CLEVELAND —

The Democratic Party’s drafting committee began composing their platform this afternoon. Foreign and domestic policies were covered today incorporating ideas from both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. The drafters also took into account the stories of struggling Americans that spoke this morning, concerns brought up in over 1,300 meetings with Americans around the country, and various groups that urged the committee yesterday to include their issues in the platform.

Committee Chairperson and Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano described the platform draft the committee is working from, “It really sets forth with clarity various foreign policy ideals that we have as Democrats. It incorporates new ideas on education both K through 12 and higher education. The platform on energy is very strong and the connection between a new energy future and a new economic future for the country.”

Clinton backer and former top health care policy advisor to President Clinton said it was “heartening” to see so many of her policies in the draft especially with regards to health care, “It’s important that her voice and her overall policies are included and I’ve seen that over the last few days and it’s been important to her and her followers that you are seeing in this first draft of the platform very specific references to issues she has cared about and how she talked about it,” Chris Jennings told Fox News, “When she’s talked about people who are invisible. When she talks about the sandwich generation. When she talks about middle class working people and empowering them to work.”

The draft does mention the “sandwich generation” which is the growing number of Americans caring for both children and parents – a group Clinton often said during her campaign needs to be helped. The draft acknowledges that, “It’s time we stop just talking about family values, and start pursuing policies that truly value families. Families are increasingly responsible for caring for children and aging relatives and its (sic) time for the government to meet them halfway.”

Jennings acknowledged that there will always be some Clinton supporters that have “hurt feelings” over the bruising primary, but that Democrats are unified now to beat John McCain. He pressed that Obama still needs to reach out to both Clinton and her supporters, “She has been saying nothing but very good things about Senator Obama and you know I think it is important that he reaches out to her frankly and to her supporters because she won almost 49 percent of the vote and I think she is and 18 million people are important,” Jennings continued, “It’s a part of conciliation. It’s part of reconciliation, but I totally see it particularly ironically amongst the candidates. She long ago said let’s look forward not backwards and…it is helpful to her to be able to point to specific things. For example, in this platform there are signals of reaching out.”

Napolitano said the party is unified on the platform and the direction they want to take the country, but there is room for disagreement, “Talk nuance, word choice, all the rest but the goals of a revitalized economy, a strong military, an emphasis on education and education for the 21st century leading into the new types of jobs that we need to have,” Napolitano told reporters, “These are shared values in the party and that is what is coming on to the platform.”

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CLEVELAND –

During day two of the Democratic Party’s meeting to write their platform, average Americans told the drafting committee about the everyday struggles they face. Over the almost three-hour session, twelve people from Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania spoke about economic troubles, jobs sent overseas, health care, rising food and gas costs, poverty, education, energy independence, and “green” jobs and technology.

The committee heard from the speakers before sitting down to actually write the platform – a mission statement that expresses the most important issues to the Democratic Party. The platform will be presented before the entire committee next weekend in Pittsburgh before being voted on at the Democratic National Convention, which begins August 25th in Denver.

The current back and forth between Barack Obama and John McCain was mentioned when committee member Patricia Madrid went after John McCain for his “Celeb” ad calling it “ridiculous”, especially after hearing the daily problems of so many Americans. She added that it would be struggling Americans who determine the outcome of the election:

“This morning I heard Senator Obama on television say that is going to be people like you that are going to determine the outcome of the race, People that are angry and this morning I also heard him say why is John McCain concentrated on Paris Hilton and Britney Spears? Your testimony makes his ads all the more ridiculous,” said Madrid. “I hope this year it is going to be people like you that are not going to vote against your economic interest again because it is you who are going to determine the outcome of what we are going to do in this country about health care, job wages and things that matter to you.”

During yesterday’s meetings Senator Hillary Clinton was not mentioned—even though some of the members here were supporters of hers and spoke on her behalf during May’s testy DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting. Today former top health care advisor to President Clinton and committee member Chris Jennings mentioned her while thanking the speakers for sharing their stories, “Senator Clinton often talked about during the campaign about working Americans being invisible to the previous administration and you have given them a voice. “

Like Friday’s session, speakers took the opportunity to hit John McCain while praising Barack Obama and putting their hope in an Obama presidency to solve their struggles.

Many of the speakers lost their jobs to outsourcing and have seen factory jobs sent overseas something they see as continuing under a McCain presidency, “Our good paying and respectful job are being sent to Mexico so. . .employers can avoid paying decent wages and benefits,” said David Landrum a factory worker from Indiana, “It is crazy to me that John McCain has pledged to support every trade deal under the sun knowing how much it has hurt my family and others like this. I want to say that a visit to Bloomington would change his mind, but he keeps going to our communities like ours and saying the same thing that jobs aren’t coming back and he supports free trade at any cost.”

