Tonight’s Obamafest 2012 will kick off in the world’s tiniest arena. There are perhaps 300 seats on the floor of the Time Warner Cable Arena; half of the floor space is taken up by a gargantuan TV platform. By contrast, the RNC took place in an arena with at least three times the floor space.

The states in the center of the arena are by and large swing states: Colorado, Virginia, Iowa, Nevada. The states closest to the top seem to be out of play, either pure blue or pure red. Florida and Ohio are placed close to the floor but not on it.

Meanwhile, the screen at the Arena is enormous, too. The Democrats are pulling out all the stops in terms of imagistics: cute and cuddly kids doing the Pledge of Allegiance, Amber Riley of Glee screeching the National Anthem. And the sides of the screen will have running video of members of the crowd – or stock footage of the crowd, if the actual crowd doesn’t suffice. Hand it to the DNC; they know their audience isn’t in the arena, but far beyond it.

Nonetheless, this goes to the smoke and mirrors of the Obama campaign. They are trying to make a mountain out of a molehill – and meanwhile, they’re shielding prominent Democrats from the prying cameras of conservative outlets. They’re on message, and they’re taking dictation straight from the top.