And the Obama campaign thought their biggest worry was getting the right mix of substance and style in tonight’s big speech. Not so much.

The task now seems to be either: a) recapturing the attention of 15,000 journalists busy Googling the difference between Doric and Ionic columns, or b) attacking McCain’s lack of global experience because his campaign is mixing up the Romans and Greeks.
Someone should have put a primer on Classical Architecture and History in the DNC convention guide.

The controversy of course is the unveiling of preparations for Obama’s speech at Denver’s massive football stadium, Invesco Field, which has been transformed into what the McCain campaign has called “The Temple of Obama.”

A stage featuring huge plywood columns painted off-white to look like marble has been set up at the 50-yard line of Invesco Field, and Obama is expected to stride out from between the columns to address some 75,000 supporters — all choreographed for a massive prime-time American television audience.

If the clean white columns were supposed to evoke Washington’s Capitol building or even the White House — some generic presidential-like setting — they have instead sparked a (Roman?) fountain of jokes about Greek Gods and Roman ruins.

A snarky memo from the McCain campaign betrayed the difficulty critics have when faced with such a juicy target — deciding on a single funny nickname for the venue seems as hard as picking a vice presidential nominee that won’t offend the Republican base.

“Today, workers at Invesco Field are putting the final touches on the newest wonder of the modern political world — The Temple of Obama (”The Barackopolis”),” Deputy Communications Director Brian Rogers noted in an e-mail to “interested parties”.

Rogers went on to advise a dress code for the event, complete with photos of various toga styles from “the Nobleman” to “The Senator”. Instructions on how to “wrap your toga” were included.

“Nothing says ‘out of touch with regular Americans’ like Greek columns,” lamented the Huffington Post, urging the Obama campaign to tear down the columns before it is too late.

With the speech just hours away, the columns will likely stay. Historically inaccurate jokes about togas, chariots and Icarus will flourish.

Meanwhile, the Democrats are scrambling to refocus reporter funnybones on the imminent celebration of John McCain’s 72nd birthday on Friday.

Invitations are out for a “More-of-the-Same Birthday Party” in Dayton and Youngstown, Ohio, to coincide with the expected announcement in that state on Friday of McCain’s vice presidential running mate.

The events will feature a “mobile billboard” of McCain, Bush and a birthday cake. And yes, they’re promising 72 candles. No word on the dress code, but flame-retardant clothing may be advised.

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage.

- Photo credit: Reuters/Jim Bourg (Obama does a late-night walk through  at Invesco field where he will give his acceptance speech.)

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. - It’s a question Barack Obama’s campaign doesn’t even want to think about, but a concerned supporter lobbed it squarely at Michelle Obama on Thursday: What should they do if the Democratic superdelegates give the presidential nomination to rival Hillary Clinton?

The wife of Illinois Sen. Obama took a roundabout route to what seemed like a reluctant answer.

“We handle it by not letting it get to that stage,” Michelle Obama told supporters in Jeffersonville, Indiana, saying her husband was still in a position to win the nomination, despite being the underdog.

But if he doesn’t win, she said, Obama supporters should throw their votes to Clinton in the November presidential election.

“No matter what the outcome is, we have to keep our eyes on the bigger picture. We need some kind of change. We can’t cut off our noses to spite our faces,” Michelle Obama told the forum of working mothers.

Democrats have begun to worry that the increasingly bitter campaign battle between Obama and Clinton might leave the party divided once delegates at the party’s national convention in August decide which candidate will be the party’s nominee.

Will Clinton supporters refuse to vote for Obama if he wins the nomination? Will Obama supporters stay home rather than support rival Clinton — or cross over to support Republican John McCain in the November election, simply out of spite?

“It’s kind of hard for me to answer,” admitted nurse Chantelle Curry, 40, who had come out to hear Michelle Obama.

“I will have to go with being a Democrat, to support her (Clinton),” Curry said finally. “But I know a lot of young people my age, that if it ended up Clinton winning, a lot of people really won’t vote. I’ve heard my friends and family say that.”

Retired administrative assistant Paula Goehe, 61, said she would support Clinton if she had to.

“There is no other road to take. However, I know a lot of people who say they will not support Sen. Clinton, who say ‘I will vote for Sen. McCain instead.’ I’m hoping that’s not the case,” said Goehe after hearing Michelle Obama speak.

Goehe said she thought some of the threats by Democrats to stay home or vote Republican if their candidate does not prevail are just talk.

“There’s a lot of difference between saying you’ll do something and pulling that lever (for the other party,)” Goehe said.

