Hotline After Dark -- Get Your Ticket To The Barack Show

It was Barack Obama's decision to hold his Dem convo acceptance speech at INVESCO Field that had a lot of people talking.

Radio talk show host Joe Madison: "One, I think the 76,000 stadium speech and event is going to be a love fest. You're going to have everyone together, you're going to have the music, and you've got to remember that it is going to be a love fest. It's going to be at the end of August, and you will find out that McCain will not be able ... to do the same thing. The timing is perfect" ("Election Center," CNN, 7/7).

GOP strategist Leslie Sanchez, on whether John McCain can counter Obama's rally: "I don't know if you can counter it with imagery. It's truly phenomenal to think one man would be standing there in front of 80,000 individuals and really have the oration of a lifetime. But if the hard work of being a president is stagecraft and glamour, then basically you would have Jay Leno as president. That's not really what this ultimately is about" ("Situation Room," CNN, 7/7).

WashingtonPost.com's Cillizza, on what Obama risks by staging the big rally: "Does it have a risk? Yes, I think it does. Only in that, Barack Obama's greatest gift is his speaking ability and his ability to draw big crowds, but Republicans can use that against him and say, 'This guy is a lot of talk; he is not all that much action; he's the head of a movement but what does that movement stand for?' At the same time, 70,000-plus people, the millions, I assume, he will raise in advance of this, it probably makes up for any of those worries" ("Countdown," MSNBC, 7/7).

FNC's Rosen, on the Obama camp's contest that will send 10 people to the convo for a $5 donation: "It sounds a bit like it came out of 'Tiger Beat' magazine, but then again, who is to second guess this particular team of fund-raisers?" ("Special Report," FNC, 7/7).

Newsweek's Fineman, on what Obama stands to gain from the speech: "Don't forget Colorado is a swing state. I've been talking to politicians here. It's a close election. Part of it will just be to bring out tens of thousands of Coloradans to show other people in Colorado that Obama is their guy. So it's got multiple messages in a swing state" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 7/7).

MSNBC's Gregory: "The fact that this is going to be done in Colorado, a crucial state for pickup for Barack Obama given his electoral map. You put it outside like that, the potential for a huge audience that draws from, really, from the rest of the state. It becomes an amazing practice of retail politics in a state where he needs it" ("Race for the WH," MSNBC, 7/7).

After the jump, the candidates and flip-flopping, and the effectiveness of the RNC and DNC ads.

(RACHELLE DOUILLARD-PROULX)

CENTER STAGE

Obama has been accused of shifting towards the center on several issues, while McCain's latest economic flip-flop has some concerned.

Ex-WH adviser David Gergen, on the risk Obama faces by shifting towards the center: "I think his greatest risk would be if the hard left coalesced with the Clinton disgruntled voters and sort of sat out the election. I don't think that's going to happen at this point. But if he were to continue to make moves that alienated the left base, he could run into that problem" ("AC 360," CNN, 7/7).

Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin: "Rather than trying to move to the right to get these swing voters in the middle, I think what he needs to do is inspire the 83 million eligible voters who didn't vote in 2004. And he does that with his message of hope and his message of change, not with this kind of wishy washy messaging" ("O'Reilly Factor," FNC, 7/7).

CNN's Yellin, on McCain's rebranding effort: "Experience has shown McCain that mixing a little bit of the maverick with a little bit of toeing the party line works for him. He just has to find the right mix. And he's not there yet" ("AC 360," 7/7).

Weekly Standard's Hays, on McCain's economic plan: "One of the things that I think probably is frustrating some conservatives right now is that you've got McCain essentially talking about the details. Some of this is inside the Beltway stuff. It's stuff that doesn't matter to the average voter, who wants to hear more about how they're going to have more money in their pocket. And I think the missed opportunity here might be that McCain is not talking about major tax reform. Where is his major tax reform proposal, something that he could use to differentiate himself ... from the Bush administration if he wanted to do that?" ("Situation Room," CNN, 7/7).

ROUND ONE: RNC V. DNC

Both the RNC and DNC have come out with ads, and the pundits weigh in on their effectiveness.

Ex-Clinton adviser Lisa Caputo, on how important the first ads are: "They're very important. The general election campaign is under way. These are very important. You start to plant the seeds. That's why you see Obama embarking on a 50-state strategy and both committees are up on the air, obviously. This is important. You're laying the groundwork" ("Verdict," MSNBC, 7/7).

GOP strategist Brad Blakeman, on which ad is more effective: "The McCain ad is very positive. It tells you what John McCain stands for on energy. ... Not in the DNC ad. The DNC ad is painting McCain as a third coming of Bush. I think that's a flawed strategy. I don't think the American people are going to buy it. Not since 1952 have we not have an heir apparent, and they're trying to make McCain that heir apparent, it's not going to work" ("Verdict," MSNBC, 7/7).

NBC's Todd, on the RNC/McCain ad: "That's an ad that sounds like John McCain's going to go in there right now and say, Let's build nuclear power plants. Let's drill off shore. ... Let's figure this out" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 7/7).