TPMtv is proud to report: they never took that seat from TPMtv. No, after successfully fighting off the barbarian hordes for some four or five continuous hours, TPMtv had an epiphany of audacity: best seat in the house? We can do better. And so just a couple short hours before Barack Obama was to take the stage on the final night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention, TPMtv packed up its supplies and voluntarily left that seat, totally unsure if it would know the warm, familiar, Internet-accessible security of the press box ever again. Totally unsure what the future would bring. But TPMtv knew it couldn't turn back. And so it marched into the future, in search of... "The American Promise":

TPMtv's view of the speech coming up shortly, but for now...

As you may have heard, today is the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. Here's civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) addressing the Invesco Field crowd, followed by a Martin Luther King, Jr. montage shown on the stadium JumboTrons:

Sorry, no video.

...

But! Here's Shawn Johnson reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and Jennifer Hudson doing a bang-up job with "The Star-Spangled Banner":

TPMtv has so far brutally clubbed unconscious with the TPM hand mic no fewer than four members of the media here in the Invesco Field press box, all while filming the goings on of the early stages of the final day of the convention with its other hand. When asked its name for the media rotation list TPMtv gave "Greg Palast." We'll see if it works.

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TPMtv arrived at Invesco Field extra early today and landed this impossibly sweet spot in the press box, looking out directly over the field that in a few more hours will be the site of Barack Obama's convention speech. The room has already filled to capacity and a rotation has begun whereby media members will be cycled through on a half-hour-in, hour-out basis. TPMtv hasn't been asked to move yet. When it is, it fully intends to start blindly clubbing people unconscious with the TPM hand mic it is gripping tightly in one hand just under its desk. This seat is too good! As Xzibit once said, "I might leave in the bodybag but never in cuffs!"

We recap Day 3 in Denver and look ahead to what is likely to be complete chaos tonight for Obama's acceptance speech at 75,000-seat Invesco Field:

As part of our broader endeavor to cover the stories the big networks are ignoring this week, TPMtv brings you another installment in its ongoing series, "DNC '08: The Funky Convention." [Ed. note: not an ongoing series, name just now made up.]

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Barack Obama didn't save himself for Thursday night. He came out for a surprise appearance following the conclusion of his running mate Joe Biden's speech on the third night of the Democratic National Convention. Here's the crowd reaction:

John Kerry:



Bill Clinton:



And Joe Biden:

TPMtv reporting live from the floor of the DNC. During roll call, Hillary Clinton made a "surprise" appearance and put Obama over the top. TPMtv brings you the up-close-and-personal before, during, and after.

And:

Late Update: Stolen Thunder. While David Kurtz reports live from history, he mourns some of the states and people that missed the limelight. Like Vermont (scheduled to announce after New York) and Sen. Leahy, who resides there. TPMtv catches up some more with Sen. Leahy, here.

Missouri casts their votes. The Bellwether State, Home of Harry Truman, and TPMtv's own David Kurtz!

Experiencing a bout of of wanderlust, TPMtv leaves the convention center to wander the surrounding streets and plazas. After all the news about convention protests, TPMtv encounters a mellower, if diverse, protesting scene. If nothing else, TPMtv is pleased by how this crowd tries to cover all the bases.

The truth is that when you're at an event like the Democratic Convention, it's almost impossible to have a bird's eye view of everything going on. We recap some of what we saw and heard Tuesday in Denver:

TPMtv takes you on a tour of the concourse at the DNC. It's a little hairy, a little hoary, a little wild. As seen hours before the great Hillary amazon/ sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits uprising. Remember, this is usually a gym. Come look.

In today's episode of TPMtv, we recap Day One of the Democratic National Convention and explain how we're managing to shoot live (or almost live) video via the web:

These days, it seems like every time Sen. McCain sits down for a pow-wow with the press, it turns into a POW-POW.

Last night on Leno was no exception. Jay popped the million dollar question ("For $1 million, how many houses do you have?") and McCain got serious. "I didn't have a house. I didn't have a kitchen table. I didn't have a table."

We know Sen. McCain, we know. But what we here at TPMtv don't know-- after days of the press chewing over this gaffe-- is McCain still uncertain about the number of condos, ranches, and pied-a-tiers?

Listen in, after the jump.

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TPMtv has made absolutely no secret of the fact that it loves the James Brown song "Living in America." No secret at all. So when the Pepsi Center house band (the name of which TPMtv has been unable to track down yet, but which TPMtv would like to imagine is called the FunKeyBoards (to be explained later)) struck into none other than "Living in America" as TPMtv was exiting the Pepsi Center following the conclusion of Michelle Obama's speech, well, if you think TPMtv didn't stop and shoot its first ever music video you'd be sorely mistaken:

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While TPMtv cameras may not have had the clear, straight-ahead shot that CSPAN was able to get (damn you CSPAN!), we managed to catch the tail end of Michelle Obama's DNC speech from a pretty unique angle: up above and behind the stage from which Michelle was speaking:



Also, CSPAN cameras didn't do that cool 360 swirl thing at the end that the TPMtv cameras did.

A little video recap of some of the TV coverage of the 2008 Democratic National Convention so far:

Here's NBC's Brian Williams, saying something silly:



(TPMtv can see how this was maybe just an unfortunate word choice on Williams' part; hence perhaps just shy of stupid, but still quite silly.)

And here's NBC's Chuck Todd, saying something smart:

"The work begins anew, the hope rises again, and the dream lives on." Oh Ted...

More from the floor! Despite a brief interruption (David Kurtz: we've been removed by security here...) we talk with Paul "It's not about hitting back, it's about hitting first!" Begala, former Bill Clinton adviser.

We just snagged a moment with Sen. Jim Webb on the floor of the DNC Arena. David Kurtz brings you more...

David Kurtz does a quick rundown of the scene at the arena. Think Oscar red carpet, but with less ballgown.

Welcome to new media! TPMtv is in Denver and we're bringing you live video coverage. Stay tuned... And buckle your seatbelts!

Ok, we are just starting to get going here in Denver. Before the coverage starts coming at you here's a quick roundup of videos TPMtv hadn't gotten around to posting the past couple days (after the jump):

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The 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago is generally remembered as one of the most tumultuous and violent moments in the history of American politics. But Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer doesn't remember it that way at all. The man had his own thang goin' on!

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Does John McCain question Obama's patriotism? Of course not! Why, McCain told us so himself! Though McCain has said frequently that Obama would rather lose a war than lose a presidential campaign and that Obama's Iraq policies are driven by "ambition." A newsworthy contradiction? Not if you're John McCain. We take a look at McCain's Patriotism Two-Step -- and the media's general failure to hold him accountable for it -- in today's episode of TPMtv: