38 million watch Obama speech (more than the Olympic opening ceremony)

[Diary consisted of unattributed AP article. Diary removed and user banned. -- Hunter]

•  wow! That's ten million more

  than watched the Clinton speech!

  by slinkerwink on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:11:44 AM PST

  •  and 38 million 999,999 more than....

    those who watched Sarah Palin (whoever she is) screech through a speech about snowmobiles and her local PTA.

    by David Kroning on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:13:25 AM PST

    •  Actually, 12 million more than watched Clinton!

      See here: http://blog.nielsen.com/...

      by panAmerican on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:16:19 AM PST

      •  So Hillary Clinton got more viewers

        than John Kerry's acceptance speech in 2004. And Obama got 12 million more viewers than Hillary. Yeah, this convention was just awful. :)

        by jj32 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:21:46 AM PST

        •  Best Dem Convention ever on TV

          Obama showed superb management skills to get everyone to pull as a team.

          There were no flubs, no discordant messages and everyone did their best.

          by FishOutofWater on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:26:16 AM PST

          •  The emotional arc of this convention was

            perfect.  And the logistics, tone, management and production were also perfect, despite a high degree of difficulty in pulling this off outdoors, with 80,000 people, etc.

            My thought after it was over:  "Match THAT, GOP!"

            by Pangloss on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:31:42 AM PST

            •  Looks like every Hillary supporter tuned in

              I bet they liked what they saw.

              by The Lighthouse Keeper on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:45:17 AM PST

              •  So Allllllllllllllllllllll of those people

                got to see Obama unfiltered! That's great! And they got to see the family (those girls are irresistable)

                by Muzikal203 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:57:21 AM PST

                •  THIS is even better...!!!!!!

                  Furthermore, the four-night Democratic convention ranks as the most-watched convention of either party, Democratic or Republican, since Nielsen began measuring conventions in 1960.

                  I don't know about anyone else, but I think this is an EXTREMELY good sign.

                  by The Lighthouse Keeper on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:19:29 PM PST

                  •  Wait until the numbers come out

                    for the Republican convention (assuming they have one, which appears to be in some doubt). I bet they don't reach half what the Democrats did.

                    by Omir the Storyteller on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:36:09 PM PST

                    •  Record numbers of viewers for the DNC

                      is surely good news for McCain.

                      /snark

                      by Pangloss on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 02:51:15 PM PST

                •  PLAGIARISM alert

                  this diary should be deleted.  why hasn't the diarist even posted a tip jar?
                  anyways, here's a below comment about how this diary is a rip off: http://www.dailykos.com/...

                  by distraught on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:20:23 PM PST

                  •  Plagiarism is bad

                    Plagiarizing from the AP is just pathetic.

                    by banjolele on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:28:32 PM PST

                  •  HERE'S A TIP JAR FOR YOU

                    Now that he's edited tags, I don't think he can claim ignorance:
                    Diarist's comment on another diary

                    Please pick up your donut from Slikerwink here.

                    by bad dad on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:38:14 PM PST

                    •  i'll pick it up the HR within the hour

                      i just want to alert people right off the bat, that something is wrong with this diary... most people don't look at tags, but they do notice the # of rec's that the first comment gets.  Thanks for the comment to troll rate, though

                      by distraught on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:41:41 PM PST

                •  Sorry for niche - This diary is copied from AP

                  article.

                  See here.

                  Also check out this diary explaining the rules:

                  See rule #5

                  Thanks to Sun dog for raising the issue:

                  Sun Dog's diary

                  Readers: Consider unrecommending.
                  Diarist: Consider deleting.

                  by bad dad on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:25:06 PM PST

                  •  Holy Crap! - Diarist tried to edit plagarism tag

                    Check history here:

                    tag history

                    Ignore mine. I just hit the wrong button.

                    by bad dad on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:33:41 PM PST

                    •  GROUNDS FOR BANNING VIA ADMIN ?

                      by distraught on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:38:40 PM PST

                      •  Looks like it is. Our work here is done. nt

                        by bad dad on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 01:01:13 PM PST

                        •  great catch

                          re the tags

                          by distraught on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 01:05:34 PM PST

                          •  ty

                            by bad dad on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 01:06:34 PM PST

                •  they only...

                  got to watch obama unfiltered if they watched c-span.  annoying pundit chatter distracted from the entire event.  it's like network executives just hired monkeys to fling poo at the screen.

                  by NearlySomebody on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:42:57 PM PST

              •  NY Times Article Shows CSPAN Picture

                this is classic

                In an article on Network Ratings, they have a photo of a lawn full of Obama supporters watching it on CSPAN...

                38 Million?  Try 50+Million baby!!!

                by kubla000 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:57:41 AM PST

                •  i watched on pbs n/t

                  by CharlieHipHop on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:22:30 PM PST

            •  No arc for me...I just cried every day...

              by trinityfly on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:56:52 AM PST

              •  Yes.

                Last night was the first time in a long time that I felt proud to be an American again.

                I mean honestly, where else in the world could you have seen such an inspiring, heartfelt, speech launching the beginning of such a powerful political movement right before your eyes?

                The historic beginning of a wave that could sweep through the world?

                I got the feeling it was the kind of event that grand children will be asking their grand parents about.

                by Pescadero Bill on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:35:57 PM PST

            •  if dems manage the country...

              ...half as well as the convention, well, the future's bright!

              by CharlieHipHop on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:21:40 PM PST

            •  I especially liked...

              ...Dennis Kucinich's speech....  as well as Obama's

              by LakeSuperior on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:26:02 PM PST

            •  This is what will kill McCain's campaign because

              ratings drive everything, even the news.  When they realize he's a ratings gold mine they will cover more and more of what he does.  I've already noticed a switch this p.m. to them showing more and more clips of his speech from last night than they were this morning.  To be fair, they were a little distracted by the McCain nonsense, but I would be willing to bet that when they figure out their ratings increase with every speech of his they cover....look out McCain it's all she wrote and the R's might be wishing for that fairness doctrine.  

              by churchlady on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:37:19 PM PST

          •  Gore seemed

            to deliberately underplay his speech. He spoke quickly and didn't wait for applause. It seemed intentional.

            I think he was careful to not be "too good" and hence upstage Obama.

            by LightningMan on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:38:31 AM PST

            •  Way more than 38 million

              Comparisons to previous conventions must include a number of important caveats. Consumers have the option to record the convention and play it back later using a digital video recorder, and those viewers won’t be counted for weeks.

              Perhaps most significantly, this convention is being streamed online on a number of different Web sites, and the Internet audience will be hard, if not impossible, to measure.

              The Nielsen estimate also does not include PBS, which is showing the convention from 8 to 11 p.m. each night. PBS estimated that it reached an average of 3 million on Wednesday, up from 2.7 million on Tuesday.

              by Kitty on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:49:08 AM PST

              •  CSPAN is where the true base is

                there was a poll here earlier this week that showed 50% of dKos on CSPAN... by Day 4, CSPAN could have been in the several Millions.

                It may be safe to say it was seen by 50M people... the question remains, how did it hit the key demographics, what will the supports do to react, and what lasting effect will it have...

                by kubla000 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:51:35 AM PST

                •  POLL?

                  Maybe someone could put up a poll to see how many Kossacks viewed the speech and what medium/teevee channel they used? I watched on CSPAN, with my sister and brother in law.

                  by dejavu on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:55:50 AM PST

                  •  Watched on CSPAN at the jazz club on Fillmore.nt

                    by Wild Starchild on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:03:22 PM PST

                    •  I watched it live on Cspan then replay on MSNBC

                      I think that MSNBC did a reasonable job.  They didn't talk over the major speeches.  They covered Hillary, Bill, Biden and Obama very cleanly.  The thing that got me was the punsters kept talking that there was no red meat.  That is because they didn't show it.  There was plenty of red meat on Cspan.  I was very tempted to write to MSNBC to tell them to have their punsters view Cspan too so they could see what the delegates saw.  But after Pat went crazy for Obama's speech, I decided that I couldn't outdo that.  If you didn't see Pat Buchanan go gaga over Obama's speech, there is a diary that has the video.  Well worth watching.  Very funny.

                      by dangoch on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 01:06:42 PM PST

                  •  I watched at demconvention.com

                    in HD.  It was awesome.  No interuptions.

                    by Yoshimi on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:06:35 PM PST

                    •  I agree. I checked the site Monday because

                      I was at work and it seemed like the best option.  After that, I stuck with it for the rest of the convention.  They really did a great job.

                      by lineatus on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:14:08 PM PST

                    •  I liked it too--great picture and sound

                      I'm such a hack though that I recorded the network coverage to go back and see what they had to say so I could get a sense of what "regular folks" were perceiving.

