Also: Pelosi Booed by Protesters, Tropical Storm Gustav Update, New Health Care Numbers

DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION. This is the third day of the Democratic National Convention – tonight’s theme is “Securing America’s Future.” The night’s prime-time headline speakers are Vice-Presidential Nominee Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) and President Bill Clinton.

Other featured speakers include: former Sen. Tom Daschle; NM Gov. Bill Richardson and Sens. Evan Bayh (D-IN), John Kerry (D-MA) and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV). Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-SC), and Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) along with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA) and Iraq War veteran Tammy Duckworth will lead a tribute honoring our veterans.

Sen. Hillary Clinton’s convention speech received overwhelmingly positive reviews in today’s papers. On its front page, the Los Angeles Times reports that the New York senator accepted "defeat with grace and generosity," and "moved to close the divide among fellow Democrats on Tuesday night by offering a forceful and unequivocal endorsement of her fierce rival." The New York Times reports Clinton "deferred her own dreams on Tuesday night and delivered an emphatic plea at the Democratic National Convention to unite behind her rival, Senator Barack Obama, no matter what ill will lingers." The Washington Times calls it a "rousing speech" that laid "rest to a bitter primary battle that left many of her supporters -- especially women -- seething months later."

At the same time, not all is going according to plan for Sen. Obama this week. The Washington Post reports on its front page that "top elected officials continued to raise questions about Obama's campaign strategy and worried aloud that he must do more to overcome the doubts voters in their states have about his readiness to be president." The Post adds that Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell "said that Obama is still struggling to connect with working-class voters and that the presumptive nominee reminded him of Adlai Stevenson, the brainy Illinoisan who lost the presidential campaigns of 1952 and 1956." Sen. Chuck Schumer "said Obama's campaign must demonstrate its willingness to engage against a Republican Party that he said is well skilled in political combat." Both Rendell and Schumer were prominent Clinton supporters in the primary.

With Sen. Biden set to talk tonight, the media continues to scrutinize him and his record. Here are just a few examples. According to The Politico, "During his first full day of solo campaigning," Sen. Biden "showed some of the flashes of the hyperbole, exaggerations and quips that Republicans are hoping to use to paint him as a loose cannon." USA Today reports that Biden "worked to defeat a bipartisan bill designed to curb asbestos lawsuits at a time his son's law firm was filing them in Delaware and a former aide was lobbying against the measure, according to public records and interviews." Roll Call adds that Sen. Biden "is the only Member of the Senate who is also being paid to be an adjunct university professor, and his pay for that job did not decline when he cut his teaching time in half five years ago. According to Biden's 2007 financial disclosure forms, he was paid a $20,500 'teaching stipend' by Widener University in Chester, Pa., which would place him in the high end of the pay scale for adjunct university professors."

As for yesterday’s Republican response, The Washington Post reports that "blocks away from the Democratic convention site," Republicans yesterday "waged an aggressive 'Not Ready '08' counteroffensive led by" former MA Gov. Mitt Romney, a "potential running mate" who "was trying out the attack-dog role." The AP reports that Gov. Romney "charged Tuesday that a Barack Obama presidency would 'make America a weaker nation.' The United States under an Obama administration would see 'less prosperity, and less security,' said Romney." Gov. Romney was joined at the press conference by Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL).

Also worth noting, The Politico reports this morning that Sen. McCain and his soon-to-be-named running mate will campaign "in three battleground states this weekend, with large-scale rallies planned for Ohio, Pennsylvania and Missouri, according to aides and advisers. ... The new Republican ticket [will] be revealed at a noontime Friday rally in a Dayton, Ohio, basketball arena."

POLLING ROUNDUP. The latest Gallup daily presidential tracking poll shows Sen. McCain creeping ahead of Sen. Obama 46%-44% after the race had been tied at 45% for the previous two days. The poll surveyed 2,684 registered voters from August 23-25. Today’s Rasmussen Reports tracking poll of 3,000 likely voters has Sen. McCain leading 47%-46% (with leaners included.)

