I will confess that I was a little downbeat about this convention earlier today, but tonight was pretty awesome. Bill Clinton did an outstanding job, and I was particularly impressed with Joe Biden. He managed to do the thing that most politicians try to do unsuccessfully: portray himself as being fundamentally an ordinary guy. The personal stuff was moving, and I think his evocation of middle-class economic woes was pretty heartfelt and authentic. Plus he was pretty effective at wielding the knife against McCain, though not as effective as...John Kerry.
Who would have thought the guy had it in him? I would guess that this gets a little bit of play in the media. Kerry, after all, is the boring craggy old guy. Except not so much. What is it about Democratic presidential nominees that makes them stiffer than wood when they run and then liberated afterward? I think Obama's camp would be well advised to make Kerry an even more prominent surrogate and to adopt his framework for viewing McCain, with special emphasis on the flip flops. The line evoking the old for-it-before-he-was-against-it canard will probably be the most remembered of the speech, and that's absolutely right. I had just read this great article about Kerry's rebirth as an Obama surrogate...boy was it right. And I agree with John Cole...best speech of the night.
All in all, a great night, though I must confess I agree with Ross Douthat's sentiment here. I guess Obama wanted to pick speakers of "substance" but this convention has been short on fiery oratory.
