According to Mark Halperin's The Page, on an Obama conference call just now the campaign claims that results of today's conventions netted Obama 7 additional delegates. Link below the fold:

Because polling leading up to and over the holiday's is basically useless (see Mark Blumenthal on why this is so), many people have been wondering when the next round of Big Media polls will be released so as not to be caught off guard. Below the fold some handy info to mark on your calendars. I hope people supporting all candidates will find this useful and maybe allow them to calm down and enjoy the holidays with their families rather than obsess...

Frank Rich's Sunday column in the New York Times is always a must-read in my house. I know many around these parts agree that he has been a sharp and incisive voice on the scene, cutting through the media fog to tell truth.

Here are excerpts from tomorrow's column sorting out the ciritical difference between Obama and Clinton on war and change:

Interesting dispatch just filed for tomorrow's New York Times by Adam Nagourney and Patrick Healy detailing some of the internal dynamics inside the unraveling of the Clinton inevitability machine:

My sources tell me the Edwards campaign is preparing oppo research on this litter of cute puppies...

CORRECTION:

My sources says it's just one of the puppies, not the entire litter.

Developing...

UPDATE

Oh, and it may not be the Edwards campaign. It might be some other campaign...

MORE

Despite the sketchy nature of the details above, clearly this is a pattern with the Edwards...

Many of you may have heard or read about the endorsement by Zbigniew Brzezinski of Barack Obama for president on Friday. Zbig, as he is known, has been one of the only powerful voices in the much maligned foreign policy community to understand what a disaster continuing to stay in Iraq will be.
After the jump, the YouTube of Zbig's appearance on Bloomberg TV:

Barack gave an interview to ABC News today:

In an interview with ABC News Wednesday afternoon, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., called for talk radio host Don Imus to be fired, and said he would never again appear on his show, which is broadcast on CBS Radio and MSNBC television.

"I understand MSNBC has suspended Mr. Imus," Obama told ABC News, "but I would also say that there's nobody on my staff who would still be working for me if they made a comment like that about anybody of any ethnic group. And I would hope that NBC ends up having that same attitude."

Obama said he appeared once on Imus's show two years ago, and "I have no intention of returning."

This is nice. From the AP report:

Barack Obama on Tuesday challenged Republican White House rival John McCain for using a heavily guarded trip to a Baghdad market as evidence that Iraq's security is improving.

McCain and other members of a congressional delegation toured the Bab al-Sharqi market last week, traveling in armored military vehicles and wearing body armor during their hourlong excursion.

"The idea that the situation in Iraq is improving because it takes a security detail of 100 soldiers, three Black Hawk helicopters and a couple of Apache gunships to walk through a market in the middle of Baghdad is simply not credible and not reflective of the facts on the ground," Obama said in a taped interview that will air as part of a Democratic presidential forum sponsored by MoveOn.org.

This just reported by Ben Smith at the Politico.com:

Barack Obama has chosen not to attend September's presidential debate co-sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus Institute and Fox News, effectively dooming the debate.

Obama is the only member of the Congressional Black Caucus running for President, and his decision allows other candidates to skip the debate without facing criticism that they are turning their backs on a leading black institution.

Friday, John Edwards was the first candidate to announce he'd skip the debate. The CBC Institute is hosting one other debate, with CNN.

While we look forward to the release sometime this year of a redesign of the Daily Kos user interface, I have a suggestion.  Why not segregate the meta diaries into a seperate small box at the bottom of the main diary list? This solves so many problems. Read more...

According to the Hotline Zephyr Teachout, one of the first staffers to joing Howard Dean's campaign team in 2004, and John Hlinko, who was one of the Draft Wesley Clark founders in 2003, have joined the unofficial draft movement aimed at getting the Senator from Illinois to run for President.

Also, via TPM's Election Central (a great resource) we have interesting news about the sellout crowd for Obama's New Hampshire events on Sunday:

The Concord Montitor  reports that the ticket sales have been so large that state Democratic party officials were forced to move the Sunday night event from the 500 person capacity ballroom of the Radisson Hotel to a 1,500 capacity adjoining armory.

Tonight on Hardball host Chris Matthews told his panel that he has learned that the Clintons have paid the slimey spinmeister Chris Lehane to bad-mouth Barack Obama's potential 08 candidacy to reporters on background. He said the Clintons do not want any fingerprints on the operation.

It is too early to get the transcript (show repeats at 3am edt) and I have not yet seen any clips posted anywhere. Still, this may get lost in a long holiday weekend if people don't check into it to verify.

Here is some background (courtesy of Kos) on this Chris Lehane character, also known as the "Master of Disaster."
http://www.dailykos.com/...

He is a notorious over-spinner who invariably ends up hurting his clients more than helping them. His spin is so nasty and over-the-top that he is an almost comic figure. Anyone who hires him at this point must really be in desperate straits. If true, it would say much about how the Clinton camp views Obama's potential and how frustrated they must be at all the press he is getting.

The above title will be a useful frame for these last ten days. Be aware: there are now only a mere 8 news cycles left until the election and the GOP is desperate to change the subject. They will jump on anything they can with a vengence. As we all know, the election's current overall meta narrative has been unshakable. Republicans are in trouble across the nation.  With only a week left to turn things around many in the GOP are privately hoping for nothing less than a terrorist action of some kind somewhere in the world to help them win. Only in the world of Fox News and the dark heart of GOP electoral ambitions is terrorism regarded as good news.

Below the fold: how they have sunk this low...

Newsweek's Jonathan Alter points out how Barack Obama could radically alter (no pun intended) the 08 primary dynamic and strategy that had, up until now, seemed etched in stone. Excerpt from Alter's post is below:

This is a quick look at the state of the election's current meta narrative, and how the Republicans -- with only two weeks left to turn things around -- are privately hoping for nothing less than a terrorist action of some kind somewhere in the world to help them win. Only in the world of Fox News and the dark heart of GOP electoral ambitions is terrorism regarded as good news.

Below the fold: how they have sunk this low...

In a page one bombshell story tomorrow (Tuesday) the Washington Post will report that the FBI has obtained cell phone wiretaps in the Curt Weldon corruption investigation.  

NBC News Lisa Meyers is reporting this afternoon that the Kolbe trip with congressional pages is now being probed by the FBI and the Justice Dept.:

See below the fold or goto:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...

Holy Shit. Did any of you just catch Donald Trump on CNN's Larry King Live just now? I don't usually care for the guy, but he just made the most direct, most clearly succinct case for voting for Democrats this November I have ever seen on television from anyone. It was a thing of beauty, and I beg someone with the ability to put it on YouTube or C&L as fast as possible. This clip will win the election if enough voters see it.