I have to note that Obama has been nominated by acclamation and that Hillary Clinton made the motion to end nominations.

With the roll call of the states standing at 1549.5 votes for Barack Obama and 341.5 for Hillary Rodham Clinton, Sen. Clinton joined the New York delegation on the floor of the Democratic National Convention. Sen. Clinton then moved to suspend the rules and nominate Sen. Obama by acclamation.

With Speaker Nancy Pelosi taking over as chairwoman of the convention, the motion passed on a voice vote.

from nationaljournal.com

I also note with good deal of pleasure that The National Journal will carry a story to the effect that Obama can expect a sizeable bounce from the convention.

Two-thirds of National Journal’s Democratic political insiders predict Barack Obama will get a bounce of 4 to 9 percentage points from this week’s Democratic National Convention.

None of the insiders expects a bounce of 15 percentage points or more. Six percent said 10 to 14 points; 17 percent said 7 to 9 points; 49 percent said 4 to 6 points; 22 percent said 1 to 3 points; 3 percent said no bounce; and 2 percent wouldn’t hazard a guess.

Commented an insider who foresees a 7-to-9-point jump: “I pray for this. [Predicting] higher is smoking something and what the Republicans want us to say.”

But another said, “Piggyback conventions and McCain’s pick of a VP on Friday will keep the bounce down.”

More than three-quarters of top bloggers on the left went for the same 4-to-9-point range, while two-thirds of top bloggers on the right went a bit lower, predicting a bounce of 1 to 6 points.

from nationaljournal.com

For complete results, see National Journal Convention Daily on Thursday.

Well, just when I think Clinton has done something straightforward to support the candidate who defeated her for the Democratic presidential nomination, she surprises me. Now, she has released her delegates and more or less invited tnem not to vote for Obama.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton today told her delegates they were free to vote for Sen. Barack Obama during tonight’s nominating roll call, but she did not direct them to do so. “I am here to release you as my delegates,” Clinton told her supporters at the Convention Center in Denver. Many responded with shouts of “No, no.” She added, to cheers, “I am not telling you what to do.”

Clinton, who waged a sometimes bitter campaign with Obama through a long series of primaries and caucuses, said she marked her ballot for Obama this morning. “Many other people who sign their ballots will make a different choice,” she said, adding that whatever decision delegates make, “you are to be given the respect and recognition you have earned as delegates for the Democratic Party.”

from nationaljournal.com

I’m now thinking that what I took to be an honest effort to do the right thing last night was really just one more deceptive maneuver, made plausible by Clinton’s obvious enjoyment of the limelight. The Clintons are getting really tiresome. I’m going to watch tonight’s speech in an adversarial frame of mine that I don’t think serves my party’s interest at all. And I can’t help wondering how many other Democrats are feeling the way I do.

I’ve had enough of the Clintons!

Gallup polling analysis puts Barack Obama one point ahead of John McCain on the basis of interviews conducted August 24-26 and seems to support the conviction that Obama still leads the race for the presidency while slso suggesting that McCain’s planned Friday announcement of his running mate may dampen Obama’s convention bounce.

Polling also shows that Obama’s support among conservative Democrats is eroding. Perhaps one may hope that Joe Biden and the Clinton endorsement will help Obama here, particularly if the Clintons campaign actively for him. I’m of the opinion that Hillary’s endorsement was straightforward and that the subtext analysis of last night’s speech (which was the best speech I have ever heard her make) is getting pretty silly.

Bill Clinton’s speech tonight will pretty thoroughly upstage Biden, but Biden has signed on to be upstaged in agreeing to run for the vice presidency. Both speeches, Clinton’s and Biden’s as well, should tell us something about what to expect from the next stages of the campaign.

from nationaljournal.com:

Two developments late Monday may complicate what had been a calm and peaceful security situation for the convention. The local U.S. attorney plans a 4 p.m. press conference Tuesday to answer questions about the arrest of three men on drug and weapons charges in a possible plot to assassinate Barack Obama. Meanwhile, about 100 protesters were subdued by police with pepper spray and non-lethal bullets about 1.5 miles from the Pepsi Center, then arrested for blocking streets and related charges. Federal officials say that neither Obama nor convention-goers were ever in danger from the alleged plot, and police say they remain confident that protesters will not be able to disrupt the convention.