There may not have been a lot of talk about poverty and the economy in the coverage of the national political conventions during the past two weeks -- but you can bet there will be a lot of talk about it today at a national convention of community organizers and activists taking place in Los Angeles, Chicago and Birmingham, AL.

Follow me over the fold for the story of how and why more than 16,000 people from across America are coming together to ratify a bottom-up anti-poverty platform that has been more than a year in the making.

Note: This has nothing to do with politics. But it is an invitation to MyDD readers to see a free movie this week.

Some of you may have read that Joe Trippi is helping with the promotion of the forthcoming film Peaceful Warrior, starring Nick Nolte.

I'm giving Joe a hand with this, and we wanted to let you know that there are free advance screenings of the film taking place this week for bloggers in Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Phoenix.

Details on the screenings and the film after the flip.

... go the Democrats' hopes? Not quite.

Bowers:

Finished. Finished I say. These numbers can only be read as spelling complete doom. A challenger tied with an incumbent under 50 in August? Puh-lease. How often does the challenger ever win in that situation? Like never (editors note--almost every single time). Stop giving money. This is a complete train wreck. The simple fact that Kerry was unable to permanently maintain his peak in the polls is proof that his campaign is doomed.

Oh wait--you are supposed to include Nader in a national poll for it to be accurate. I forgot. I mean, how could one argue that Nader shouldn't be included in national polls? The guy is on ballots and picking up support everywhere. He should triple his 2000 numbers.

I wouldn't be worried, but that GOP convention is just so damn pro-GOP. Surely this will cause Kerry's spine to be snapped. I mean, the WSJ says so, so it must be true. If we had spines on this blog, ours should be snapped too. I give up.

Chris should've put this post on MyDD. It's one of the funniest reality-checks I've read in months.

'Course, those MyDD writers have always had a certain wit about them.

[Cross posted on my blog]

[Full disclosure-- I'm working as a consultant to the Bowles campaign.]

The National Republican Senatorial Committee has booked $5.3 million in television ads in North Carolina, to defeat Erskine Bowles.

They're not doing this because they think it's a bad investment. They're doing it cause they think they can win.

Remember, a Democrat hasn't won an open Senate seat in North Carolina during a presidential election year in nearly 40 years.

It's true that Edwards may change the dynamic slightly in favor of Bowles, but Richard Burr, Bowles' opponent, already has a $6.6 million war chest.

$11.9 million can go a long way in closing the poll numbers that you see showing Bowles in the lead right now. Everyone in NC has always expected that the race would tighten after Labor Day. This $5.3 million is the Republicans' attempt to push Burr out in front.

The Bowles campaign is asking for your help to counter the NRSC's ad blitz: http://www.bowles2004.com/fightback.

Please pass the link on, and do what you can. Remember that at this point NC only leans slightly in favor of Bowles. It will be a very close race, and we'll need all the help we can get.

There's been a lot of talk about journalists asking bloggers what we're going to write about at the convention. Jerome gave a great response to one: "I'm going to write about you writing about me."

But can you think of an even snarkier reply?

And what do you actually want to see covered?

Please let me know here:

http://mathewgross.com/blog/archives/000478.html

It now seems almost certain that we'll see John Kerry name a VP candidate by the first of June, if not earlier. Adam Nagourney gives us a summary of the selection process in today's New York Times:

The impetus to move quickly and choose a nominee now, some Democrats said, developed after Mr. Kerry took note of Mr. Cheney's role in firing attacks on him and in raising money for Mr. Bush's campaign. Mr. Kerry's advisers argued that Mr. Cheney's attacks would be diminished if they were answered by a Democratic vice-presidential candidate rather than Mr. Kerry, as is now the case.

Ms. Pelosi advised Mr. Johnson to make the selection by May 1, an aide said. Representative Robert Menendez of New Jersey said he had told Mr. Johnson, in a 45-minute meeting where, he said, Mr. Johnson had sought his opinions on Messrs. Edwards, Gephardt, Richardson and Vilsack, to "take whatever time it takes" to find the best candidate, but then to move as quickly as possible....

The other question before Mr. Kerry and Mr. Johnson is whether Mr. Kerry should pick a member of Congress or a governor. Mr. Kerry's aides said that there was intense pressure on Mr. Kerry by Democrats in the capital to choose a primary rival -- Mr. Edwards or Mr. Gephardt -- and they argued that the two politicians bring a wealth of knowledge, national experience and fund-raising contacts to a Kerry ticket.

(Italics mine-- just to demonstrate, once again, how out-of-touch the "Democrats in the capital" still are from the general public.)

Democratic officials said that in addition to the main list, other candidates being debated as running mates include Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana; Gov. Edward G. Rendell of Pennsylvania, another swing state; and Gov. Mark Warner of Virginia. Inevitably, some Democrats have been pushing Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York for the spot.

So it's time to begin the Veepstakes. Who's on the list? Thus far we have:

Sen. Even Bayh

Gov. Ed Rendell

Gov. Mike Warner

Sen. Hillary Clinton

Sen. John Edwards

Sen. Bob Graham

Rep. Dick Gephardt

Gov. Tom Vilsack

Gov. Bill Richardson

Who else are we missing from the list? Not just your dream candidate, but potential picks who have been rumored about in the press. I'll compile a list and we'll begin the countdown, so help me fill in the gaps-- or share your opinion of the listed candidates-- in the thread below or at my blog.

I'm looking forward to reading MyDD through the coming election.

It'll be just like 2002!

Well, hopefully with a different outcome.