Democratic National Convention Countdown!

Seventy-four days and intermittently counting.

Don't you want some Olby to love? Post TV critic Joanne Ostrow says MSNBC will be broadcasting from Denver 20 hours a day during the convention:

MSNBC confirmed today it will be on the air from Denver from “6 a.m. to 2 a.m. ET” during the convention. That’s 4 a.m. to midnight here. At 4 a.m., you can bet Olbermann and Matthews will be tap dancing for all they’re worth as the sun rises over the empty convention hall. Clearly, those spectacular views the NBC team has been scouting are going to be useful as delegates sleep and MSNBC vamps to fill time.

A thrill just went up my leg.

Credit PBS, meanwhile, with being the only broadcast network again committed to full, gavel to gavel live, primetime coverage. And this time it will be in high-def.

Nancy Pelosi in high def. Oh, dear.

DNC and the city need to raise shitbucketloads of money, fast:

Mayor John Hickenlooper and the host committee have placed a lid on fundraising information since the mayor disclosed last month they were $15 million short.

Hickenlooper has been the tip of the fundraising spear, traveling around the country trying to raise the $40.6 million - plus roughly another $10 million of in-kind services for the Aug. 25-28 event at the Pepsi Center during which Democrats will nominate Barack Obama.

Today he heads to Kansas City to try to shake loose a few more dollars. And, like Gov. Bill Ritter - who also has dedicated time to raising money for the convention - he's hoping now that the party has settled on a nominee, the money will come in a little easier.

While, totally unrelatedly:

Denver Auditor Dennis Gallagher is getting an earful from residents who are worried that taxpayers will have to shoulder any financial shortfalls to host the Democratic National Convention this August.

The auditor is asking Mayor John Hickenlooper, who has promised that no taxpayer money will be spent to host the convention, to reaffirm that commitment. . . .

"I have people buttonholing me in coffee shops, corralling me along the 16th Street Mall, even stopping by my house asking how the city will be able to afford the convention if the fundraising efforts fall short," the auditor wrote in the letter.

"Specifically, people are asking me if Denver will have to use tax dollars to back-load any financial shortfall or even if the city is planning to use bond money to subsidize any shortfall," Gallagher said. "I know that you have promised the citizens that tax dollars will not be used for the convention, and I repeat that promise on your behalf to those that question me, but the rumors swirl nonetheless."

Sad LTTE in the RMN:

Re-create 68 has a permit to use the state Capitol and Lincoln Park where the Colorado Veterans Monument is located for their anti-war protests during the Democratic National Convention.

As a Vietnam veteran and founder of the Monument, these protests could diminish the monument and its message.

This Memorial Day, 31 families of Coloradans killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars assembled in the park to honor their fallen heroes.Their gathering place to remember must not be desecrated by anti-war protests.

Tim Drago, Denver

Better steel yourself, Tim.