 |
|
The Morning Grind / Political Hot Topics |
Upbeat mood spreads in Boston
 |  Party time: John Kerry's daughters, Vanessa, left, and Alexandra, rally Democrats at Sunday's Rock the Vote party in Boston. |
| |
|
 VIDEO |
 CNN's John Mercurio talks Morning Grind issues at the FleetCenter.
 CNN's John King on the split among American voters.
 CNN's Daniel Sieberg on the political 'blogosphere.'
|
| MAKING THEIR CASE |  Day One: Monday
• Theme: "The Kerry-Edwards Plan for America's Future"
• 4 p.m. ET: Convention called to order by Terry McAuliffe
• 7-9 p.m. ET: Speakers include Bill Richardson, Al Gore, Glenn Close, Barbara Mikulski
• 9-10 p.m. ET: Speakers include Jimmy Carter, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton
|
|
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Check out the links below to hot political stories around the country this morning.
BOSTON'S MOOD: An antiwar march to the FleetCenter planned as the first major protest of convention week fell far short of the thousands expected, but the city still crackled with energy yesterday as protesters, delegates, and onlookers mingled on the eve of the Democratic National Convention. Despite an enormous security presence, including police in riot gear and helicopters, the mood through the city was largely upbeat under blue skies and a hot sun. The Boston Globe: Convention city springs to life
BOSTON CUTS A DEAL: Democratic convention delegates partied into the night last night, after Boston city officials settled a last-minute contract with firefighters that averted threatened union pickets. Instead of facing angry picket lines, delegates snacked on crabcakes and clam chowder at dozens of parties throughout the city. The Boston Herald: 11th hour deal averts pickets by firefighters
BILL AND HILLARY'S GOAL: In separate prime-time speeches, the former First Couple will do their best to convey why they think Kerry should be president. Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton's speeches together will last about an hour. By the time the convention is over, the Clintons hope to silence the critics who say they secretly want to see Bush re-elected, since a loss for the Kerry-Edwards team makes Hillary Clinton the Democrat's instant front-runner for 2008. The New York Daily News: Clintons poised to Bush-bash
THE CLINTONS' STAR POWER: Kerry's Democratic convention kicks off today -- but the first star speeches belong to Bill and Hillary Clinton. The former first couple headlined a super-hot party last night, and tonight they'll hold court with prime-time speeches, sparking speculation that they could upstage Kerry. The New York Post: Clintons get party started
GORE'S TRANSFORMATION: When Al Gore speaks to Democratic delegates Monday night at the FleetCenter, he will complete a four-year transformation unlike any in modern political history. The former vice president's scheduled 8 p.m. ET appearance will mark the end of a remarkable journey from being a nominee who won the popular vote in 2000 to his current role as an outspoken anti-war populist whose impact on the 2004 campaign would appear to be meager. USA Today: A 'powerful reminder' to rally Dems Monday night
SAVING HIS VOICE: John Edwards has scrubbed a campaign appearance today at N.C. A&T, an aide for the Democrats' presumed vice-presidential nominee said Sunday. The visit -- which was to focus on Edwards' and John Kerry's plans related to science and technology -- had been canceled out of a concern about saving his voice for a speech he is set to give this week during the Democratic National Convention. The Greensboro News-Record: Edwards cancels visit
EDWARDS' ROLE: Edwards arrives in Boston this week to accept the Democratic nomination for vice president as his party's multiple political threat: chief salesman, rainmaker, road show sidekick. In the nearly three weeks since Kerry chose Edwards as his running mate, the North Carolina senator has been much more than a supporting player. The Raleigh News & Observer: Edwards' role: chief salesman
KERRY'S PITCH: Kerry turned his campaign plane around and headed to Boston under a cloak of secrecy. The secret mission: Catching the Yankees-Red Sox game at Fenway Park. He threw out the first ball to a Massachusetts veteran who recently returned from serving in Iraq. Kerry's pitch landed in the dirt after which fans alternately booed and cheered him. The Boston Herald: A matter of priorities: Kerry alters course, heads for Fenway
MONEY MAN McAULIFFE: On Monday night, Terry McAuliffe's party will hail him as a hero, the first Democratic chairman in decades to put the party on secure financial footing -- with an unheard-of $70 million in the bank -- and on the cutting edge of high-tech politics. When McAuliffe gavels the Democratic convention to order at FleetCenter, he will be honored by the 5,672 delegates and alternates as the man who almost single-handedly put the Democratic Party back together again. The Washington Post: McAuliffe is Dems' comeback kid
THREE BATTLEGROUNDS: The battleground is taking a different shape than it did on Election Day four years ago, USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup state polls indicate. Surveys in a trio of swing states -- Florida, Ohio and Missouri -- show neither candidate with a safe lead in any of them. But Kerry is ahead by 5 points among likely voters in Ohio, a state that Bush won by 4 points in 2000. And in Florida, which was a virtual tie four years ago, Bush is now ahead by 4 points. Missouri, the nation's most reliable bellwether, is even. USA Today: As Dems gather, race is tight
CHRISTIE'S COMMENTS: Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack, a key factor in John Kerry's primary sweep and the prime-time convention speaker tomorrow, has derided blacks, southerners and easterners as bad speakers because she couldn't understand them. In inflammatory columns for her local newspaper obtained by the Herald, the normally soft-spoken Vilsack tore into several minority and ethnic groups while lampooning non-midwesterners for regional dialects. The Boston Herald: Say what? Iowa first lady slammed blacks, Easterners and Southerners as bad speakers
SHOVE IT: Teresa Heinz Kerry told a Pittsburgh newspaperman to "shove it" just minutes after urging the Pennsylvania delegates to restore a more civil tone to politics. "We need to turn back some of the creeping, un-Pennsylvanian and sometimes un-American traits that are coming into some of our politics," she told delegates. When an editorialist from the conservative Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, questioned her repeatedly on what she meant by "un-American.," she replied: "You said something I didn't say. Now shove it." The Boston Herald: Push comes to shove for Teresa
Compiled by Mark H. Rodeffer
