Slapstick Politics: Democratic National Convention Countdown, No. 79, 78

Democratic National Convention Daily Digest and Open Thread
Saturday June 7 and Sunday June 8, 2008--No. 79, 78

Headlines:
More than 560 Denver metro-area law enforcement officers to participate in security at DNC.

Obama's DNC political director chosen.

With nominations processes over, Democrat and Republican get-out-the-vote campaigns are getting into gear with DNC right around the corner.

Less than two weeks left for DNCC to raise $40 million for DNC.

With a fundraising crunch in place for DNC, one party for all state delegates will be enough.

MSM:

ACLU lawsuit over DNC security information will resume tomorrow, June 9:

The American Civil Liberties Union and a coalition of protesters say it's "a fallacy" that authorities must keep the parade route and protest area for the Democratic National Convention a secret for security reasons.

Police in St. Paul, Minn., site of the Republican National Convention in September, have disclosed both locations - and that convention is one week after the Dems come to Denver, the ACLU wrote in a court filing this week.

For the RNC in 2004, New York police revealed the information two months before the event, they added. For the DNC that year, Boston officials made the locations public nine months before the convention.

The protest groups and the ACLU are suing the city of Denver and the Secret Service to get them to reveal the locations, saying they can't plan protests or schedule speakers until they have the details - a violation of their First Amendment right to free speech.

On Monday, they'll argue a federal judge should order the Secret Service and the city to provide the information.

Lawyers for the Secret Service and the city argue revealing the information too soon would jeopardize security. The public demonstration area - essentially the ending location of the parade - is the closest protesters will be able to get to the Pepsi Center or the delegates.