Bloggers have your say: Will you vote for the other Democratic candidate if your favorite doesn’t win the nomination? Is it sour grapes to vote Republican if the nomination doesn’t go the way you’d like?

Photo credit: Reuters/Jeff Haynes (Obamas applaud at election rally)     
    

SHELBYVILLE, Ind. - Barack Obama can talk about his childhood years in Kansas and upbringing by his white Midwestern grandparents, but if voters at one small-town Indiana cafe are any indication, he has a long way to go to convince them he represents heartland America.

“Obama has great ideas but his background scares me,” said Chris Leighton, 60, a secretary having lunch at the Chaperral Cafe in Shelbyville, in southeast Indiana. “Everyone talks about him being a Muslim and having ties to terrorism, but how do people really find out?”

The incorrect belief that the Illinois senator is a Muslim was shared by half a dozen others in the restaurant — a sign that dirty campaign tactics and Internet innuendo has taken root among some voters in Indiana, the next state to vote.

Construction worker Ron Debaun, 61, said he hadn’t yet decided whether he would support Obama or Hillary Clinton in Indiana’s May 6 primary, noting they both “have good ideas.” But he’s leaning toward Clinton.

What doesn’t he like about Obama?

“His Muslim ties,” said Debaun.

Why does he think Obama is a Muslim?

“Let’s just say that he admits it himself,” he said.

Retired locksmith Leslie Hedman, 61, said he doesn’t like any of the three candidates — Clinton, Obama, or Republican John McCain – because none are committed Christians.

“Obama is a Muslim,” he said. Where did he hear that?

“He said he was but then he said he’s not,” said Hedman.

Ironically enough, many of the lunchtime crowd said they were also turned off by Obama’s ties to Rev. Jeremiah Wright – the former pastor of Obama’s Christian church in Chicago, Trinity United Church of Christ.

“I definitely don’t like Obama because of the mess with him and his pastor. I don’t think he’s been honest about it,” said Candace Demmin, 37, as she had lunch with her mom.

“How can you go to a church for 20 years and not heard your minister say something off-color? Either he’s heard it and is lying about it, or he’s lying about going to church as much as he does,” said Demmin. “In which case he’s not the Christian he says he is.”

Obama strongly denounced his former pastor on Tuesday and called his racially charged comments “appalling.”

And if Obama’s Muslim ties and Christian pastor aren’t bad enough, his atheism is the last straw.

“A person who doesn’t believe in anything? I don’t want anything to do with him,” said cafe owner and Clinton supporter Shirley Bailey, 70. “He says he won’t take an oath on the Bible, he won’t salute the American flag. That doesn’t sit well with me.”

Obama was sworn in at the U.S. Senate with his hand on a Bible. He stopped wearing an American flag lapel pin — standard issue for U.S. politicians — saying that a pin on the chest matters less than what’s in the heart.

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage.

Photo credit: Reuters/Andrea Hopkins (Shirley Bailey, owner of the Chaperral Cafe in Shelbyville, Indiana, said she can’t support Barack Obama in Indiana’s May 6 primary because of his religious views. Many of her customers agreed.)

Candidates were scrambling — and failing — to make it to campaign events in Iowa this week amid a particularly nasty winter storm, with some opting for radio call-ins to keep themselves and voters safe from slippery roads.
 
There has been plenty of talk about the role weather might play on Jan. 3, when turnout at caucuses could determine who wins in Iowa and takes with them the momentum to the next contest.
 
If elderly voters stay home, will that hurt Hillary Clinton? Do urban voters have an edge in bad weather, since they have less distance to travel to the nearest caucus?
 
Voters who came out in the freezing sleet on Saturday to attended the Oprah-Obama-palooza event in Des Moines sounded off about what January weather might means to them come caucus night:
 
“If you’re an Iowan, come on, a little snow is not going to keep you away,” said Laura Cole, a grad student and precinct captain for Barack Obama in Nevada, Iowa. 
 
“If I really want to caucus, I’ll caucus,” agreed Norma Mack, 57, a claims specialist.
 
But Des Moines homemaker Patricia Cook, 46, wasn’t so sure. “If the roads are bad it could make it intimidating for some people. But if you’re already pumped up, you’ll do it.”
 
Her brother, Dan Haggerty, 44, said he only had to go a couple of blocks to caucus — so couldn’t speak for those who had to drive a long way between frozen cornfields to vote.
 
“It’s not at all a concern for me, but I bet it is for some people,” said Haggerty, an engineer.
 
But retired professor Bill Theisen, 69, scoffed at the talk about bad weather.
 
“This is Iowa. I do not organize my life around the weather.”