ENERGY. Exactly 600 days after gaveling the 110^th Congress into session, Speaker Pelosi and House Democrat leaders held an event in Denver to propose a ‘comprehensive’ energy plan. Well, they got more than they bargained for: under the headline “GOP protesters disrupt Pelosi energy rally”, The Hill reports that “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s energy pep rally Tuesday turned into a shout-fest when Republican protesters showed up to heckle with cries of ‘Drill here, drill now.’” According to the paper, “The half-dozen protesters in McCain T-shirts gathered behind the bank of television cameras that had assembled to watch Pelosi and more than 20 Democratic House members extol their own energy efforts in front of a hybrid-powered commuter bus. The protesters echoed that by chanting, ‘Vote, vote, vote.’” The Politico notes that the protesters ended up in a lively exchange with none other than Speaker Pelosi herself: ”The demonstrators interrupted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with chants of ‘Drill here! Drill now!’ Pelosi paused and asked the group, ‘Right here?’ Seeming to enjoy the back and forth, she followed with another question: ‘Can we drill your brains?’”

Meanwhile, as House Republicans begin the 19^th day of their historic energy protest, The Virginian-Pilot reports that
“a band of Republicans has opened the House chamber every weekday since the end of July for one- or two-hour ‘shadow sessions,’ designed to dramatize their call for action to boost the nation's energy supplies and lower prices. All three of Hampton Roads' GOP representatives, Thelma Drake of Norfolk, Randy Forbes of Chesapeake and Rob Wittman of Westmoreland County, have taken part. Drake and her colleagues have used the gatherings, which a House historian said appear to be unprecedented, to pound home familiar themes from the energy debate.” As always, we’ll be featuring the great regional headlines you’ve been generating in our daily Energy Update.

Reuters reports under the headline “Iconic California county backs offshore drilling”, that “California's Santa Barbara County, site of a major oil spill that rallied opposition to offshore oil production 40 years ago, voted on Tuesday to support new coastal oil exploration and extraction.” Reuters notes that “Santa Barbara County is known for the beauty of its coastline and upscale communities like Montecito and the city of Santa Barbara, 90 miles northwest of Los Angeles. But it faces budgetary shortfalls and rising unemployment that could be alleviated with new oil exploration, proponents say.”

TROPICAL STORM GUSTAV. At this hour, the Associated Press is reporting that Tropical Storm Gustav has stalled in the Caribbean after hitting Haiti as a hurricane. The National Hurricane Center says that the storm could regain hurricane strength later on the day or tomorrow as it moves away from Haiti. As of 5 a.m. EDT, Gustav’s maximum sustained winds were measured near 60 mph. The AP notes that “forecasters were reluctant to predict the storm's path beyond the weekend, the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina,” but its current trajectory has it headed to the Gulf of Mexico. Also worth noting, James Cordier, president of Tampa, Florida-based Liberty Trading Group and OptionSellers.com, predicted that “if the storm continues on its path, it could drive up U.S. gasoline prices by 10 cents a gallon ahead of Labor Day weekend.”

SPEAKER PELOSI. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) “is not backing off contentious comments about abortion she made during a weekend television talk show appearance,” according to the Associated Press. The Speaker’s comments on Sunday’s edition of NBC’s “Meet the Press” that "doctors of the church" have not been able to define when life begins, “prompted swift rebukes from Washington Archbishop Donald Wuerl and Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput, who said Pelosi was incorrect and that Catholic teaching has consistently condemned abortion.”

In a statement, a Pelosi spokesman said in a statement that the Speaker "fully appreciates the sanctity of family" and based her views on conception on the "views of Saint Augustine, who said: '... the law does not provide that the act (abortion) pertains to homicide, for there cannot yet be said to be a live soul in a body that lacks sensation ...'"

HEALTH CARE. According to new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of people without health insurance fell last year for the first time since President Bush took office – dropping to 45.7 million, of 15.3% of Americans. The Los Angeles Times says that “some healthcare experts had expected the number of uninsured to increase as the long-term erosion of private, employment-based coverage continued. Instead, the figures showed a shift toward government coverage that added fuel to the debate over how to best expand access to healthcare.” Overall, the number of people covered by government programs rose from 80.3 to 83 million, and the number of children without insurance dropped to 8.1 million from 8.7 million as those with public insurance rose by almost 1 million to 23 million.

ECONOMY. The New York Times reports that Sheila C. Bair, chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, "warned on Tuesday that the outlook for the ailing banking industry was bad - and getting worse." She said that "the swelling tide of toxic home loans is proving to be even more worrisome than initially feared." This "downbeat outlook was underscored" by the FDIC's latest quarterly assessment of the industry, which "said the number of bad loans at banks ballooned to its highest level in 15 years during the second quarter." The Wall Street Journal notes that Bair said the FDIC might have to borrow money from the Treasury Department "to see it through an expected wave of bank failures."