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Sen. McCain will co-host an event with the less controversial Bush July 21 when he heads up to Kennebunkport, ME for a fundraiser with Bush 41 and his wife Barbara at the Walker’s Point Resort.

It will cost donors $2,300 for entry to the VIP reception and a photo opportunity

The last time McCain appeared with the former President was February 18, when Bush the elder endorsed the presumptive GOP nominee in Houston.

Just released by the DNC:

DEMOCRATS THROW OPEN DOORS OF CONVENTION, OBAMA TO ACCEPT PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION ON
CLOSING NIGHT OF 2008 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION IN FRONT OF A CROWD OF MORE THAN 75,000

Final Day of Convention Program to Move to Denver’s INVESCO Field at Mile High

DENVER - Breaking the mold of traditional political Conventions, the Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) today announced that Senator Barack Obama will accept the Democratic nomination for President of the United States at Denver’s INVESCO Field at Mile High. INVESCO Field can accommodate more than 75,000 people and will be the site of the 2008 Democratic Convention’s final day of programming on Thursday, August 28, 2008.

“The Democratic Party is nominating a true change candidate this August, and it is only fitting that we make some big changes in how we put on the Convention,” said Governor Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). “Senator Obama’s candidacy has generated an enormous amount of excitement and interest, not only in the Democratic Party but also in the 2008 Convention. By bringing the last night of the Convention out to the people, we will be able to showcase Barack Obama’s positive, people-centered vision for our country in a big way.”

“Barack Obama’s campaign for change has inspired millions of Americans and brought people into the political process who might never have been involved,” said Convention Co-Chair Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius. “This change in the Convention program will allow thousands of first-time participants a chance to take part. I can’t think of a better Convention finale for our nominee who has made reaching out to voters a hallmark of his campaign.”

“When we said we wanted to ‘bring down the walls,’ open up this Convention like never before and truly speak to the American people, we meant it,” said Leah D. Daughtry, CEO of the DNCC. “On August 28, we will offer grassroots Democrats, who have turned out in record numbers this year, the opportunity to witness history shoulder to shoulder with thousands of Americans standing up for the change our country desperately needs.”

“Senator Obama and the DNCC have truly brought the community into the Convention,” said Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, Jr. “This decision will enable thousands of residents from Colorado, the Rocky Mountain West and across the nation to witness history first hand. What a way to fire up our grassroots activists as we head into the fall campaign.”

Primetime Convention activities Monday, August 25 through Wednesday, August 27 will continue to be held at the Pepsi Center. The final day of the Convention on Thursday, August 28, including the nomination acceptance speech of Senator Barack Obama, will be held at INVESCO Field at Mile High, also located in downtown Denver. Daytime Convention events, including meetings of the Democratic caucuses and councils will continue to be held at the Colorado Convention Center.

The DNCC announced today that a special block of “Community” credentials will be reserved for Colorado residents for Thursday night’s program at INVESCO Field. Details about how to sign up and receive a “Community Credential” for the last night of the Convention will be released in the coming weeks.

“This is the type of Convention people will want to experience together with family, friends and neighbors, and we hope this move enables thousands of Americans to come together, experience history and put Senator Obama on the path to victory in November,” Daughtry added.

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Today marks the second day of Obama’s “Enduring American Values” week. Today’s topic: faith.

The Illinois senator will unveil its plan to overhaul the Bush Administration’s Faith-Based and Community Initiatives by helping religious organizations better learn how to apply for federal aid with a “Train the Trainers” program, and focusing the groups to provide summer learning programs to children.

Obama’s plan will not “scrap” the current program, the campaign says, but will fix it. “President Bush came into office with a promise to “rally the armies of compassion,” establishing a new Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. But what we saw instead was that the Office never fulfilled its promise,” Obama will say today in Zanesville, Ohio.

The $500 million a year program, the campaign says, will level the playing field for religious groups and federal funds cannot be used to “proselytize or provide religious sectarian instruction.”

The proposal drew praise from President Bush’s one-time director of Faith Based and Community Initiatives office, John Dilulio. In a statement distributed by the Obama campaign, Dilulio said, “His plan reminds me of much that was best in both then Vice President Al Gore’s and then Texas Governor George W. Bush’s respective first speeches on the subject in 1999.”

Read Obama’s prepared remarks below the jump.

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Barack Obama says Charlie Black was wrong to say that a terrorist attack would help John McCain in November; that he spoke to Hillary Clinton today and is trying to reach out to her husband; and that Christian leader James Dobson distorted his words on religion in a wide ranging media availability in the back of his press plane.

Obama wandered back to speak to reporters in the middle of a flight from Las Vegas to Los Angeles for an informal bull session with reporters — a tactic encouraged by his campaign as a way to counter an aloof image he’s cultivated with his traveling press corps. But after asking about basketball, gambling, and the trinkets from voters he carries with him, reporters pressed him on the record on whether he’s spoken with the ex-president who so often belittled him on the campaign trail.