                      Alan

                      by SlackerInc on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 01:00:02 PM PST

                  •  Good Idea-

                    Where did you watch Convention Poll?

                    great minds ....

                    by Redstateresident on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:08:24 PM PST

                •  The base is small

                  compared to the rest of the population, so I don't think that will make a huge difference.

                  38 million is roughly 20% of eligible voters if my numbers are correct (someone here must have better numbers); 1 out of every 5.  Chances are everyone knows somebody who watched the speech.

                  by LihTox on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:04:14 PM PST

                •  Yeah...

                  I watched on CSpan.  

                  The other networks skip over Kucinich, Biden, etc. with their freakin' talking heads trying to stir up non-existent controversy and inane commentary.

                  I recorded it all, too.

                  by flem snopes on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:26:42 PM PST

                •  and those of us with Dish Network had

                  gavel to gavel coverage on 211.  I only turned to CSPAN once because I had found the dish feed first, but I assume they were the same.

                  I'd listen to the talking heads occasionally to hear the spin, then turn back when they were cutting off a good speaker.  CNN didn't bother to show any of Tammy Duckworth's great speech for example.

                  So Dish added more to the uncounted viewers.

                  by Eman on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:41:32 PM PST

              •  Interactive View of Obama’s Speech at Inve

                http://www.nytimes.com/...

                by Kitty on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:51:50 AM PST

              •  Including me!

                I got in from the airport at 1am (east coast) and stayed up until 3 watching it on TIVO. It was worth all of the caffeine required today!

                by nice midwestern girl on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:15:47 PM PST

            •  Obama should've mentioned Gore in his speech

              He gave a great speech, one of the best political speeches ever, kicked McCain's ass all around, but a glaring omission in it was that he did not mention Al Gore, who along with Dean, Kennedy, Feingold, Conyers and Kucinich etc has been the conscience of the Democratic party during the worst years that the country has seen (when people like the Clintons, Bayh etal were busy compromising it, and nearly rendered it a permanent minority.)

              by NeuvoLiberal on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:11:40 PM PST

            •  I thought Gore's speech was brilliant.

              Had he delivered like that in 2000, the world would be different today.

              by skrekk on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:34:50 PM PST

          •  Best convention ever?

            by thefretgenie on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:49:50 AM PST

            •  of my lifetime, hell yeas

              by kubla000 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:51:47 AM PST

            •  I've never seen so many smiles.

              Biden was having a blast and Pelosi was ear to ear with a huge grin the whole time.  Even the Clintons joined in the fun.  

              by Yoshimi on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:07:55 PM PST

          •  As someone who watched the gavel

            to gavel uninterrupted coverage on CSPAN, I can firmly say that the convention kicked major ass!

            by Muzikal203 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:57:48 AM PST

            •  Yup.

              by Yoshimi on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:08:20 PM PST

          •  Yeah!!! 1968 My Ass!!!

            by serrano on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:03:22 PM PST

          •  It hasn't always been this way

            I remember watching a convention speech many years ago . . . 1980, I think it was, when Carter was the presumptive nominee. (Well, he was President, and that's how these things usually work.) Some woman got up to . . . memory is just a bit hazy here . . . I believe it was to try to influence the party's position on abortion. Whatever that position was, it was in opposition to Carter's position on the subject. In introducing her topic, she said something like, "This issue is opposed by the man who will most likely be our nominee. Now I do not want to say his name because it will no doubt touch off a floor demonstration, so throughout my remarks I will just refer to him as 'Mister X.'"

            Yeah, those were the days.

            by Omir the Storyteller on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:34:42 PM PST

        •  Well

          As Mort Kondracke pointed out, the Obamaites are clearly upset that they were forced to follow through on their plan to hold that speech in a big football stadium, rather than inside.  Clearly.

          by deminva on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:17:01 PM PST

          •  This diary is plagerized please unrecommend

            by Redstateresident on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:55:20 PM PST

      •  Those McCain People Were Psychic

        in their prediction of a 15% point bounce. Of course, they thought they were raising the bar beyond what anyone could reach, but last night and this morning everything has changed.

        Obama sealed the deal.

        McCain showed that he has very poor judgment. Palin isn't ready to take over should McCain fall sick.

        And everybody knows it.

        by FishOutofWater on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:24:45 AM PST

        •  Obama's 8 point lead in today's Gallup

          tracking poll doesn't even include Obama's speech yesterday.

          by Clyde the Cat on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:30:58 AM PST

          •  It will double. :)

            by Yoshimi on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:08:43 PM PST

            •  This diary is plagerized please unrecommend

              by Redstateresident on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 01:02:33 PM PST

        •  Have a Titanic Deck Chair

          The selection of Palin makes me wonder if the other candidate might have turned it down.

          by NepentheRising on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:47:35 AM PST

          •  you know that's what happened

            this is a great set up for Romney

            by kubla000 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:52:20 AM PST

          •  interesting

            you know, there might be something to that.  who wants to be part of the losingest ticket of all time?

            by CharlieHipHop on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:26:18 PM PST

  •  And two here who watched DNC live

    by deep on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:21:06 AM PST

    •  I watched it in Ireland, at 3am,

      on CNN. Not a dry eye in the household!

      

      by Asinus Asinum Fricat on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:29:10 AM PST

    •  make that 3 :) n/t

      by siberia9 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:53:27 AM PST

    •  i wish i had discovered dnc live in HD...

      ...before last night! how awesome to watch the coverage with no talking heads and in high def!

      by liberaldemdave on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:57:50 AM PST

  •  Or it could of been more if Football wasn't on

    either. They're were two NFL games on in my area.

    by Excelscior1 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:28:08 AM PST

    •  Yeah - but one of them in my area was da Bears

      So that doesn't really count as an NFL game.

      by Oldengrey on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:37:44 AM PST

    •  Preseason garbage

      And the USC vs. NCSU game was a total yawner.

      by Wandering Hoo on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:50:38 AM PST

      •  NC State

        I'm as big of an NC State fan as there is. But even I didn't watch that crap last night. GOod thing. I watched the convention, loved every minute of it and went to bed with a big smile. Certainly better than watching us get a 34-0 beatdown.

        by noahdb on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:36:18 PM PST

  •  cool

    but how many watched the olympic opening cermonies?

    by fidellio on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:32:58 AM PST

    •  Beijing 2008 was most watched since Atlanta

      won the week according to Nielsen.

      by CParis on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:44:22 AM PST

    •  globally?

      i think i heard something like 2.3 billion.

      by CharlieHipHop on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:27:41 PM PST

  •  Obama's new slogan

    A Maverick nominee is still the GOP

    by catty on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:38:34 AM PST

    •  That's no Maverick, that's a SIDEKICK!!

      by Blue Waters Run Deep on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:45:09 AM PST

      •  Very very good, ALL-PURPOSE LINE!

        by Blue Waters Run Deep on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:51:03 AM PST

        •  Best line of the campaign:

          From Jon Stewart:

          "Michelle has to prove that she loves this country because Michelle is a Democrat and Democrats always must prove that they love this country... as opposed to republicans, who we know All love this country...
          They just hate half the people who live in it."

          by Mannabass on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:01:33 PM PST

      •  Casey's best line ever!!!

        by 3O3 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 01:02:56 PM PST

  •  Source?

    I know we don't like the  AP, but this appears to be a copy/paste from this article with no attribtution:

    http://ap.google.com/...

    by meowmissy on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:40:16 AM PST

    •  good eye

      thanks

      by distraught on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:52:14 PM PST

    •  Time to troll rate

      The author won't comment, but removed a plagiarism tag from the diary, so troll rating his or her previous comments is now in order.  Anything we can do to get it off the rec list...

      by steve04 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:54:30 PM PST

      •  previous diaries use unattributed quotes too

        A quick look through their previous diaries seem to contain information lifted from other sources as well without any citations:

        http://hhraleropt.dailykos.com/

        by meowmissy on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:58:18 PM PST

  •  and everyone I know

    watched on C-Span after the first night. The numbers could easily be higher.

    by bleeding heart on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:55:38 AM PST

  •  See Sun Dog's diary - AP cut & paste

    Sun Dog's diary here.

    by Daddy Bartholomew on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:24:05 PM PST

  •  sorry slink. I HR'd b/c diary is PLAGIARIZED

    I do not want anybody else to HR slink's comment.
    and i'll get rid of my HR later on.

    by distraught on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:37:07 PM PST

    •  wrong person, not slinkerwink

      it's hhraleropt who's the author, who didn't leave a tip jar

      by steve04 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:50:09 PM PST

      •  yeah, i know

        i'll get rid of the Hide rate within the hour... as i said, i just want to help alert folks to stop rec'ing the diary and to unrec it.

