God Bless you, Jon Stewart and writers of The Daily Show. A day after the most watched convention speech in history, it doesn't matter which side of the Obama fence you come down, it's hard not to laugh at another pretty genius piece.......

“The Oprah Effect” hit its pinnacle last night as Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination, and Oprah Winfrey, who has long endorsed him, was in Denver to celebrate. Oprah watched among the crowd of 84,000 at Invesco Field and was moved to tears, so much so that her fake eyelashes couldn’t take the floods. “I cried my eyelashes off,” Oprah was quoted as saying. Oprah has been sporting faux lashes forever, and considering it’s......

8:53 ML: OK, we're gearing up in these parts, watching some goofy dancing and getting excited for Senator Dick Durban. Tonight, we'll have me (ML) and Marcus (MG) bloggin' up a storm. Join us, won't you? 8:56 ML: This sounds like the Oscar announcements so far. I remember watching Barack Obama's speech in my first post-collegiate apartment four years ago, and it's pretty exciting to be doing this—this way—tonight. Lincoln reference! 8:57 MG: Durbin makes......

If drinking games aren't your thing and you're looking for something interactive for tonight's highly anticipated speech by Sen. Obama at the Democratic National Convention, there is still time time to purchase your Obama Bingo card. Here's how it works: 1. Go online to Obama-Bingo.com and purchase a "commemorative bingo card." 2. Choose from a list of over 100 available charities (anything from World Jewish Congress to Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation). 3. Watch Barack's speech......

As much as we'd like to think there's a couple fingers of bourbon in that glass, we doubt it. But since political conventions are traditionally festivals of drunkenness, and seeing as how so many of us are going to be huddled around the television tonight, we figured it might not be a bad idea to lay out some ground rules for some drinking and viewing. Oh, and if you're going to be around a laptop......

Just hours before Hillary Rodham Clinton’s address to the Democratic National Convention is Denver, Illinois supporters announced that they would hold a fundraiser for the candidate in September. Crain’s reports that, according to J.B. Pritzker, co-chair of Sen. Clinton’s national campaign, the event is designed to unite the party after a contentious and sometimes divisive primary. According to former Clinton White House aide Kevin O’Keefe, Clinton herself will be present. But some are still getting......

Among the many delegates at this year’s Democratic Convention in Denver, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley has drawn the attention of the local media. Reflecting on his loss to Harold Washington in 1983, Daley gave Democrats permission to like John McCain, but not to vote for him. "One thing in politics—I think you can like all the candidates," Daley the state delegation Tuesday. "Sure we like, let's be realistic, Barack Obama's opponent. You like him.......

Barack Obama and the rest of the Democratic party converge on Denver to, among other things, unify the group after the drawn out primary season continues to divide Democrats into two camps: those who support Obama and the fans of Hillary. But Obama apparently has no intentions of trying to similarly unify the fans of Chicago's two baseball teams. If anything, he's still fueling the rivalries when it comes to our national past time. Asked......

As the Democratic National Convention got underway last night, much of focus has been on the ongoing Clinton-Obama struggle and an appearance by stricken Senator Ted Kennedy. But Monday night, with the theme of "One Nation" focusing on Barack's background, featured a plethora of Chicago and Illinois politicians stumping for Candidate Obama, including the ladies of the Obama family. Amongst the Chicago politicians who spoke yesterday (though you wouldn't know it given the way Wolf......

CBS's Denver affiliate is reporting on a plot to assassinate Barack Obama during his acceptance speech later this week in Denver. KCNC-TV Investigator Brian Maass reported one of the suspects told authorities they were "going to shoot Obama from a high vantage point using a ... rifle … sighted at 750 yards." Law enforcement sources tell Maass that one of the suspects "was directly asked if they had come to Denver to kill Obama. He......

Delmarie Cobb, a Chicago political consultant, says State Senate President Emil Jones called her an "Uncle Tom" at hotel where the Illinois delegation is staying in Denver. Cobb, who is black, is a Hillary Clinton delegate, and says she and Jones were arguing about Clinton vs. Obama. "Then he came up behind me. He said 'Thirty-five thousand people went to Springfield [to support Obama on Saturday],'" she said. "I said, 'Then 35,000 people drank the......

After teasing us and putting up with internet pranksters, it seems Barack Obama has finally picked a running mate. According to the Associated Press and CNN, who both apparently got that coveted text message way before anyone else did (including us), Obama has tabbed Delaware Senator Joe Biden to be his running mate in the 2008 Presidential campaign, ending weeks of speculation, rumors, and guessing-games. Biden was considered a favorite for the spot on the......

While Beltway pundits are putting their smart money on Senator Joe Biden (over our favorite, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, WTF?), Barack Obama announced that he made his decision on a running mate today, but isn't quite ready to tell everyone just yet. [Reuters, via Yahoo]......

After losing the Constitution Party's presidential nomination to radio talk-show host Chuck Baldwin, Alan Keyes, (who also lost the election for Illinois Senate to Barack Obama), is set for a rematch. America's Independent Party announced yesterday that they've nominated Keyes to be their write-in candidate for president. Said party chairman Tom Hoefling: We may not have balloons, funny hats, and millions of dollars pouring into our coffers from corporate sponsors, but we have something that......

While the news yesterday was saturated with reports of the plethora of homes and condos John McCain owns around the country, his campaign was launching a new ad hitting Obama on his Rezko connections. In other news, John McCain's running mate is apparently an oil company.......