– Photo credits: Reuters/Jason Reed

It’s the big Oprah day in Iowa — the TV star will appear at campaign events in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids with Barack Obama.

A poll by The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press showed 69 percent of voters would not be swayed by an endorsement by Oprah — compared with 15 percent who said it would make them more likely to vote for the candidate and 15 percent who said it would make them less likely to do so.

Those whose endorsement would have a greater positive impact included the governor of your state, former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and your minister, priest or rabbi.

But who is really swaying ordinary voters in Iowa? A few anecdotes from the campaign trail suggest family members are putting on the pressure.

Des Moines voter Allen Levitt, 73, attended a rally for Hillary Clinton on Friday but said he was still trying to decide between the former First Lady and Republican Mitt Romney.

His wife, Kay Levitt, 72, was twisting his arm to vote for Hillary: “I’m working on him,” she said.

At a campaign stop for Romney, Dixie Belluchi-Watters, 46, said her 12-year-old son Tucker had convinced her and her husband to back the former Massachusetts governor.

“He’s the one who knows all the candidates — he’s met Romney once already,” Belluchi-Watters said of her son, who wore a “Mitt Romney for President” t-shirt and campaign sticker.

But Tucker was feeling the pressure too — his choice of a Republican had not gone over well with classmates and neighborhood kids. “They put F-Mitt Romney” signs on our fence,” his mom sighed. “We live in a liberal neighborhood.”

So who could sway your vote? Friends? Family? Neighbors?

– Photo credit: Reuters/Lucas Jackson

Iowa has come in for a bit of criticism lately — particularly from other states. Iowa shouldn’t play such a huge role in the choice of presidential candidates, some argue. It’s too homogenous, too small, too white, too rural to represent American voters, they say. 

Despite a lot of jockeying by other states to boost their role in the 2008 presidential nominating season, so far Iowa is still set to be first in line to choose the Republican and Democratic nominees, on Jan. 3.

Criticism aside, a week amongst Iowa voters is eye-opening. They are mostly white, and there are indeed a few farmers among them. They’re a bit older than the U.S. electorate as a whole.  But they seem to be the most informed voters on the planet. 

As candidates criss-crossed the corn state, voters young and old turned out to hear stump speeches, pose questions and meet the men and woman who could be the next president. And they are not easily swayed. Less than two months out from the Iowa caucuses, many said they were still undecided. 

“I’m not sure yet,” said retired tool-and-die worker Ted Stolz, 64, as he took his spot among 200 others at an event for Barack Obama in Ottumwa, Iowa, this week.

“I lean towards John Edwards myself. He’s for the working man. He wants to get us out of Iraq,” Stolz added. But he still wants to hear Obama speak. He saw Edwards on Monday, shook his hand and asked him about overtime issues.

He saw Chris Dodd a few weeks ago and ”had a visit with him, too.” Bill Richardson was in town but Stolz missed him. He was in Des Moines when Hillary Clinton was there, but the event was too big and he couldn’t get close. “I try to get around to see each one of them.”

Organic farmer Marie Bollman, 48, said she’s leaning towards voting for Obama, but she’d still like to hear Richardson and Clinton. She’d heard Edwards. She’s go listen to any candidate that gets within a decent drive — it’s almost a duty.

“We take it seriously. We read about it, we talk about it,” said Bollman. She’s followed politics since high school and saw Bill Clinton come through years ago.

Retired history teacher Dan Gullion, 74, is also undecided — but leaning.

“Right now, today, I think I’d vote for Hillary. I didn’t think I’d vote for a woman but I’m changing my mind,” said Gullion. “I kind of like Bill Richardson. I ‘d like to see Hillary and Richardson get together. That would be an awful strong ticket.”

Gullion worries the rest of the country won’t vote for a woman. He worries the rest of the country wouldn’t vote for Obama because he is African American. And he thinks Iowa voters are well-positioned to make the best decision.

“We have the highest literacy rate in the nation. The highest percentage who graduate from high school. Even though we’re a small state, 2.9 million, we have a lot of education and a lot of balance and thoughts. I don’t know that we aren’t just as good as anyone else as far as deciding who it should be,” he said.

Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards drew about 200 Iowans to a coffee shop on Monday evening as he tried to persuade voters that he is “more electable” than rival and Democratic front-runner Sen. Hillary Clinton.
    
But at least one Oskaloosa native at the Smokey Row Coffee Shop is leaning away from the former North Carolina senator and towards voting for the former first lady in Iowa’s crucial Jan. 3 caucuses. 
 
Before Edwards appeared, Gary Garlinghouse, 27, said he has lots of friends — men and women — who like the idea of electing America’s first female president.