Morning Spew

Citing a recent Rasmussen poll showing Michelle with a 43 percent unfavorable rating, York says: "So here in Denver Mrs. Obama had a job to do. It wasn't just to introduce Americans to the Obama family or show another side of her husband's personality. It was to rehabilitate herself, to take the edge of anger and resentment from her public pronouncements and embrace a wholesome, country-loving, American-Dream-living image."

Ted Kennedy, battling a brain tumor, stirred the hall--and so many memories--and drew this response from a non-fan, Andrew Sullivan:

"Well, even I found myself choking up a little. This was the last roar of a rumpled lion, made through the obvious pain of sickness, and clearly rousing for the base. The speech was a little abstract and a little reminiscent of previous Kennedy orations. But there was no mistaking this moment: the Kennedy mystique passed on to this young senator. And when you recall the Kennedy legacy on race, you cannot help but be moved by this week and this moment. He was much more on point than I expected; and much more composed."

Civil War Watch

10:04 p.m.

DENVER, Aug. 25 -- The Obama operation wanted Monday to be all about Michelle Obama.

Instead, much of the day was about Hillary Clinton, at least in the media narrative that seemed to gain velocity in the thin Rocky Mountain air.

Let's face it: There's only one story line that offers journalists a chance to stir things up at No Drama Obama's convention. That is a knockout battle between the Hillary and Barack forces. So I ask: is there any temptation, perhaps, to play up that story line?

I talked to a senior Barack Obama aide who said, of course there are tensions. We're not denying that, he said, we have work to do here in Denver. But he said some of the media reports seemed overblown.

Still, the buzz on the Web and on cable was sufficiently loud that Obama operatives tried to tamp it down in a conference call with reporters.

The war scenario got a major boost from this Politico piece by John Harris and Mike Allen, before the convention even started:

"Mistrust and resentments continued to boil among top associates of presumptive nominee Barack Obama and his defeated rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"One flashpoint is the assigned speech topic for former president Bill Clinton, who is scheduled to speak Wednesday night, when the convention theme is 'Securing America's Future.' The night's speakers will argue that Obama would be a more effective commander in chief than his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).