It's none other than country music star Toby Keith, the one who sang about putting a boot up terrorists' asses. Keith not only recently outed himself as a Democrat but has also thrown his support behind Barack Obama. Just when you think you've got a guy figured out...The endorsement comes after Keith caused a fuss with his declaration on Glenn Beck's radio show that some blacks may feel Obama acts too white.......

With the Democratic National Convention less than a week away, those whispers about Obama picking a running mate have turned into a buzz and will soon turn into a roar. Reports are stating that Obama has picked his running mate and will announce it as soon as tomorrow. Earlier this summer, Obama's campaign rolled out an option for those on the Obama email list to register so that could receive first notice of the Veep......

digg_url = 'http://chicagoist.com/2008/08/15/who_killed_barack_obama.php '; Polish artist Peter Fuss has raised quite a, er, fuss with his piece, "Who Killed Barack Obama?" recently on display in Poland. The piece, which depicts a wounded Obama, is part of the city scape aspect of the "Out of Sth" project. The website describes the project as presenting "the art of 20 leading European and Polish artists whose art derives from broadly understood urban art...Classical or political graffiti was......

Well, not exactly. Ross Perot ran the first political infomercial back in 1992, when he ran for president on his Reform Party ticket. At the time, conventional wisdom said that a half-hour presentation by a talking head would drive away viewers, leaving his message, and campaign money, wasted. Instead, his low-budget presentations, given with charts and graphs and peppered with Americana-infused humor garnered some of the highest ratings in television, even drawing more viewers than......

Oprah's reps have confirmed that she'll be in Denver at the Democratic National Convention when Barack Obama accepts the party's nomination. She's not introducing him, according to her spokesbot, nor is she renting a $50,000-per-week house while she's there. The bathing in liquid money, though, continues. [S-T]......

Photo by Mmayes Three people were stabbed in Granddaddy's Deli on the 2300 block of West Taylor this afternoon. [WBBM] Governor Blagojevich wants to install speed cameras on the interstates and use money collected from those fines to fund an "elite tactical team" of police officers. [S-T] The Secret Service arrested a 22-year-old man in Florida Saturday for allegedly threatening to assassinate Barack Obama. Raymond Geisel denies that he made such statements. [AP] Register......

At least we don't have to worry about Chicago being under-represented at this year's Democratic National Convention. The convention, happening in Denver August 25 through 28, will apparently be quite a spectacle with some guy making a really big speech. But beneath all the hubbub, one of Chicago's finest (if not the finest) theatre troupes, Second City, will be performing at the convention. The show, performed by invited alumni of the troupe, will headline "Chicago......

After last week's kerfuffle over the McCain attack ad comparing Obama to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton blew up teh internets, Paris Hilton (finally) is responding. “It sounds like Paris Hilton supports John McCain’s ‘all of the above’ approach to America’s energy crisis - including both alternatives and drilling. Paris Hilton might not be as big a celebrity as Barack Obama, but she obviously has a better energy plan,” said McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds. "Whatever,"......

People standing in line for the new iPhone outside the Apple store on Michigan Avenue were met with this gentleman. The front of his sign says: "Obama is simply a creation of our Russian-infested media (& rigged polls)!!! He has no previous accomplishments that would qualify him for the most important job on Earth!!!!" The back reads: "Obama has never had a major (or even minor) management position!!! .....Does it make any sense to......

Nom-tastic photo by chicagodom A body was found this afternoon in Lake Michigan, near North Avenue Beach. Police have not released the victim's name nor any information relating to a possible cause of death. More on Monday's Logan Square liquid attack: authorities believe the liquid may have contained sulfuric acid. They also possess a surveillance tape they hope will help identify the attackers. As if the Sox fan beating wasn't bad enough: three Cubs......

In an ad that started running over the weekend, the McCain campaign is slamming Barack Obama for canceling a visit to a VA Hospital in Germany during his recent European visit. Obama passed on the visit after deciding that mixing his campaign with members of the military might not be such a good idea. Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said: ...the senator wanted to visit the men and women at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center to express......

Earlier today (er, tonight?), Barack Obama spoke before a cheering crowd at the Victory Column in Berlin. It was the latest stop for the Democratic Presidential candidate on his O-Force One Tour of Europe. During the speech, he stressed the importance of strengthening withering ties between Europe and the United States: Yes, there have been differences between America and Europe. No doubt, there will be differences in the future. But the burdens of global citizenship......

Sure signs of summer: fluff pieces from newspapers analyzing the dietary habits of our Presidential candidates. This one in the Wall Street Journal (via the Bright One) takes a look at the restaurants both Senators Barack Obama and John McCain frequent and discover what those restaurants say about them and their families. The Cliff's Notes? Obama is a cosmopolitan husband and father living in a city known for its world-class dining; McCain is some doddering......

While Lynn Sweet live blogs Barack Obama's World Tour from O-Force One, we're saving up our pennies for a nifty Dare to Hope shirt!......

This year's presidential race has been a national dialogue on what matters to Americans at this point in our nation's history. But it's also been a sometimes difficult debate on the very real gender, ethnic and racial tensions that lie just underneath our country's perception of itself. A week after Jesse Jackson apologized to Barack Obama for vulgar remarks made to a colleague when he thought his microphone was turned off, new footage reveals that......