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Even though Barack Obama has dramatically lost his lead to rival John McCain in the polls, his party is pre-occupied with appeasing the Clintons at the convention this week in Denver. Hillary Clinton’s name is listed in the roll-call for delegates to cast their votes for the nomination. She is to address the DNC tomorrow night, followed by what will be Obama’s acceptance speech on Thursday. Mainstream media reports have obsessively focused on an apparent Obama-Clinton rivalry. But underscoring the staged nature of the conventions, yesterday Associated Press reported that Obama and Clinton were working on a deal that would give her some votes, but then cut short the vote with a unanimous call for supporting him. Michelle Obama gave a well-received speech while 4 people were arrested in what authorities are saying may be a plot to assassinate her husband. In the streets outside the brightly lit hallways, activists have converged from across Colorado and the nation to express a cacophony of causes, chief among them opposition to the war in Iraq. About a 100 protesters were reportedly arrested late last night about a mile from the DNC. Progressive music bands like Rage Against the Machine, Dead Prez, and Public Enemy will play at a free concert this afternoon.

GUEST: Aura Bogado, Anchor for Free Speech Radio News, who is covering both conventions for Pacifica Radio – she’s also blogging from inside and outside the conventions at tothecurb.wordpress.com.