        BTW, the plagiarizer left a comment here where somebody asked them about this plagiarism... no response as of yet, but what's telling is that the plagiarizer tried to change the diary's tags in order to remove the new tags indicating plagiarism.

        by distraught on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:57:03 PM PST

        •  yep

          as soon as I get trusted user status today I'm going on a hunt with my donuts.  I also tried emailing Brownsox and Hunter, who have the two most recent front page posts...I think they're probably all in packing mode though in the big tent.

          by steve04 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:58:41 PM PST

•  Well, I watched it on CSPAN

  So make that 38,000,001

  by billysumday on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:11:59 AM PST

  •  So did 115

    of us at Occidental College in Barack's old dorm!

    by jkfp2004 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:12:51 AM PST

    •  So did our viewing party in central NC

      I suggested changing the channel from CNN.

      We got to see everyone including the wonderful nurse from Pittsboro, NC.

      by FishOutofWater on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:29:35 AM PST

      •  we had a crowd

        on our front steps last night.

        since it was my TV i had strict rules about only CSPAN.

        by onemadson on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:32:12 AM PST

        •  So did roughly 300 people at a viewing party...

          ...in my PA neighborhood last night.  And that doesn't account for the similar parties in the neighborhoods just a few blocks away.

          by ArtSchmart on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:39:45 AM PST

      •  she was awesome.

        She reminded me of my HS PE teacher, didn't take no crap from NOBODY

        by GTMule on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:48:53 AM PST

    •  Have reporters stopped coming around yet to see

      His old room?  A friend of mine who graduated from Oxy two years back said reporters were doing so like crazy earlier...

      by skywaker9 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:33:08 AM PST

    •  This blunts the media coverage of Palin.

      Because regardless of the coverage about it, 50,000,000 people (including CSpan/PBS) actually saw and heard Obama talk for an hour by themselves. Wow! Plus these people can tell their family, friends and co-workers.

      The die is already cast.

      The media can talk about Palin as much as they want.

      by Excelscior1 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:33:36 AM PST

      •  As one of the 80,000 there last night

        by next week more than 200,000 will say they were there last night.  And I won't mind a bit.

        by ColoTim on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:45:37 AM PST

        •  Your right Colo tim!

          by Excelscior1 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:54:52 AM PST

        •  u lucky dog!

          my brother described it as one of the most incredible experiences of his life -- and he's had quite a life!

          by CharlieHipHop on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:30:59 PM PST

    •  Cool. n/t

      by kosophile on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:05:19 PM PST

    •  This diary is plagerized please unrecommend

      by Redstateresident on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 01:04:50 PM PST

  •  Me too n/t

    Expect a huge bounce in those viewing numbers.

    by CandyKat on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:13:01 AM PST

    •  50-60 people where I was last night

      Watching CSPAN..

      by skywaker9 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:33:32 AM PST

    •  We should THANK C-Span!! Thoughts??

      by Blue Waters Run Deep on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:47:04 AM PST

  •  Count two more CSPAN viewers here

    38,000,003

    by JordanCA on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:13:09 AM PST

    •  I'm another CSpan viewer n/t

      by Democratic Hawk on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:20:00 AM PST

      •  Three in my house

        watching CSPAN

        by admiralh on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:02:56 PM PST

      •  Two in mine

        plus the dog--so I guess three :)

        by jiordan on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:14:30 PM PST

    •  Another CSpan person here myself.

      by Excelscior1 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:34:53 AM PST

      •  Another C-Span viewer, and two more in the family

        by Blue Waters Run Deep on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:46:29 AM PST

        •  Watched it with my thoroughly Repub

          son-in-law last night.  He was upset..wouldn't talk about it until this morning, when he announced to us all that he'd be voting for Obama!  He says McCain is too scary to be prez..can't control his temper and wants "his own war".
          And guess what his biggest complaint with Obama is?  He's TOO CAREFUL!!  He wants us to go to clean energy a lot faster than 10 years, and he wants truly single-payer health care now.
          My goodness.  Wish you guys could have listened in on some of the political arguments we've had around here the last several months, you'd know what a turnaround this is for this guy. First political statement he ever said to me was "Thank God for President Bush.  He's kept us safe, and he's the best president we've ever had".  
          Just had to tell somebody!!

          by sherlyle on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:58:16 AM PST

          •  WOW!! That's AMAZING!

            Your son-in-law made a good and wise decision. I hope that he realizes it was absolutely so.

            by Blue Waters Run Deep on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:40:33 PM PST

            •  Thanks, Blue Waters!

              I'm almost afraid to question him on this yet.  He's hurting.  Everything he thought was true has been exposed as a lie.  
              You know what really got him asking questions?  When he heard about "4th Branch of Govt. Cheney" and Bush's signing statements.  He was really offended by the idea that Bush was subverting the Constitution.
              I'm wondering if we ought to be hammering on the Constitution, health care and clean energy more to reach other Repubs.  

              by sherlyle on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:47:35 PM PST

              •  I think that would reach many people, Rs included

                I have R friends who DO have a sense of decency and honor, who have questioned what's going on ...

                It can't hurt to try!
                And yes, I would let your son-in-law have some space ... He may be confused, and needing to sort out his worldview ... Just be there emotionally for him, and hopefully, there will be more meeting of minds and hearts.

                by Blue Waters Run Deep on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:49:43 PM PST

  •  me too

    38,000,002

    by oscarfrye on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:13:11 AM PST

    •  Me three

      And my partner too.  

      Mel

      by ClickerMel on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:35:58 AM PST

  •  PBS... 38,000,002

    by edgeways on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:13:14 AM PST

    •  don't forget us dems abroad!!

      my husband and i watched on CNN international- or was it BBC?  not sure- anyway, lots of in here in europe watched and were blown away!

      by newyorknewyork on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:30:08 AM PST

      •  We watched from Canada

        the online stream from CSPAN.  :)

        by fiddlingnero on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:35:20 AM PST

      •  This is only Nielsen in USA...

        Internationally, the count will be in the billions.  Everyone around the world was waiting for this speech.
        The man did not disappoint and millions around the world have new hope, just like millions here at home.
        Bringing the factions all together into one America, not black, white, red etc.  is what this country needs to heal.
        If republicans can stand up to their "handlers" and just be honest with themselves, that party isn't all that matters, this country matters first, we may get a lot of big changes.

        by rylly on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:22:04 PM PST

    •  Watched PBS here

      So I could see all of the speeches and the introductory movies as well without all of the boring talking heads.

      by mrradon on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:41:19 AM PST

  •  so did I,

    bump it to 38 and 2..

    by alivingston on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:13:30 AM PST

  •  Me, too, and my sister, so two more! n/t

    by Gorette on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:13:32 AM PST

  •  same here...a far superior experience

    to listening to the network and cable blowhards half the time.

    by UU VIEW on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:14:29 AM PST

  •  I watched on...

    ...my Dish Network HD special DNC channel. And I tivo-d it on MSNBC so I could go back and pick up the pundit blabbering later.

    Awesome numbers.

    by romwriter on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:18:32 AM PST

  •  we had about fifty

    watching Cspan in my town's watch party.

    by jfromga on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:21:53 AM PST

  •  me three?

    by House on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:26:38 AM PST

  •  As did I

    by PittsburghPete on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:26:50 AM PST

  •  Yup, I saw it on Cspan with 150 people at a watch

    party.

    by Icebird on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:26:51 AM PST

    •  And you guys would of been counted as 1 tv set.

      Lol.

      by Excelscior1 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:55:50 AM PST

  •  So did my whole office so that's another 20

    I bet the total viewership was more like 50 million.

    Including people who watched it on webfeed so they could chat/text/blog their thoughts about it in real time with friends, discussion boards like this one, etc.

    50 million.  Seriously.

    by Torta on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:27:12 AM PST

    •  Yeah, I know a few people online

      Who were stuck at work and had to watch web feeds.

      by Fro on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:54:11 AM PST

      •  That was me!

        And my wife, and two co-workers.  

        38 million is grossly underestimating the numbers.  I would be interested if online streaming services like DNC and CNN MSNBC would release the numbers of viewers watching the stream.

        Plus all the watch parties!  

        by phidda on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:58:10 PM PST

  •  Me too - decided even the PBS talking heads

    were annoying.

    by ebs42 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:27:29 AM PST

    •  Yup, CSpan'd it here aussi

      Max Headroom was prescient
      

      ....Honestly, watch the clip and see if you can tell the difference between Max and CNN/MSNBC/FOX

      by jds1978 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:33:22 AM PST

      •  Heh, remembering "Ron Headrest" . . . . n/t

        by SamSinister on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:53:47 AM PST

        •  This diary is plagerized please unrecommend

          by Redstateresident on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:54:20 PM PST

  •  We watched C-Span, too

    And so did everyone else in the family.  I even got my co-worker, who's a CNN junkie, to watch on C-Span.

    by writerswrite on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:32:50 AM PST

  •  My mom and I were...

