Random: Mass Appeal

• McCain doing his convention speech "in the round." Odds are even he'll try to turn it into a town hall as well. [Ambinder]

• Please ignore the tracking polls behind the curtain. [Yglesias (now in a new location!)]

• Explaing Obamania: "According to Mr. Howe, Gen Xers required niche marketing: 'If too many people liked something, it wasn't cool.' But mass brand experiences, from the iPod to Harry Potter, appeal strongly to millennials, who have been shown to be a more communal, pro-social generation than their predecessors." [Ad Age]

• Why we'll miss Bernie Mac. [Jezebel]

• About 5 million American tourists visit Hawaii ever year. I'm just saying. [Hawaii.gov] (PDF)