Covention Diary: In God, but not the internet, we trust

You can stage manage all you like: Democrats wouldn't be Democrats without a spot of infighting. Tuesday afternoon saw heated debate in the Convention Hall over a request from the White House to insert a mention of "God" along with a paragraph supportive of Israel into the official party platform. The move, intended to squash Republican criticism of the manifesto, sparked outrage among pro-Palestinian delegates. To the dismay of the Obama campaign, footage of their boos and jeers wound up on the internet.

The great and the good left out in the cold

A second cock-up saw hundreds of delegates prevented from entering the Time Warner Arena in the run-up to Bill Clinton's speech on the grounds that a fire marshal had declared the event "over capacity". Among the dishevelled hordes left stranded on the street was Hollywood actress Ashley Judd and NBC pundit David Gregory. To the vocal disgust of onlookers, Mr Gregory was later allowed in – demonstrating that, even when safety is at risk, some animals are more equal than others.

Giant explanation for a small dizzy spell

Gregory's colleague Tom Brokaw also had a stressful 24 hours. Yesterday, the 72-year-old former news anchor was rushed to hospital after feeling light-headed during an appearance on MSNBC's Morning Joe. He later explained he "mistakenly took half a dose of Ambien". "I made a better comeback than the Giants," he added, referring to the Superbowl champions, who lost the previous night.