More Spin in 9 Days than Ever Before

These 9 Days are going to be insane for CNN.

Cancel those Labor Day 2008 plans.
The Republican National Committee announced yesterday it will hold the GOP nominating convention Sept. 1-4, 2008 — just days after the Democrats formally choose their nominee on Aug. 28.
“Our next nominee for President will enjoy the benefit of an exciting and dynamic national convention,” RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman said in a statement.
Scheduling the conventions within days of one another marks a major break with tradition and is the result of gamesmanship between the two national party committees.
In 2000, then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush was nominated on Aug. 3, two weeks before Vice President Al Gore became the official Democratic standard-bearer. Four years later Democrats nominated Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry on July 29; Republicans didn’t formally put Bush forward until more than a month later.
As a result of the timing, Kerry was forced to begin spending public-provided general election dollars a month before Bush — putting him at a major disadvantage, according to many Democratic strategists.
Hoping to avoid a repeat of that situation, the Democratic National Committee announced its dates last November. Republicans privately seethed, arguing that the DNC’s move was intended to box them into holding their convention before the Summer Olympics, which run Aug. 8-24.