brings Its Frustrations To Charlotte

Discussion: Slobber And Spittle and Weasel Zippers

Michelle Malkin:
National Empty Chair Day photo album, part II

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Mental Recession

Caitlin McDevitt / Associated Press:
A push for Betty White to address the DNC

Discussion: Newsy and New York Magazine

Michael Barone / Washington Examiner:

Jewish Democrats on the defensive — Popular in Politics … “It's the message every one of you have heard,” said Irs Foreman, the man in charge of Jewish affairs for the Democratic National Committee. “that the president is awful on Israel.” After which he quickly added that the message was totally untrue.

Discussion: Israel Matzav

Byron Tau / Politico:
DNC chair: GOP diversity ‘superficial’

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Charlie Cook / NationalJournal.com:
Obama's Enthusiasm Deficit Could Soon Haunt Him

Discussion: Connecting.the.Dots and Power Line

Neil Munro / The Daily Caller:
President Barack Obama was a pioneering contributor to the …

Discussion: Maggie's Notebook, The PJ Tatler, The Heritage Foundation, Hot Air and Ed Driscoll

CNN:
Party leaders split on ‘better off’ question

Discussion: Politico, The Gateway Pundit and The Hill

Elizabeth Hartfield / ABCNEWS:

Democrats Keynote Speaker Is San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro — The Democrats will open their convention tonight with a keynote speaker who is young, Hispanic and little known outside of his home city of San Antonio, Texas. — For Mayor Julian Castro, 37, tonight could be a spring board to national prominence.

Discussion: Politico, Washington Free Beacon and The New Republic

Paul J. Weber / Associated Press:

DNC Keynoter Castro Follows Mother's Tougher Path — San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro is a rising star in the Democrats' firmament with a collection of mostly favorable media profiles, a landslide re-election last year and speculation about whether he'll become the governor of Texas or even the country's first Hispanic president.

Discussion: Politico

Tim Mak / Politico:

Report: Hillary Clinton aide voting Romney — Top Clinton confidant Douglas Band has said that he will vote for Republican Mitt Romney, according to a report in The New Yorker, apparently a move to strengthen Hillary Clinton's position in the Democratic Party.

Discussion: Betsy's Page, New York Magazine, No More Mister Nice Blog and Riehl World News

Associated Press:

Dems bring in crowds by the busload to fill stadium for Obama speech — Sept. 2, 2012: A man walks near a sand sculpture created in the likeness of President Obama in downtown Charlotte, N.C.AP — CHARLOTTE, N.C. - College students from across North Carolina will arrive in Charlotte by the busload.

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Freedom's Lighthouse, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Weasel Zippers, The Rightnewz and Nice Deb

Kevin Bogardus / The Hill:
Unions dig in for Obama despite disappointment with his record

Discussion: The Raw Story

Directorblue / Doug Ross:

That Roar You Hear in the Distance May Be a Tidal Wave Building — I truly believe that the American people — all races, all creeds, all colors, all religions, all income levels — are marshaling together to try to save this Republic in November — first and foremost, by rejecting the Cloward-Piven Democrat Party.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Nice Deb and Israel Matzav

Kenneth P. Vogel / Politico:

Source: Romney camp says it raised $100 million in August — Mitt Romney raised $100 million in August, his campaign told bundlers last week in Tampa. — Romney campaign finance director Spencer Zwick revealed the tally during an event with top fundraisers on the sidelines …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Jse / CBS San Francisco:

KCBS Exclusive: California Dems Leader Compares GOPs To Nazi Joseph Goebbels — CHARLOTTE, N.C. (KCBS) — The Chairman of the California Democratic Party already had political pundits, delegates and rivals buzzing a day before the Democratic National Convention formally opened in Charlotte …

Discussion: Power Line, Politico, Mediaite and New York Magazine

Joe Garofoli / blog.sfgate.com:
CA Dem chair John Burton apologizes for comments invoking Goebbels about GOP “telling the big lie” (VIDEO) (AUDIO)

Stephen C. Webster / The Raw Story:

Chuck Norris threatens ‘1,000 years of darkness’ if Obama wins — A video released this weekend by action movie hero Chuck Norris claims that America faces “1,000 years of darkness” if President Barack Obama is reelected. — “If we look to history, our great country and freedom are under attack …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

CNN Host Dismantles Grover Norquist's Anti-Tax Argument: ‘This Is A Wish, Not A Plan’ — CNN's Fareed Zakaria challenged Grover Norquist's opposition to tax increases during an interview on Sunday, insisting that the anti-tax zealot's opposition to higher taxes — gospel which the GOP has adopted …

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:

Madeleine Albright: 'I Can't Understand Why Any Woman Would Want To Vote For Mitt Romney' … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Ann Romney, DNC Convention, Madeleine Albright, RNC Convention, Romney Campaign, Secretary Albright, Women's Voices, Albright, Mitt Romney 2012, Romney Gender Gap …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Truthdig and National Review

Daniel J. Mitchell / Townhall.com:

Johnny Depp Flees France Over Tax Hikes — I'm a bad person. I know it's not nice to take joy in the misery of others, but I can't help but smile when I see a story about bad news in France. — In my defense, this is not because of hostility to French people, who have always been friendly to me.

Discussion: Riehl World News

Associated Press:

Obama, Romney Visits to Gulf Highlight Differences — President Barack Obama's trip to the hurricane zone three days after rival Mitt Romney looked over flooded homes and businesses underscores the differences in the way the presidential candidates see the role of government.

Discussion: CNN

Jodi Kantor / New York Times:

Obama Plays to Win, in Politics and Everything Else — As Election Day approaches, President Obama is sharing a few important things about himself. He has mentioned more than once in recent weeks that he cooks “a really mean chili.” He has impressive musical pitch, he told an Iowa audience.