    ...C-SPANning it all four nights of the convention.

    by vacantlook on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:33:13 AM PST

    •  Us too!!

      by Blue Waters Run Deep on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:47:36 AM PST

  •  I watched online

    Great visuals and no commentary!  Actually we have now watched it a couple times.

    I'm guessing we didn't get counted either! Either time!

    by EJP in Maine on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:37:24 AM PST

  •  Another 'me too' for CSPAN

    by wvmom on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:46:19 AM PST

  •  There were about a thousand people in Lawrence...

    ...watching it on C-Span in Liberty Hall.

    I was worried before Obama came on that the loudest cheer of the night was going to be when the camera panned to the Kansas delegation.

    I shouldn't have been.

    by Geiiga on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:46:42 AM PST

  •  yup, here too.

    at least when I could keep Mr. grz from playing with the clicker :-)

    by juslikagrzly on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:48:20 AM PST

  •  And I listened on NPR

    x additional millions? (CBS radio carried it also)

    by NepentheRising on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:48:52 AM PST

•  I Think

  we're onto something BIG here, folks!

  by Grumpy Young Man on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:12:23 AM PST

  •  Ya think?

    

    by gloryous1 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:29:14 AM PST

    •  I love that photo.

      There's a new sherriff in town!

      by writerswrite on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:33:36 AM PST

    •  lol. it's almost scary how good he looks in that

      cowboy hat. :)

      by Altoid77 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:36:50 AM PST

      •  He's just GORGEOUS. Major crush, here. :)

        by Blue Waters Run Deep on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:47:57 AM PST

    •  See that guy over on the right top corner?

      He's thinking, "Damn, I hope I'm that cool when I'm his age."

      by Black Leather Rain on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:56:09 AM PST

    •  Quote from McCain...

      Mongo only pawn... in game of life.

      by Rico on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:18:45 PM PST

•  Enthusiasm Gap!!!

  by DJShay on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:12:41 AM PST

•  That's great news

  'Cause it was one kick-ass speech.

  by Dartagnan on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:12:47 AM PST

•  WOW!

  Thanks for posting. This news makes me so fired up! More people than American Idol?! OMG WTF is our country learning?

  by geejay on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:13:08 AM PST

•  I watched on cspan

  then switched to msnbc for commentary

  by fhamme on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:13:12 AM PST

  •  I

    guess you use the word 'commentary' somewhat loosely..

    by joojooluv on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:25:01 AM PST

    •  Well,

      I actually did the same thing. I just wanted to see how the bloviators were going to spin it. I was shocked at the near universal, positive response! Of course KO loved it. Tweety said he  was inspired. David Gergen said it was a masterpiece and a symphony. Holy sh@t, even Pat B. was singing praises for this speech.

      I was actually shocked by this, and was seen yawning and scratching my head wondering if I was sleep walking or dreaming.

      by Babsnc on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:51:08 AM PST

•  I eagarly await

  the abysmal numbers for the republican convention

  by FleetAdmiralJ on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:13:15 AM PST

  •  they should just cancel it

    by fhamme on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:13:59 AM PST

    •  Or air a rerun

      by ShadowSD on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:17:45 AM PST

      •  Three's Company would be nice

        The old ones, with Mr. and Mrs. Rope, not Mr. Furley.

        by DJShay on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:19:08 AM PST

        •  John McCain: Running as Mr. Furley

          Governs like Mr. Roper

          by ShadowSD on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:25:28 AM PST

        •  Or an episode of Wipeout -- it's appropriate too.

          by PittsburghPete on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:27:47 AM PST

          •  Where's the pole!?

            by FleetAdmiralJ on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:31:31 AM PST

            •  Where's the poll?

              Best comment today, although I'm embarrassed to admit I get it :)

              by Twin Planets on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:38:18 AM PST

              •  The diary is plagiarized from AP, please unrec

                Don't want to link to AP, but the entire diary above is plagiarized and the diarist left no comments so we can't troll rate.  Please unrecommend.

                by steve04 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:30:15 PM PST

            •  Ha! She was a hoot!!

              She's from Alaska also.

              by perky mcjuggs on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:38:38 AM PST

            •  I'm going to win Wipeout and have fun doing it!

              by PittsburghPete on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:31:19 PM PST

              •  This diary is plagerized please unrecommend

                by Redstateresident on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:51:41 PM PST

      •  It's already a rerun

        Remember?  McCain is Bush's third term.

        by TX Freethinker on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:25:32 AM PST

        •  No, they should just rerun the 1980 convention

          They'll have a better chance getting votes that way.

          by ShadowSD on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:28:54 AM PST

          •  and get St Ronnie Raygun to do the keynote

            speech --It's Alive!

            by CParis on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:47:19 AM PST

      •  For all intents and purposes,

        that's exactly what they'll do.

        by Clyde the Cat on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:32:35 AM PST

      •  yeah. just rerun the DNC! /nt

        by Altoid77 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:37:31 AM PST

      •  Gilligan's Island or McHale's Navy?

        by CParis on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:46:19 AM PST

      •  a rerun of "eight is enough"!

        by cacamp on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:02:01 PM PST

    •  How 'bout airing a West Wing episode instead?

      Or a whole marathon of them. I miss that show.

      by Wendy in FL on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:47:06 AM PST

  •  Hey Fleet

    Have you updated your electoral map with the new bouncy poll numbers?

    by pattisigh on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:14:53 AM PST

    •  I update

      every Tuesday

      by FleetAdmiralJ on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:16:03 AM PST

      •  Today's Tuesday

        in my world.  Get to work!

        :o)

        by pattisigh on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:19:23 AM PST

        •  This diary is plagerized please unrecommend

          by Redstateresident on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:53:09 PM PST

  •  I think people will watch Palin

    because she's such an unknown.  I expect a bump for them that night.

    by claytonben on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:19:15 AM PST

    •  Probably

      let's hope she actually says something about, you know, policy.

      by FleetAdmiralJ on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:20:38 AM PST

      •  or she takes of her glasses and flings her hair

        and turns into Swan VP!

        by CParis on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:48:27 AM PST

  •  I don't even think...

    ...that the Republicans can fill the Xcel Energy Center, let alone get the television ratings that the Democratic Convention brought in.

    by DH from MD on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:22:25 AM PST

    •  If Gustav hits New Orleans

      McCain could do his acceptance speech from the SuperDome.  Might get an audience that way.

      by Oldengrey on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:40:08 AM PST

      •  Need some Katrina footage here - appropos!!

        by Blue Waters Run Deep on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:48:52 AM PST

  •  Well if any of us are going to watch, we need...

    to watch it on c-span.

    by princss6 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:43:57 AM PST

  •  They'll be tied with the Weather Channel.

    More people will probably be watching Jim Cantore than the Monday and Tuesday speakers.

    by Yamaneko2 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:57:43 AM PST

•  do ya think mccain will get that

  many eyeballs next week? I know he isn't going to get mine.

  by dougymi on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:13:16 AM PST

  •  I am going to watch

    and do a shot every time he says "My friend"

    when he says "Hillary" that is another $50 to Obama.

    by jalapeno on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:14:18 AM PST

    •  dont do that!

      you will kill yourself with alcohol posining.

      by GlowNZ on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:15:00 AM PST

      •  And go broke!

        by lynne1 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:26:08 AM PST

        •  use McCain's Universal Health Care - the ER

          by CParis on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:49:12 AM PST

        •  Hey, awesome sig

          I just moved out of Lowell two months ago!

          by ClapClapSnap on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:57:46 PM PST

    •  my liver couldn't take that kind of abuse n/t

      by dougymi on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:15:15 AM PST

    •  You're gonna be drunk as a skunk, my friend

      by pattisigh on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:15:33 AM PST

    •  My God...

      you are a brave, brave man... or a long-time alchoholic.  ;-)

      by billd on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:16:49 AM PST

    •  I'd have to have half a dozen shots before the

      speech just to sit through it.

      If I do watch, it'll be for the same reason that some slow down on the highway when there's an accident.

      by Clyde the Cat on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:26:24 AM PST

    •  for your own safety, do jello shots

      with only jello and no alcohol. lol.

      by Altoid77 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:39:00 AM PST

      •  nooo - then you'll die of sugar overdose

        by CParis on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:49:47 AM PST

  •  No...

    ...it's appears likely America will be dealing with the aftermath of a hurricane when McCain gives his speech.

