B as in bounce, as in convention bounce: Joe Klein has a good post at Swampland discussing, among other things, the likely effect of the conventions being back-to-back this year, which is the first time this has happened in my memory.
Klein notes that the party that goes second historically gets a bigger bounce. True enough. It's like a home-field advantage in sports. But this year, perhaps even more so, because as soon as the Dems finish, media attention turns to the Reps. McCain's plan to announce his vice-presidential choice next Friday (the day after the Dem convention closes) means that the story will shift immediately back from Obama to McCain.
So one question that arises from this is: What does Obama have planned for after the convention? Just a conventional (so to speak) week of campaigning won't cut the mustard. He ought to do something creative. What's the 2008 equivalent of the famous 1992 Bill Clinton-Al Gore bus tour? I'm not sure what it is, but I'm not paid to come up with it. But if Obama completes a reasonably successful convention, or even wildly successful, and then the next week is dominated by the GOP convention (which will be an Obama smackfest), McCain will get a decent bounce and Obama will enter the home stretch behind for the first time in ages.
