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DENVER – The road to Denver hasn’t been an easy or terribly pleasant journey at times but the Democrat Party arrives here this week with mile high expectations for victory in November. For the first time in a long time, many Democrats believe that the time is ripe not only to take back a White House that has been occupied by Republicans for most of the past 40 years, but to reshape the entire political landscape at the same time. Still, there are not a few challenges and pitfalls awaiting the party this week:

The Clinton Factor: Make no mistake about one thing – modern political conventions are so scripted, so staged and so micro-managed that even the slightest hint of conflict is where the media’s attention is going to be. Republicans learned this lesson the hard way in the 1990s when the press paid more attention to platform fights on the abortion issue than anything that was happening at the podium.

Lingering divisions from the primary fight between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have filled that role at the outset of this convention. Questions about unity grew even stronger last week when it was suggested that the Obama campaign never really even considered Clinton for his running mate, despite pretty clear signals that Clinton was pleased with the selection of Joe Biden.

How divided does the party remain? A CBS News/New York Times survey of delegates gives a hint, showing that 20 percent of the delegates coming to Denver plan on voting for Clinton on the first ballot of the roll call vote. That’s not an insignificant number but far below the nearly half she won during the primaries. And it’s less clear whether those votes would be a “last-stand” effort or one of loyalty to a candidate they supported for so long last winter and spring. Clinton reportedly will “release” her delegates this week, something that could decrease her numbers further.

Clinton herself has suggested that the party needs a “cathartic” moment to cleanse any remaining bad blood between the two camps. If the Obama can come out of Denver with even a little more enthusiasm from Clinton supporters, it will be a victory.

Introductions: One of the reasons John McCain’s line of attack on Obama’s “celebrity” has apparently been successful is that many American voters still only know the nominee from magazine covers and made-for-TV picturesque events. Polls show that voters certainly have reservations about the Senator from Illinois and this convention is a chance to help fill in some of those holes.

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Three weeks ago, the McCain campaign put out a video called "The One," which mocked Obama for having something of a messiah complex.

The video, which trafficked in biblical imagery and language, had some suggesting that the McCain campaign was trying to cast the presumptive Democratic nominee as the antichrist.

Now the McCain campaign has re-released the video in advance of the Democratic National Convention. The new version, which doesn't shy away from religious imagery – at one point an announcer says Obama is "sparking the flames of the faithful" as a ball of fire appears onscreen – uses parts of the last video while incorporating new elements.

"And now The One returns to lead us on the road to Denver," an announcer says in the spot, not long before video of Moses parting the Red Sea makes a repeat appearance. The new video mixes in footage of Obama bodysurfing during his recent vacation in Hawaii, and features the announcer saying "the faithful are ready to gather one mile high."

"As Nancy Pelosi proclaimed, a leader that God has blessed us with at this time," the announcer continues. "His hand guides the world. In Denver, you will see the light."

Yesterday, the New York Times ran a story on what it characterized as a "Democratic convention effort marred by costly setbacks and embarrassing delays."

"With the Denver convention less than two months away, problems range from the serious — upwardly spiraling costs on key contracts still being negotiated — to the mundane, like the reluctance of local caterers to participate because of stringent rules on what delegates will be eating, down to the color of the food," wrote the Times.

The story painted a damning picture of the planning of the event, and also suggested that the campaign of Barack Obama was frustrated with "organizers who they believe spent too freely, planned too slowly and underestimated actual costs."

The story was so damning, in fact, that it has prompted a response from Democratic National Committee chair Howard Dean and Democratic National Convention Committee C.E.O. Leah D. Daughtry, who suggested that it was "gross misrepresentation of the groundwork that has been laid to date."

Dean and Daughtry wrote that contrary to the Times' claims, the convention has been well-managed and costs and contracts are under control.

"Despite uninformed criticism in the New York Times and the city’s worries about the color and fried nature of food among other things, our focus remains on putting on an historic event that helps keep Senator Barack Obama on a path to victory in November," they concluded. "When August comes, the eyes of the world will be watching. And we’ll be ready."

The DNC and DNCC have struggled to raise money during this election cycle, in part because the Democratic candidates themselves attracted unprecedented fundraising support, drying up some of the DNC and DNCC's traditional sources in the process. Convention fundraising has also been slowed by the fact that the Obama campaign doesn't allow the DNC or groups related to it to take money from corporate lobbyists.

(That hasn't, however, stopped both the Republican and Democratic conventions from shaping up as what the Los Angeles Times characterizes as "a multimillion-dollar infomercial underwritten by corporations and lobbyists whose influence both presidential candidates decry." Click here for more on that.)

In a conference call today on the Democrats' decision to hold the final day of the convention at Invesco Field (not the Pepsi Center, where the rest of the convention will be held), Dean suggested that the DNC wouldn't be able to make the move if the convention were over budget.

Will Denver '08 bring up memories of Chicago '68?

It will if a group called Re-create 68 have anything to say about it. The group is promising "demonstrations that will rival those at the bloody 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago" at the August's Democratic National Convention in Denver, according to the Rocky Mountain News.

The Re-create 68 Alliance is upset that a permit for the Civic Center, a "spacious plaza" that "has been used for major public events and celebrations representing the diversity and cultural heritage of Colorado and Denver," according to the city of Denver's Web site, went to the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee following a redraw for permits during the convention.

"When things blow up because the police have to enforce a permit that the Democrats got, don’t blame us for that," Glenn Spagnuolo, an organizer for the group, told the News.

The Host Committee points out that it is not the same as the Democratic National Committee, but Re-create 68 says Democrats are "trying to silence dissent in the city of Denver."

The group, which claims 50,000 protesters will join them in August, has vowed to march from Civic Center to the Pepsi Center (where the convention is being held) on August 24th, permit or no.