MIDDAY ROUNDUP

As Barack Obama prepares to give his convention speech, his campaign is hearing it from online critics on the right and the left for his decision to speak in front of Greek columns. Obama’s campaign is also taking heat from conservative bloggers for its push back against one of Obama’s critics. And John McCain gets some last-minute advice for his veep decision from bloggers.

Obama’s campaign should have scaled down the elaborate platform at the site of his convention speech, since it plays right into the theme of Obama as a celebrity, writes Ed Morrissey at Hot Air. Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredsen (D) thinks that Obama should be meeting voters at a Waffle House instead of speaking in a football stadium, notes DRJ at Patterico’s Pontifications. Nothing says “out of touch” more than the image of being seen next to Greek columns – except for owning many houses, writes The Huffington Post’s Lynn Grossman.

The Obama campaign organized its supporters to protest a Chicago radio appearance by Obama critic Stanley Kurtz, who has now received harsher treatment from the campaign than Weather Underground member William Ayers did, writes Jim Lindgren at The Volokh Conspiracy. The campaign’s response to Kurtz, a writer who “painstakingly” researched the relationship between Ayers and Obama, shows that the Democrat hates debate but loves “bully-boy tactics,” writes Power Line’s John Hinderaker and Scott Johnson.

Ed Rollins, campaign manager for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s (R) presidential campaign, is urging McCain not to pick former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.), notes Townhall’s Matt Lewis, who wishes Rollins would save the criticism until after the pick is announced. If McCain wants the support of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) backers, he shouldn’t pick a pro-choice candidate, since doing so would force him to emphasize his own pro-life stance, writes The Plank’s Christopher Orr.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Dems Getting Nervous About Temple of O – Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
Stakes Tonight – Jennifer Rubin, Contentions
Obama’s Greek Columns Uh Oh – Lynn Grossman, Huffington Post
Obama At Invesco Field – DRJ, Patterico’s Pontifications
Team Obama’s Character Assassination – Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
Listen While You Can – Scott Johnson, Power Line
Where There Is Smoke… – McQ, QandO
Obama Camp Denounces Kurtz – J. Lindgren, Volokh
Huck Manager Still Against Romney – Matt Lewis, Townhall
I Kind of Love Lieberman – Ann Althouse
Choices – Christopher Orr, The Plank

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
McCain Says No VP Decision Yet – Associated Press
Biden: Obama Cannot Win Without Pennsylvania – Associated Press
Invesco Field Plays Unfamiliar Role in Speech – The Hill