Media Mudballs

DENVER, Aug. 27 -- DENVER, Aug. 27 -- It must be something in the thin air out here. First two MSNBC guys, Joe Scarborough and David Shuster, had a bitter on-air argument at 5 in the morning. Now Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews have gotten into a nasty spat with former Hillary Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson. It's no secret that just about everyone associated with the Hillary campaign felt that Olbermann and Matthews were pro-Barack Obama and unfair to their woman. That's one of the reasons you have ex-Hillaryites such as Wolfson and Lanny Davis signing on with Fox News, where they felt they got a fair shake. On Tuesday night, as reported by TV Newser, Matthews said of Fox News: "No accident they hired Howard Wolfson, used him in some sort of little toy soldier waiting on the shelf." Olbermann added: "Tokyo Rose was the thought that came to my mind." Cut to Wednesday, when Wolfson returned fire on Fox: "I'm not going to take any lecturing on how to be a good Democrat from two people who spent the last two years relentlessly attacking Bill and Hillary Clinton every day." Actually, I think they took a couple of days off. "I think it's unfortunate that a news organization with a great tradition like NBC has been taken over by this kind of antics," Wolfson added. Why did he unload? "I had let a couple of previous attacks pass but at some point you need to stand up to bullies," Wolfson told me. MSNBC declined comment. Fox's top editorial executive, John Moody, got into the act, telling Politico: "Keith is too important to be constrained (restrained might be a different matter) by facts. He is the heir to Huntley, to Brinkley, to Chancellor, to Brokaw. (Sorry, NBC). Keith thinks Democrats shouldn't deign to appear on Fox." Did Olbermann let that pass? You kidding? "John Moody is a hysterical, doctrinaire, Right Wing hack propagandist, who conveniently forgets that when he thought I shared his allegiance to his dark view of the world, tried to hire me for Fox News," he wrote TV Newser. "As for Mr. Wolfson, I feel very sorry for the choices he made that led him to his sad state." And you thought the big story here was the tension between the Obama and Hillary forces? This is much better than anything happening on the convention floor.

Back in Action

2:41 p.m. DENVER, Aug. 27--Ted Kennedy isn't the only public figure with a brain tumor making a comeback this week. Two days after Kennedy's emotional appearance at the convention here, Robert Novak, the columnist who retired after getting a similar diagnosis, is back in the public debate, with his syndicate announcing that he will now write occasional columns. The man just can't stand being on the sidelines. And even as the Dems grab the spotlight, he is weighing in on the GOP veepstakes (only two shopping days to go!). Here's the Novak column: "Reports of strong support within John McCain's presidential campaign for Independent Democratic Sen. Joseph Lieberman as the Republican candidate for vice president are not a fairy tale. Influential McCain backers, plus McCain himself, would pick the pro-choice liberal from Connecticut if they thought they could get away with it. "But they can't get away with it -- and this has been made clear to McCain by none other than Joe Lieberman himself. "Lieberman surely doesn't know that much about Republican politics, but he has close Republican friends. One of them prevailed on Lieberman to tell McCain that a McCain-Lieberman ticket would be a disaster for all concerned, and especially for the GOP." I'd be truly surprised if McCain picked a Democrat. Dan Bartlett says it would cause a "train wreck" in the party. But some of those close to McCain are not knocking down the idea. Okay, I've reached the point where I'm wondering whether this convention is all about the Clintons and hardly at all about Barack Obama. The media are not entirely to blame for this. First we had Obama giving Hillary Clinton a big speech (and, weirdly, allowing himself to be filmed watching it on TV). Then he said she could have her roll call vote, and there are reports Wednesday that might go on and on. Then we had Obama caving on trying to get Bill Clinton to talk Wednesday night about what the campaign wanted rather than celebrate his own accomplishments. And now CNN reports that after his moment in the spotlight, the former president will high-tail it out of here and not even stick around for Obama's acceptance speech. Usually the nominee stays out of sight to build up anticipation for his big night. But Obama, for some reason, has been giving interviews about his speech Thursday. WSJ: "Barack Obama said he plans to focus on the struggles of middle-class Americans, including their tax burden, in his Thursday night speech accepting the Democratic nomination for president." USA Today: "Barack Obama, whose oratory and opposition to the war in Iraq helped propel him to the Democratic presidential nomination, said Thursday that he's preparing for an election he believes will turn on the economy." I mean, it's not like he has to persuade people to tune in. Walking around the convention is like being in a hall of mirrors. There's Anderson Cooper and "Daily Show" correspondent Rob Riggle, doing a walk-and-talk in front of the CNN bus. And then they are doing it again, repeating the same lines. And who would have expected that Huffington Post's Rachel Sklar and Time's Ana Marie Cox would be sharing a condo with Obama Girl? Or that Rachel, Ana and another gal pal, Glynnis MacNicol, would make this video lying in a bed as they chat about the convention? Don't worry--they're safely under the covers.

Half-Hearted Hillary

9:20 a.m.

Hillary Clinton's speech played very differently in the hall.

Had I been watching on TV, poring over the text, I'm sure my reaction would have been similar to what I see many of the pundits saying: She didn't do this, that and the other thing.

But from the floor of the Pepsi Center--a floor so chaotic and gridlocked that security had to close it off--a great swell of emotion seemed to rise up as the former first lady belted out her best lines Tuesday night. The white Hillary signs being waved in unison created a monochromatic aura of support for the senator. The cheers that rocked the rafters certainly weren't coming from only half the delegates. And Hillary clearly and unambiguously urged her supporters to back Barack Obama.

But convention speeches are not best gauged from the bubble of the building. They are television events, aimed at voters in their living rooms. And when the cheers faded, the band stopped playing and the crowd started to file out, you had to ask: What had Hillary Rodham Clinton said about Barack Obama that was memorable?

And the answer: She wanted people to vote for Obama because he was a Democrat who would pretty much push the same programs that she would have pushed, and because she didn't want John McCain in the White House, no way, no how. She said nothing about Obama's personal qualities and nothing about his readiness to be president, at 3 a.m. or any other time. No wonder Michelle Obama wasn't smiling during the cutaway shots.

Hillary will never be an inspiring orator, though she is vastly improved as a speaker compared to a year ago. The question that lingers is whether she persuaded her most ardent fans to get behind her former foe, or just to make a lot of noise in the hall.

The MSM coverage is lukewarm toward HRC:

New York Times: "The main task for Mrs. Clinton at the convention -- reaffirming her support for Mr. Obama in soaring and unconditional language -- dominated her 23-minute speech, and she betrayed none of the anger and disappointment that she still feels . . .

"While Mrs. Clinton is in the midst of a 'catharsis,' friends say, Mr. Clinton remains angrier than people realize about the Obama campaign's portrayal of his wife as deceitful and of his administration as middling and his political tactics as, at times, racially charged. Friends have been urging Mr. Clinton -- who speaks on Wednesday night -- to move on, and counseling the couple to focus their energy and emotions on Mr. McCain."