    I doubt the same people who prayed Obama's speech would get rained out are praying that Gustav veers away from the Gulf Coast states.

    by wyvern on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:21:57 AM PST

    •  I'm praying they'll be okay...

      but never forget what McSame was doing the day Katrina hit...
      

      by Wild Starchild on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:24:11 PM PST

  •  I think a lot of people will tune in

    to see Sarah Palin, but quickly turn the channel given her accent.  And don't forget that McBush's speech fall on NFL's season opening.

    by CeeusBeeus on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:28:25 AM PST

  •  I'm going to watch the Giants game

    With a friend who's a former NYer on TV out here and then we may go for a drink.  If we see the speech, so what, if not, no loss...

    by skywaker9 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:34:57 AM PST

•  how about MSNBC? n/t

  by jalapeno on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:13:40 AM PST

  •  2 people watched it on msnbc

    and those people were Moron Joe and David Gregarious.

    by GlowNZ on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:16:10 AM PST

    •  I

      watched it a few minutes until I groaned in physical mental emotional and psychic pain - then I flipped back to CSAN

      by joojooluv on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:23:51 AM PST

      •  psychic pain? is that like voodoo? oooo, and can

        we get a voodoo doll of mccain and/or palin to twitch uncomfortably every few seconds at the convention?

        by Altoid77 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:40:30 AM PST

•  holy shit.

  by GlowNZ on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:13:54 AM PST

  •  Damnit, that's

    what I was going to say.

    Oh what the hell.

    Holy shit.

    That's a lot of people.

    -- Stu

    by sdf on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:23:30 AM PST

•  beautiful

  i said to my wife during his speech, "we need this guy as president"...seems simplistic, i know, but i think he impressed a lot of people the same way

  by memofromturner on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:13:56 AM PST

  •  I did the same. My husband actually stayed home

    from his Thursday poker night (a big sacrifice for him, believe me) to watch.  Just a few minutes into the speech I turned to him and said, "I want this guy as my president."  It is simple but I want someone that competent to be this country's president.

    It also struck me that for the past few elections, I've worried like hell about how our nominee would do on acceptance speech night and unfortunately, they have generally disappointed me.  But I wasn't worried at all about Barack laying an egg.  I knew he would do just fine.  Even so, I was blown away by how terrific it was.  I hope a lot of people felt the same way.

    by flahawkfan on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:40:43 AM PST

•  or online ?

  by delphil on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:13:59 AM PST

•  online

  not to mention all the folks (like me) who watched online

  thanks for the info on tv viewers! Excellent news!

  by abs0628 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:14:01 AM PST

  •  And I can't be the only one

    who listened via good old radio. . . .

    by claytonben on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:21:21 AM PST

    •  Especially not on the Thursday before Labor Day..

      Me and Mrs Magnus were listening in the car.  Lot of people on the roads.

      by magnus on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:45:06 PM PST

•  I suspect that millions upon millions

  figured out that PBS and CSPAN were their best options. I'll bet they broke the record for their all time biggest audiences.

  by global citizen on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:14:49 AM PST

  •  PBS

    estimated that 3 million people watched their coverage between 8-11 pm.

    by NoisyWithdrawal on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:28:11 AM PST

    •  I was one of them --

      their interventions were minimal and generally interesting.

      by global citizen on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:38:52 AM PST

•  And I'm guessing that doesn't count the fact that

  many people watched them with groups of people at Obama Watch Parties.

  by Kyle the Mainer on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:15:05 AM PST

  •  I know a half dozen people

    who have mentioned on blogs or email they did watch parties, with between 30-50 people at some. That's just in MA.

    by lynne1 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:27:36 AM PST

    •  Yep. There were watch parties all over the U.S.

      I was at one here in rural Maine with probably 20 or so people.

      by Kyle the Mainer on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:45:19 AM PST

•  The camera pulled back

  ...and the scintillations of the camera flashes were absolutely magical.

  by skillet on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:15:12 AM PST

  •  my boyfriend

    was there and said the same thing...he said it was almost as if it were choreographed - the camera flashes "twittered" all night long.

    by LibChicAZ on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:58:24 AM PST

•  Pure awesomeness.

  My brother just said this election so far is 'hair-pullingly interesting."

  TO be sure.

  by ablington on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:15:24 AM PST

  •  You said it, sister

    Does this man have it all or what?
    

    by gloryous1 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:28:10 AM PST

  •  This diary is plagerized please unrecommend

    by Redstateresident on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 01:01:49 PM PST

•  Plenty of people watching online too

  I watched a trad network to get the HD wide screen effect (my satellite provider doesn't offer PBS HD). But plenty of folks are outside Nielson's grasp.

  Obama sure can bring the numbers. Now we have to convince those folks to VOTE!

  by Houston Gardener on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:16:12 AM PST

•  not large enough

  Obama could not get 50M

  source: AP

  by Kwaku Azar on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:16:48 AM PST

  •  It will be interesting

    to compare the viewership to the RNC.

    by Unstable Isotope on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:49:39 AM PST

  •  The diary is plagiarized from AP, please unrec

    sorry to spam, this comment's going to go all over until this thing's off the rec list and/or the diarist deletes.

    by steve04 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:28:50 PM PST

•  2 more for c-span here :) n/t

  by mrkvica on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:16:54 AM PST

  •  Really!

    Why would you not watch it on C-SPAN? Full coverage and no blathering! Viva C-SPAN!

    Off topic, I'm still pissed because Comcast in my area (Silicon Valley) dropped C-SPAN2 about 6 months ago. I assumed it was because they were putting another channel in its place, but instead that slot has been blank ever since. WTF? Don't they get it for free? C-SPAN2 had lots of great stuff and I really miss it.

    by elishastephens on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:28:42 AM PST

    •  Somehow, the MSNBC live feed that I got

      from their website omitted all talking heads, news crawls, and button-pushing hypothetical questions.  Between the speeches, the camera would just gently meander around the stadium, catching people's faces, and you could really get a sense of the kind of crowd buzz and anticipation that you would experience if you were actually there, rather than having Tweety bellow in your ear the whole time.

      (In the miraculous event that I would get tickets to a speech like that, I most certainly wouldn't take Tweety, or anyone remotely like Tweety. So watching the regular MSNBC coverage of all that would be like noone's actual experience of the speech on the floor.)

      by Dale on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:49:51 AM PST

  •  C-SPAN & DVR made for a great combo!

    Came home, had a pleasant dinner, watched the first half of the OSU Beavers vs Stanford game, and then proceeded to blubber as I watched Barack hit one out of the freaking state!

    Best political speech ever or "just" one of the top ten speeches ever?

    by Bule Betawi on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:31:44 AM PST

    •  best speech

      EVER - except maybe that sermon on the mount.  it had some staying power. (and I'm an athiest)

      by LibChicAZ on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:00:23 PM PST

  •  me and my roommate watched on c-span as well /nt

    by Altoid77 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:41:53 AM PST

•  I missed a important appointment to watch the

  acceptance speech. I am thrilled that I witnessed a part of history.

  by Aesop on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:17:06 AM PST

  •  I recorded it

    and left the Ray's game ASAP to watch it. c-span

    by House on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:29:33 AM PST

•  Wow, I think I heard a prediction

  of 30 million. Great numbers.

  by jj32 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:19:17 AM PST

•  my stupid yahoo

  inbox has yahoo news  block
  saying

  "obama may annoucne running mate today"

  good one.

  by GlowNZ on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:20:10 AM PST

  •  Yeah, I noticed that too

    yesterday, the stories are like a week old!

    by jj32 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:22:28 AM PST

    •  AP imploding? we can only hope. eom.

      by Altoid77 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:42:38 AM PST

      •  This is an AP diary

        This diary was cut and pasted from an AP article

        NEW YORK (AP) — Barack Obama's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention was seen by more than 38 million people.
        Nielsen Media Research said more people watched Obama speak than watched the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing, the final "American Idol" or the Academy Awards this year. Obama talked before a live audience of 80,000 people in Denver.
        His TV audience nearly doubled the amount of people who watched John Kerry accept the Democratic nomination to run against President Bush four years ago. Kerry's speech was seen by just over 20 million people.
        Obama's audience might be higher, since Nielsen didn't have an estimate for how many people watched Obama on PBS or C-SPAN Thursday night

        by Sun dog on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:49:55 AM PST

        •  Ordinarily, this would bother me

          But since it's the AP, fuck 'em.

          by SLKRR on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:00:32 PM PST

          •  Are you kidding me? WTF is going on here?

            This is a cut and pasted ap article posted as a diary and sitting on the rec list.  Yes, fuck the AP.  And if they want to let them fuck us, we should start cutting and pasting their material and publishing it here as original.  

            by Sun dog on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:04:58 PM PST

  •  OMG! Yahoo News Flash:

    Og Make Fire! He Righteous Hairy Man! Aaargh!!

    by Dale on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:51:20 AM PST

•  The numbers are higher

  I was at a convention party last night, there were over 500 of us there and we watched CSpan

  by emcneill on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:21:33 AM PST

  •  And that many people were quiet enough

    to hear it?!  Wow!  We just had 8 people and we kept kibitzing.

    by CeeusBeeus on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:25:53 AM PST

•  Oooh!

