Booing Bush 2: The count from Denver picks up

09:45 AM PT, Aug 27 2008

What happens when thousands of Democrats gather in a huge stadium to nominate one of their own to run for president? If the president is an unpopular incumbent, and a Republican, they tend to boo. And most politicians like to give a convention crowd something to shout about.

As Countdown to Crawford reported here yesterday, Monday's speakers were restrained, mentioning President Bush a mere 14 times over seven hours.

But Tuesday, look out. In a pattern that could escalate through the week, a greater number of speakers -- up from 44 to 52 -- mentioned the president more often. In fact there were 61 mentions of Bush, more than one per person.

The Tuesday tally was given a huge boost by Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel. The Chicago politician, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, is sometimes called Rahmbo by his colleagues, a tribute to his passionate debating. In the long-running primary saga between Hillary Rodham Clinton, who he worked with in the Clinton White House, and fellow Chicagoan Barack Obama, Emanuel was famously neutral -- and uncharacteristically silent.

But in his speech Tuesday night, Emanuel was not neutral about Bush, posting a 2008 Democratic National Convention record of 13 mentions.

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-- Johanna Neuman

Photo: Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel. Credit: Keith Bedford / Bloomberg News