Left wants Obama to listen

By J. Patrick Coolican

Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2008 | 4:41 p.m.

(The Sun has gone on the road to listen to voters and talk to political leaders around the West. Reporters have been examining the economic, cultural and demographic forces re-shaping the region as they drove to Denver for the first of the two major party conventions the Sun will cover. This week they are at the Democratic National Convention.)

The day's highlights: Some earnest leftists demand Obama listen to them. Lots of pent-up lefty demand. A national security forum started 30 minutes late so I had to leave, but apparently here's one thing that got said, via TPM by way of The Hill:

Former Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig, a senior national security adviser to Barack Obama's presidential campaign, said that he has never seen Obama lose his temper, even in situations of "exceptional stress."

By comparison, Obama's GOP rival John McCain is known for "losing it." Danzig said McCain is known for forming an opinion or a decision quickly and then "digs in." McCain's volatile temper is well known to Beltway insiders, but Democrats at their convention are trying to make this known to the larger audience, as part of a tug-of-war about who between the two candidates is prepared to be commander-in-chief.

Same time, McCain launched his own 3 a.m. ad, saying Obama ain't ready to be commander-in-chief.

Rahm Emanuel gently mocked me in an afternoon session at the Ritz.

Several Joe Klein sightings. He always looks on edge and seems to try to read your press pass to see if you're someone he knows/is supposed to know. I assume he's been accosted by liberal blogger meanies a lot. Also, I assisted in recovering a lost iPhone, so that was cool.

Some Nevada young-ins were out last night, and one Jayson Sime, an Iowan who organized the January Nevada Democratic caucus, was quite boastful of the caucus turnout of 120,000, with the number repeated a time or two in my ear. Can't blame him.