  I watched via CSpan! Make that 38 million and one!

  by lynne1 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:24:10 AM PST

  •  I watched CSPAN too

    I wish I had the entire time.  Their coverage was excellent.

    by Jaspercat on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:30:24 AM PST

•  That's why I'm relatively unconcerned about

  our miserable traditional media trying to shape the "narrative".

  People can't and won't be told what to think about his speech when they've seen it for themselves.

  by Clyde the Cat on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:24:35 AM PST

•  My GF claims it changed her life.

  She wants to have a talk about it this evening. She is really apathetic though she always votes.

  by MNPundit on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:25:42 AM PST

  •  Wow, your comment

    just gave me the shivers.  My hope is the speech changed the country's collective life.

    by gloryous1 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:30:44 AM PST

  •  barackobama.com

    by Yoshimi on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:49:08 AM PST

•  PBS estimates they averaged around 3m

  http://tvdecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/...

  by verily on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:25:57 AM PST

  •  so that puts us over 40 million

    by FleetAdmiralJ on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:26:33 AM PST

•  I watched on CSPAN

  so I bet he cleared 40 million. WOW!
  and those 40 million will read crap in the paper by hacks like AP and see that the news media distorts.

  by henry dribble on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:26:09 AM PST

•  Polls vs. 38 million viewers...

  ...This is my own theory, but when you have 38 million+ people watching the Democratic nominee's  speech, suddenly the validity of daily tracking polls takes a big hit.

  38 million Americans  watching Obama's speech is a political coup for the Democratic party.

  There is no way a daily tracking poll can accurately quantify that type of collective attention shift.

  by wyvern on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:27:02 AM PST

  •  Tracking Polls

    How are they accounting for cell phone voters??? That might explain the close tabs thus far and the interest of the Obama campaign in getting Text addresses!

    by NepentheRising on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:52:45 AM PST

  •  That is double

    any convention in the past!  Clearly, there are a lot of people who are interested.

    by Unstable Isotope on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:59:10 AM PST

    •  This diary is plagerized please unrecommend

      by Redstateresident on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:58:58 PM PST

•  Wow. Just wow.

  More than the Olympics? More than American Idol? As another commenter said, "Could America be learning?"

  Obama/Biden '08

  by chin075 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:27:12 AM PST

•  my family watched on Cspan also

  add another 3

  by Tanya on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:27:17 AM PST

•  After the speech I took a walk through my SF

  neighborhood and asked nearly everyone on the street whether they watched 'the speech.' Nine of ten good San Franciscans were enthusiastically thumbs up.
  

  by gloryous1 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:27:19 AM PST

  •  Picture of the campaign, right here!

    by PittsburghPete on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:29:18 AM PST

  •  We couldn't do that

    We're on the east coast and it was like, 11:00pm when it ended. ;) MY neighbors would have killed me.

    I did open the window (it had gotten hot in the house over the day, and it was cool at night) and turned up the volume though, in case any neighbors happened to be coming down the street (it's a busy street). ;D

    by lynne1 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:31:22 AM PST

  •  Wow!

    What a great photo. So many hands joining in, you can't even see the candidate. Really reinforces Obama's "It's not me, it's you" remark.

    by Giles Goat Boy on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:36:41 AM PST

  •  I love the one guy

    who's rubbing the top of his head.

    by Ivey476 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:24:22 PM PST

•  We waited in line for 2 hours.

  After stopping for a drink or two at this mexican restaurant, my friend and I headed down the hill to the stadium which had a line stretching for miles. The crowd in that stadium was unbelievable, every seat was filled. I wish everyone could of been there in person.

  by jazzence on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:29:06 AM PST

•  Does this include online viewers?

  I watched with about 60 people streaming it on CNN.com.

  by harpy68 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:29:31 AM PST

  •  I doubt it.

    by Excelscior1 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:35:45 AM PST

  •  The speech will probably get a ton of hits on the

    Youtube as well.

    by CalexanderJ on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:38:49 AM PST

    •  speakin' of which...

      http://www.youtube.com/...

      by MissInformation on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:51:59 AM PST

      •  THANK YOU!

        My Mom fell asleep last night, and didn't catch this. I promised her I'd send a link to her!

        And WHOA it already has over 125k views!

        by ClapClapSnap on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:48:52 PM PST

        •  diary is plagiarized, please unrecommend

          it's a copy/paste from an AP article with no original content.

          by steve04 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:55:18 PM PST

•  Cspan and PBS for me. n/t

  by dditt on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:29:43 AM PST

•  C-Span for me

  C-Span was our choice

  by Penguins in Burma on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:29:43 AM PST

  •  Me to,

    ...and what about all the TiVo people that are going to watch it over the weekend like my husband. These numbers are huge!

    by Babsnc on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:39:08 AM PST

•  I wish (hope) the DNC would put out a DVD

  containing all the hooplah from the past week - everything from the opening to the speech at Invesco.

  by MA Liberal on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:30:15 AM PST

  •  Great idea! And could be good fundraiser. n/t

    by WisVoter on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:39:12 AM PST

  •  demconvention.com

    :)

    by Yoshimi on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:47:56 AM PST

    •  I know you can watch videos there

      but I'd rather have a dvd!

      by MA Liberal on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 01:00:24 PM PST

  •  This diary is plagerized please unrecommend

    by Redstateresident on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 01:00:05 PM PST

•  Considering His Acceptance Speech

  was broadcast on every network imaginable (including BET?), and the comparative programming was broadcast on a single channel, I should hope his Nielsen rating would be vastly higher.

  There's a point when analysis of meaningless data is too.

  by Limelite on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:31:33 AM PST

•  cspan for me, it was the best coverage

  by titotitotito on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:33:00 AM PST

•  cnn and kudos to them

  they rightfully praised the moment and applauded Obama's speech without partisan bias talking points...then it went down the toilet when Larry King had the GOPer buzz kills

  by optimusprime on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:33:17 AM PST

•  non-Americans are people, too!

  Nielsen Media Research said more people watched Obama speak than watched the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing, the final "American Idol" or the Academy Awards this year.

  Not sure if the error is the diarist's or Nielson's, but two billion people watched the Olympics opening ceremonies.  This included 840 million in China alone.

  (Also, FWIW, NBC estimated70 million "viewers" watched the opening ceremonies.  I'm not sure whether or not this only includes Americans.)

  by chapter1 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:33:17 AM PST

  •  It only includes Americans....

    there hasn't been an analysis of international viewership.

    by CeeusBeeus on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:38:03 AM PST

•  We watched on C-SPAN...

  It riveted my 11 year old, whom I'm trying to save from the fundamentalist leanings of my ex-wife.

  by Boisepoet on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:34:03 AM PST

  •  I don't envy you...your task just

    got a little bit harder with Gov. Palin's selection.  Yikes.

    by CeeusBeeus on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:37:09 AM PST

    •  He's on "our" side...even refutes the Muslim lie

      with his mom & step-dad. Think I need to reward him with an Obama t-shirt!

      by Boisepoet on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:58:18 AM PST

•  c-span watch parties?

  where i'm at, we had multiple gatherings at several locations.  all were tuned to c-span, and attendance was several hundred at each location.  i'll bet that happened in many other places.

  by jesusofsuburbia on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:34:41 AM PST

  •  C-Span zone here, and ONLY C-Span. C-Span ROCKS!!

    by Blue Waters Run Deep on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:44:03 AM PST

  •  Basically, everyone was watching

    by Muzikal203 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:03:15 PM PST

•  It was also the top spot

  on the Digg front page last I checked there. Wonder how the Youtube viewership is playing out. I could check, but I'm too lazy. =)

  by tomjones on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:35:26 AM PST

•  Add 1

  I watched it on PBS.

  by myeye on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:37:07 AM PST

•  WOW, simply wow..n/t

  by IndySteve on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:38:00 AM PST

•  Well I'm sure McPain will get 38. Period.

  "Noron" O'Donnel said last night that McPain is having a lot of trouble selling 10,000 tickets. I think that calls for the Nelson Ratings to reflect what's going on:

  

  by Snud on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:38:23 AM PST

•  Have made a point of asking

  everyone I've met today.  Everyone seems to have either watched or taped it.  I've also eavesdropped on many conversations about it today.

  by Fyodor on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:38:49 AM PST

•  Hmm

  If you wanna keep your account you probably shouldn't copy paste entire AP telegrams

  by Mike in Denmark on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:39:46 AM PST

•  and only an 8 pt bounce

  by lookout1967 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:40:03 AM PST

  •  NUMBERS do not include last night nt

    by dmsdbo on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:43:29 AM PST

  •  !