“I’m sure we will,” said Obama. “He’s in Europe right now which is the only reason we haven’t spoken. But were looking forward to setting up a long conversation.” Obama praised the former president as a great strategist who’s “as smart as they come.” But Clinton’s commitment to campaigning for Obama has come into question, so much so that a spokesman for the ex-president had to release a statement reaffirming his support for the Illinois Senator.

Obama also accused Focus on the Family leader James Dobson of twisting a speech on religion he gave in 2006. On his radio program today, Dobson took aim at Obama’s argument that certain Biblical passages shouldn’t be taken as guides for public policy — saying “I think he’s deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology… He is dragging biblical understanding through the gutter.”

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….Senior Adviser Charlie Black, who was in the spotlight yesterday for controversial remarks he made about a terror attack being a potential political plus for the campaign

We last saw him on the plane during yesterday’s flight to Santa Barbara. (Video of deplaning below)

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In a memo released Friday, McCain Campaign Senior Adviser Steve Schmidt paints Barack Obama as a flip-flopper to end a week that started with the campaign using some of it’s strongest language to date to cast the Democrat as weak on terror and believer in a “September 10th mentality.”

“As we scrutinize Barack Obama’s words, it is increasingly difficult for those of us with the responsibility of following this year’s election closely to discern what Obama truly believes at his core on the issues of great importance to the American people,” Schmidt writes in the memo-as-press release sent to reporters this morning. (Full Memo after jump)

Feeling a little bit of deja vu?

Schmidt, of course, was one of the key strategists for the Bush-Cheney 2004 messaging team that successfully depicted John Kerry as a flip-flopper who put America’s security at risk. Can that strategy work again?

For his part, Obama has been making it a bit easy of late. Seeking to exploit Obama’s evolution on issues as he shifts into general election mode–when most candidates turn towards the center on issues to attract moderates and independents–the McCain campaign uses yesterday’s flip by Obama on public financing, as a jumping off point to delve into other recent Obama policy shifts on NAFTA, Jerusalem and energy.

(In all fairness, we should note that McCain is also guilty of some election year moves to the right on offshore oil drilling, immigration and the Bush tax cuts–that Democrats are attempting to use to chip away at the McCain-as-straight talking maverick image the Arizona Republican has crafted for years.)

While the McCain campaign has been hammering Obama for months on his lack of foreign policy experience–one of his greatest vulnerabilities–the flip-flop narrative is a newer phenomenon.

McCain recently got into the mix himself for the first time at a June 6 press conference when asked about Obama’s backtrack on an “undivided” Jerusalem.

“I can’t react to every comment that Senator Obama makes because it will probably change,” McCain told reporters, before also slamming his opponent for his rhetorical dance on negotiating with Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Obama is new to the national stage and has yet to firm up a narrative/image outside of “change” but will the flip-flop/words vs. actions label stick to the second straight Democratic nominee? Conversely, McCain has taken years to build up his reputation as an independent who will pave a middle path to achieve consensus, even sticking his finger in the eye of President Bush a few times, begging the question: can Democrats significantly damage his maverick label and succeed in casting him as Bush’s third term?

The campaigns will be throwing every attack they have at one another during the next couple months to see what will stick for the general election. We shall see what works.

Memo after the jump….

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Springfield, MO—

Senator John McCain surprised the press corps during his speech on energy today when he told the crowd that he will be going to Iowa tomorrow. He said he will be visiting the site where massive flooding all over the Midwest began and has turned into the worst domestic natural disaster since Hurricane Katrina.

“I’m here to learn about energy as well as to talk and this visit brings me here at a very difficult time for many folks in the eastern Missouri, Iowa and Illinois and tomorrow I am going to be in Iowa where the flooding began. People in the Midwest have a way of pulling together in adversity,” McCain said, “They are doing it right now and they are showing a lot of courage and they should have confidence that the government will help see them through this time of trial. Our thought and prayers go out to all those people all over these states that are experiencing such hardships today.”

The presumptive Republican nominee will be touring the flooding in Columbus Junction–a small town between Moline, Illinois and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

On the tarmac at the airport in Columbus, Ohio, Barack Obama gave the following statement to cameras upon hearing about Tim Russert’s passing.

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“We all I think have heard the news about Tim Russert. I’ve known Tim Russert since I first spoke at the convention in 2004. He’s somebody who overtime I came to consider  not only a journalist but a friend.
There wasn’t a better interviewer in TV, not a more thoughtful analyst of our politics and he was also one of the finest men I knew. Somebody who cared about America, cared about the issues, cared about family.  I am grief-stricken with the loss and my thoughts and prayers go out to his family. And I hope  that even though Tim is irreplaceable that the standard that he set in his professional life and his family life are standards that we all carry with us in our own lives.”