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With the Games over, where does China go next?

Sen. Hillary Clinton released her delegates Wednesday afternoon, allowing those who had been pledged to her to vote for whomever they choose in a roll call vote later in the day.

Bill Clinton resoundingly endorses Barack Obama who is formally nominated by US Democrats as their presidential candidate.

Joe Biden gave it his all tonight, but his all couldn't elevate a middling speech, which attempted too much, and in the process fell flat.

Attack dog, populist, legislative heavyweight, world player, family man. Two mentions of Scranton and Wilmington. A tribute to his mother. Afghanistan, al-Qaida and the Taliban, Iran. Abe Lincoln and John Kennedy. The pieces weren't eloquently woven together, and the weight of the veep nom's career, the depth of his knowledge and breath of his influence, was diminished.

Until November, Barack Obama needs Biden to ably perform two tasks - slamming John McCain and heralding Obama's commander-in-chief credentials. His job for the next two months is to help Obama make the sale. And he needed to show tonight he can do that -- and do it better than Hillary Clinton.

Certainly, the Clinton saga appeared closed tonight, for now. Hillary Clinton put Obama's name in nomination, a generous gesture, the symbolism of which was not lost on the hall of Dems, who roared their approval. And Bill Clinton evening covered ground this evening that his wife avoided, to some criticism, in her address to the convention last night.

In 1992, the former president recalled: "Together, we prevailed in a campaign in which the Republicans said I was too young and too inexperienced to be commander-in-chief. Sound familiar? It didn't work in 1992 because we were on the right side of history. And it won't work in 2008 because Barack Obama is on the right side of history."

Biden needed to strike a similar theme, and certainly aspects of his speech covered similar ground. But a one-time kitchen sink speech is one thing. A kitchen sink campaign strategy is another. Biden needs focus moving forward. A veep nom can't cover every base. He should be on the attack and doing the kind of outreach that will help electorally, attracting working class voters to the Democrats cause and easing public concerns about a neophyte nom.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)

At least seven people die after a car bomb targets a prison bus in Pakistan carrying police, police say.

Standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28,1963, Martin Luther King Jr. shared his vision for a new America:

It's been a busy day for "Backstage Pass." This a.m., we visited NBC (see earlier post) and took a quick break before stopping by ABC and MSNBC.

8/27, 4:30 pm MT: Live taping of ABC's "World News"

History was made during our visit to the ABC set. With the floor of the Dem convo as a backdrop, ABC's Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos reported live as Barack Obama became the first African-American nominee of a major U.S. party when Hillary Clinton moved for acclamation during a roll call vote.

In addition to the crew, the tight quarters were occupied by ABC News pres. David Westin, Gibson's wife and ABC chief investigative corr. Brian Ross. Ross, whose segment was cut due to time restrictions, told the Hotline his prod. was the one arrested outside the Brown Palace Hotel today.

More after the jump, including pictures.

(KATHERINE LEHR)

Tonight's Rescue Team is Louisiana1976, taylormattd, ItsJessMe, YatPundit, drbcladd, and pico:

• Marcion tears apart the belief of many Americans that the war in Afghanistan is a good one in Ungrateful Afghan civilians resent dying for freedom. (Louisiana 1976)
• Pris from LA reminds us of the distressing fact that New Orleans' Charity Hospital has not re-opened 3 years after Katrina as a new hurricane threatens in Waiting for Gustavo. (Louisiana 1976)
• In this fourth installment in a series on potential McCain VP Rob Portman, Ohiobama focuses on the Piketon plant as an "elephant in the playpen" at the heart of Ohio political machinations, in Nuclear Politics, Rob Portman, and McCain's VP Pick. (ItsJessMe)
• fractal details the need for an electricity superhighway in our country, in It's time to democratize energy with an Electranet. (ItsJessMe)
• davidwalters explains how the energy industry in South Korea is thriving due to its extremely well-run nuclear industry and its investments in wind and solar, in Korea: a Country that Understands How to Address the Energy Crisis. (ItsJessMe)
• fake consultant offers an interesting perspective on the economy's downturn in On Economic Forecasting, Or, Notes From The Golf Tournament. (YatPundit)
• Frank Cocozzelli explains how Catholic neoconservatives have hijacked that church's theology for their own purposes in Saving Monsignor Ryan. (YatPundit)
• professorfate synopsizes How to Convince Reluctant Clinton Voters to Vote for Obama. It is a great, focused comparison of actual votes made by three different US Senators. (drbcladd)
• My Philosophy offers Lincoln-channeling as How Barack Can Bring Down the Republican Party Tomorrow Night; it sounds like an interesting idea. (drbcladd)
• Liberal Youth discusses the effect of election reform measures on voter participation in Voting Reforms and Turnout. (taylormattd)

jotter has High Impact Diaries: August 26, 2008

Carnacki has tonight's Top comments - Obama to battle for West Virginia

Please feel free to suggest your own rescues, and otherwise use as an open thread.

The tradition of sequestering the nominee like some wedding-eve bride is a quaint one and equally as fun to abrogate with a surprise appearance.
Jack Hidary http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jack-hidary/

The UN says Pakistan has agreed to extend the deadline for repatriation of two million Afghan refugees.

In Denver Wednesday night, exactly three words were spoken that served as a shout-out from the powerful and the would-be powerful to a city on its knees: "Katrina and cronyism."
Harry Shearer http://www.huffingtonpost.com/harry-shearer/

Second-to-last night is over and done...your closing thoughts?

So what is Congress doing, anyway? That was a common refrain in a handful of questions posed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the first Digg Dialogg interview Wednesday night.

Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, Barack Obama's choice for vice president, accepted the nomination Wednesday night at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. He was introduced by his son Beau Biden, Delaware attorney general.

Sen. Joe Biden hammered Republican presidential candidate John McCain as he accepted the Democratic nomination for vice president Wednesday.

As day three of the convention winds down, the crowd was treated to an unexpected visitor and we all got a preview of tomorrow night.

In other news, rumor has it that John McCain will name his running mate tomorrow ahead of Barack Obama's speech. It's hard to decide whether to laugh at the thought of a green screen running mate, or roll our collective eyes at what kind of a petty, petty person would do that. And if it turns out to be only a rumor, I'll apologize for calling him petty. I will, however, still call him an asshole.

Sen. Barack Obama, the Democrats' presidential nominee, took the stage at the Democratic National Convention Wednesday night, marking his first appearance at the event.

Biden's speech began with lovely tributes to his family, including his mother, of whom he said:

My mother's creed is the American creed: no one is better than you. You are everyone's equal, and everyone is equal to you.

Biden ends by using his authority on foreign policy to detail how Obama's foreign policy judgment has time and again been correct while McCain has been wrong. Biden's foreign policy judgment will not be substituted for Obama's; instead, his credibility will be used to affirm Obama's judgment.

John McCain was wrong, and Barack Obama was right -- again, and again, and again, on the most important national security issues of our time, John McCain was wrong and Barack Obama has been proven right.

And here comes Obama, introduced by Biden's wife Jill.

Bill went much further than Hillary did in praising Obama, and it made all the past rumors of bruised Clinton/Obama egos feel like nothing more than a dramatic build-up to a satisfying denouement.
RJ Eskow http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/

Former President Bill Clinton declared he was "here to support Barack Obama" at the Democratic National Convention Wednesday.