    "they have a cave troll!"

    by Haole in Hawaii on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:44:13 AM PST

    •  well done, frodo!

      i don't know if it was frodo who said that, but excellent use of a LOTR reference.

      by dj from NC on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:31:56 PM PST

  •  I reacted

    I really shouldn't do that.. but the point is that the Gallup Daily Tracking does not include the effect of the speech last night.  

    by Haole in Hawaii on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:46:10 AM PST

•  I think that number is low by half

  Everyone I know watched on CSPAN (excepted one guy who watched on the BBC channel)

  I bet Obama had over 80 million viewers.

  by Oddball on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:41:05 AM PST

  •  Add 2 more for CSPAN here. eom

    by orangeuglad on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:11:57 PM PST

    •  My family watched at a simulcast event...

      at a 1,600 seat theater in our city! It was amazing. We had videos from our delegates before the speech. A great choir, too. I'm still buzzing from it. My 11 year old was blown away.

      by your neighbor on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:54:02 PM PST

      •  diary is plagiarized, please unrecommend

        it's a copy/paste from an AP article with no original content.

        by steve04 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:55:42 PM PST

•  I hosted a great party with 265 guests here in NC

  The crowd was fired up, and we had a blast.  Signed up dozens of volunteers for the Weekend of Action and many, many pledges for one-stop early voting, which begins October 16 in North Carolina.

  We're organizing debate-watch parties for the three presidential debates (September 26, October 7, and October 15) and the vice-presidential debate (October 2) as well.  (( whoo hoo! ))

  by MsSpentyouth on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:41:11 AM PST

  •  This diary is plagerized please unrecommend

    by Redstateresident on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 01:03:41 PM PST

    •  And it's done...diarist banned

      Thank hunter, thank Sun dog, etc.

      by steve04 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 01:04:39 PM PST

      •  Always good when truth justice

        & beauty prevail

        by Redstateresident on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 01:07:13 PM PST

•  Anyone got video of the insurance agent?

  - the woman who whacked her forehead over how dumb McCain is?  I can't find it on YouTube and it was amazingly funny.

  by Oldengrey on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:42:32 AM PST

  •  What about DNC.org?

    They might have clips from the entire convention.

    by TheC on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:53:29 AM PST

    •  Got it - Thanks

      I'm not sure how or if I can embed this, so here's the link -    
      http://gallery.demconvention.com/...

      My favorite part is about 3:50 in.

      by Oldengrey on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:22:01 PM PST

•  Holy smokes

  That's amazing.  And it speaks to why the Palin pick is so hilarious.  They can't derail the effect of the speech because people actually saw it!  Folks aren't relying on the chattering class to know something about the speech.  The saw it.  You can't take that away.  

  by Sun dog on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:43:09 AM PST

•  What about 50,000 house parties watching?

  Nielsen counts TV tuned in not people so that 38 million doesn't count PBS or CSpan which alot of house parties were tuned into so they could get ALL the festivities... that's a staggering number.

  Admire or diss the Obama campaign, they know STAGECRAFT, incredibly well-organized and managed event... and then they gave the ball to Obama to run into the endzone and he stood there all alone on stage and absolutely held viewers attention for his entire speech.

  BRAVO!

  by scamperdo on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:43:15 AM PST

•  CSpan/MSNBC Remember this is just in America

  What about Worldwide???

  by pjbamerica on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:43:38 AM PST

•  Republicans watching must have been heart broken

  seeing the tsunami of people demanding change.  Then topping it off with a brilliant speech by Obama. I think going to the stadium was a calculated decision to tear the heart out of any Republican watching.

  I've been watching C-Span.  Much better than being interrupted by a couple of parrots squawking back and forth.  Not sure if I should say this but Nielsen monitors what I watch.  Hope C-Span got a boost.

  by adamsrw on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:46:20 AM PST

•  No C-Span in Nielsen?

  Then they are waaaaay off.

  by Chi on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:46:33 AM PST

  •  This diary is plagerized please unrecommend

    by Redstateresident on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:52:29 PM PST

•  make it at least 38 million plus 1

  i watched on cspan

  Obama's audience might be higher, since Nielsen didn't have an estimate for how many people watched Obama on PBS or C-SPAN Thursday night.

  by zannie on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:46:50 AM PST

  •  Add another for me. Even if half as many people

    watched on PBS and CSPAN as the tracked networks that puts it up to around 55 to 60 million.

    Good stuff Maynard.

    by coloradocomet on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:57:40 AM PST

    •  PBS for me

      by cfk on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:08:28 PM PST

  •  I was a C-Span watcher, too.

    Tuned in to MSNBC after the speech was over.

    by zelda1010 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:11:34 PM PST

•  Plagiarism. Delete diary.

  NEW YORK (AP) — Barack Obama's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention was seen by more than 38 million people.
  Nielsen Media Research said more people watched Obama speak than watched the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing, the final "American Idol" or the Academy Awards this year. Obama talked before a live audience of 80,000 people in Denver.
  His TV audience nearly doubled the amount of people who watched John Kerry accept the Democratic nomination to run against President Bush four years ago. Kerry's speech was seen by just over 20 million people.
  Obama's audience might be higher, since Nielsen didn't have an estimate for how many people watched Obama on PBS or C-SPAN Thursday night

  by Sun dog on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:47:04 AM PST

•  Watch it again now in HD on your computer!!!

  go here:

  http://gallery1.demconvention.com/...

  HIGH DEFINITION

  Obama's speech in high definition video.

  you may have to install 2 programs at first, but wow, if your internet speed is cable or dsl, and your processor is around 3 GHz you will see every hair in high definition, up close.

  i watched it live like this.  not only that but you can rewatch hillery, bill, joe, and my fav, dennis kucinich's 5 min speech on day 2.  don't miss it.  i just checked and the website is still up and you can see any speech on any of the 4 days--in high definition.

  go for it.

  by windwardguy46 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:47:59 AM PST

  •  Its fantastic

    forget CSPAN

    by givemhellHarryR on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:00:28 PM PST

    •  i never knew my computer video was this good

      until i installed the silverlight or whatever its called and watched obama in high definition.  

      and this puter is not top of the line...a couple years old already.

      anyway, i highly recommend you going to the website the democratic convention put up for our benefit to see it all in HD.

      by windwardguy46 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:19:33 PM PST

•  That's phenominal.

  by askew on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:48:26 AM PST

  •  This diary is plagerized please unrecommend

    by Redstateresident on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:56:36 PM PST

•  I would have watched it on TV

  but my power was out - I went out to my car and sat there listening on my radio.  One of the most amazing and powerful speeches I've heard in my life.

  Think of it in these terms - if 50 million people watched the speech, and Wikipedia says that only about 62 million people voted in 2004...Woohoo!!!

  by sleipner on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:49:01 AM PST

•  I'm really glad about this

  Obama's strategy was to get as many people as possible to watch this speech, raising expectations, filling up a stadium, getting people to call their friends about it on their cell phones, and so on; so that in the speech, he could lay out his platform and his criticism of McCain in as much detail as he has ever given before, setting up the frame for which these viewers can watch the rest of the election.  That way, with 38 million people having imbibed Obama's message in this relatively down-to-earth manner, McCain can pick Palin, steal the rest of the news cycle, do whatever he wants -- Obama has got his word in with a huge portion of the American public, and they will not see McCain the same way again.

  by Xaphoo on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:50:36 AM PST

•  Amazing..

  I was with at least 100 other Laughing Liberally folks at the Tank in NYC watcing C-Span on 2 large screens. It was amazing.  Walking home last night in NYC, there was optimism and happiness in the air.

  by akr nyc on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:50:37 AM PST

  •  all alone

    last night...boyfriend was at the convention.

    But

    There was plenty of happiness here and I had my DKOS friends to talk to

    by LibChicAZ on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:08:24 PM PST

•  PBS seemed to have by far the best audio

  I'm not sure how many people made it there, but if they did, they definitely stuck on it.

  by bahrad on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:52:15 AM PST

  •  it was very good

    and we were allowed to hear all the speeches...

    by cfk on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:09:18 PM PST

•  Heard it on radio...

  Mom and dad dragged me on a family vacation but I was checking the blogs all night on my iphone and switched through the AM stations to hear it.

  by ZacJamieson on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:53:56 AM PST

•  hundreds watched from Times Square

  they were partying like it was new years eve.

  by cacamp on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:54:26 AM PST

  •  Now that would be

    a neat part of history to witness.

    by givemhellHarryR on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:59:52 AM PST

•  I bet millions more

  I, along with about 1500+ men and a few women, watched at Sidetrack, a gay video bar in the heart of Chicago's Boystown neighborhood.

  We all watched and cheered as though we were there in person.  Think of it, 1500 gay men all quiet at the same time (snark), and all of us staring at one of the many video screens (all tuned into C-Span)

  As my group of friends left I was astounded at the crowds leaving all the other nearby gay bars. It turns out, all of other bars had the same capacity crowds all watching the convention.

  Capacity crowds in Halsted Street bars is common on a weekend night, but not on a weekday night.

