President Barack Obama goes before the Democratic National Convention and the nation tonight at 10 pm for a speech designed not just to persuade undecided voters to swing his way but to put fire in the belly of his supporters and get them to come out on Election Day.
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Obama senior adviser David Plouffe promised the president would give voters “a very clear sense of where he thinks the country needs to go economically, the path we need to take.” But he also cautioned that no one should expect Obama to slingshot out of his convention with a big boost in polls that have long signaled a close race.

“We’ve always believed that there’s very little elasticity in the election,” said Plouffe, up early to preview the president’s speech on morning talk shows, adding: “You’re not going to see big bounces in this election. For the next 61 days, it’s going to remain tight as a tick.”

Citing a chance of thunderstorms, convention organizers scrapped plans for Obama to speak to an enormous crowd in a 74,000-seat outdoor stadium and decided to shoehorn the event under the roof of the convention arena, holding 15,000. That meant no opportunity to reprise the massive show of support, excitement – and on-scene voter registration – from Obama’s 2008 acceptance speech before 84,000 in Denver. Republicans said Democrats made the switch because they feared the sight of empty seats. FIND OUT MORE HERE