  No way!  No how!  No McCain!

  by weddedgay on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:54:26 AM PST

  •  Do you think

    Obama has made any inroads with gay voters? I know they supported Hillary strongly and am hoping that they will get on board with obama.

    by Hawkjt on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:06:06 PM PST

    •  gays are not voting for mccain

      there's frankly not a lot Obama needs to do to get the gay vote. I never understood why Hillary was so popular with so many gays...especially since their positions on gay rights were literally identical. I'll be politically incorrect but it probably had something to do with her "diva" image...at least that's the impression I got from my other gay friends.

      by michael1104 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:49:40 PM PST

      •  Good observation

        I nave thought about the 'diva' image, and lord knows we do love our divas.  My problem was DOMA and DADT, both jammed down our throats by WJC. I never trusted the Clintons after those betrayals.

        by weddedgay on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 02:16:35 PM PST

    •  Without a doubt

      When I said all the other bars, you need to know that in Boystown there are 8 gay bars and 3 dance clubs, the smallest would hold 100 or so, and Sidetrack where I watched is the largest.  All were full and watching. That is thousands and the crowds elsewhere were there for the same reason as we were, to watch Obama.

      While my observations are only annecdotal, if there  was anyone there supporting McCain they were very inconspicuous.

      One small point. We gays are not all alike and did not all support Hillary.  I sure know I didn't. I have been supporting Obama since he ran for US Senate.

      Going forward, I predict that as a demographic, the LBGT community will rival the African-American community in the percentage support we give Obama

      by weddedgay on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 02:12:33 PM PST

•  More than Roots

  Less than the Superbowl?

  by ADamiani on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:55:44 AM PST

  •  Waaaaay less than the Super Bowl

    But still a damn big audience.  For a political speech.

    by SLKRR on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:03:45 PM PST

•  Excuse me Mr. McCain and Ms. Beauty Queen...

  but we would like the narrative back please.

  Thank you.

  by bleigh82 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:55:55 AM PST

•  As Chris Tucker would say...DAYUUUUUUM!

  by mselite on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:56:49 AM PST

•  Don't be silly. The Palin Pick......

  ..will get LOTS of attention.....on a Friday....before a major hurricane. OK. Maybe not so much.

  by Bensdad on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:58:55 AM PST

  •  Friday of Labor Day weekend, no less. n/t

    by kosophile on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:05:54 PM PST

  •  Oh it's getting attention alright

    just not in the way the Bushies think it is.

    by gardenkitty on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:12:59 PM PST

•  Best Convention EVER!!!!!!! eom

  by MariaWr on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:59:04 AM PST

•  They also didn't count people like me

  who watched the speech online.

  by hulagirl on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 11:59:32 AM PST

  •  add two more at my house

    watchin' online.

    by hornrimsylvia on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:05:50 PM PST

•  Zoinks

  by givemhellHarryR on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:05:58 PM PST

•  That is great! I'm speechless. Think of all

  those people who saw Obama fight, lay out his plans, and inspire all at once.

  I'm so proud of our nominee, and of our country for tuning in HUGE!

  by krwlngwthyou on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:08:58 PM PST

•  That's huge

  Bush was only seen by around 20 million in 2004.

  McCain better up his order of depends, he's going to need them.

  by sgilman on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:09:31 PM PST

•  And THAT's more important than McSame's

  by gardenkitty on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:10:36 PM PST

  •  Um, VP pick

    did I really hit 'post'?  or is DKos messin' with me?

    by gardenkitty on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:11:57 PM PST

•  OK you guys, did you understand what the set

  was?  It was a replica of the East Wing of the White House, the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden sits right outside the windows.

  Genius, I tell you!

  http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/...

  by msdrown on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:10:50 PM PST

•  It was more then that

  I watched it online. :)

  by Into The Stars on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:10:58 PM PST

•  add a POLL! "where'd you watch the speech?"

  cspan
  online
  fox
  msnbc
  necn
  blah
  blah

  by netguyct on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:12:41 PM PST

•  This diary is PLAGIARIZED FROM AP

  take it down now. What are you trying to do? Get Kos sued?

  http://ap.google.com/...

  See sun dog's diary as well in the diary list.

  by decembersue on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:18:53 PM PST

•  400-500 watched C-SPAN at Scholz's Beer Garden

  in Austin Texas.  I've never seen a crowd so mesmorized.

  Thanks to Tom for throwing open the doors for a great Democratic get together.

  by mikeconwell on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:18:59 PM PST

  •  I went to a movie, and DVR'd the 5 hour

    session so I could skip the boring parts.  I was amazed at how few people were out and about last night...they must have had something more important to do than go shopping.  I'm in Madison WI (a bit like Austin politically), and it was like Superbowl Sunday with the Packers playing.

    by skrekk on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:29:21 PM PST

•  My Wife and I ...

  Were proud to be two out of the 38 million.

  by D in Northern Virginia on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:20:07 PM PST

•  Someone help me, please oh please oh please!!!!

  I tried to  find an open thread to post this on to no avail.  I want to post Obama's speech on my facebook, but the Obama youtube channel will only let me share the link.  Does anyone have a link that I can post directly (usually I just hit share).

  Also, I live in Canada, but I want to hook up with whatever volunteer organization I can find in New Jersey for the lead-up to the election.  I know I can find out the info myself, but if anyone has any links that'll save me a few minutes, I'd appreciate it.

  by gloriousbastard on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:24:36 PM PST

•  UNREC this...

  This is a cut and past from the AP.  We need to be careful.

  by RichM on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:24:48 PM PST

  •  OH and...

    You are missing an answer to your poll.  I watched it live.

    by RichM on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:25:43 PM PST

    •  I watched it online

      I have a feeling several thousand others did too.

      by neil on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:40:52 PM PST

      •  I mean...

        I was there.

        by RichM on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 06:08:49 PM PST

•  Why is this plagiarism still here?

  What the fuck are you up to?

  by jrooth on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:25:09 PM PST

•  I watched online

  My John McCain-loving brother had the tv.

  by BrighidG on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:29:35 PM PST

•  Erm

  This is plagiarism of an AP story. You need to take it down.

  by mcronan on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:29:39 PM PST

•  C-SPAN was great of course. NPR sucked. More

  natering nabobs on there than you could shake a stick at.  I had to deal with them during my drive home yesterday evening.  Once again, their coverage seemed more about their own cutesy intellectualish ego-filled coverage than the real story.  Eisenhower's granddaughter was at the podium and they kept saying, "Now Eiswnhower's granddauther is at the podium," while continuing to bounce back and forth between their own reporters who had nothing constructive to contribute.

  Why is a young voter in the bleachers more important to NPR than the person giving a speech at the podium?  Because NPR found that young voter, somehow, among the 84,000 people there.  Whoop-de-damn-do.  Thank God for C-SPAN, treating us like adults who can make our own opinions.

  by waydownsouth on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:32:04 PM PST

•  Thank God for C-Span

  I did not have to hear any of these morons

  by jacmelforObama on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:45:55 PM PST

•  i missed a bunch of it at work

  and watched it on obama's website today. the best place. i was having a hard time downloading it from blogs and got on instantly from his.

  by marlakay on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:47:09 PM PST

  •  This diary is plagerized please unrecommend

    by Redstateresident on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:48:50 PM PST

•  I watched it with well over 1000 people

  at Independence Mall in Philadelphia on a JumboTron.

  I think that the actual number is higher if you concider the numerous watch parties across the country such as this.

  (Phiadelphia) Area's Obama backers gather for historic night

  by The Blue State Bandit on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:52:42 PM PST

•  I watched it online

  And so did three other people I talked with.  The DNC's convention website had great hi res streaming video.  great quality.

  by phidda on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:55:33 PM PST

  •  Same here. On Democratic Convention website n/t

    by 174winchell on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:58:43 PM PST

•  Diary is plagiarized

  Please unrecommend this diary.  Also, considering the author copy/pasted this from the AP without attribution or adding original content, hasn't posted a comment in this thread, and removed a tag of "plagiarism" from the diary, consider him or her a troll.  Do not feed the troll.

  by steve04 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:57:00 PM PST

  •  Good find...

    and done.

    Appaerntly he's been banned, too.

    by ClapClapSnap on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 01:00:46 PM PST

    •  Thank Sun dog

      Other people with sharper eyes found it (though in my defense I hadn't read the thing anyway).  At least I can say I emailed Hunter!

      by steve04 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 01:04:11 PM PST

•  Wow, glad I never rec'd this

  by Muzikal203 on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:59:42 PM PST

•  good hunting, Hunter! n/t

  by decembersue on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 12:59:55 PM PST

•  C-SPAN

  Mark me up as another CSPAN viewer. I watched most of the convention online while I was at work.

  A lot of people had to be watching on the CSPAN website because it was very stop-and-go for a while. Is there any way to find out the CSPAN stats for last night?

  by dystopialost on Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 01:07:16 PM PST