Bush shoed out of Iraq

If you ever need to explain the impact of the Iraq war to someone in the space of a few paragraphs, you could do a lot worse than these:

Shoe-Hurling Iraqi Becomes a Folk Hero: An Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at President Bush and called him a dog became a huge celebrity in the Arab world and beyond on Monday, with many supporters exalting him for what they called a courageous act in the face of American arrogance about the war.

Barely 24 hours after the journalist, Muntader al-Zaidi, was tackled and arrested for his actions at a Baghdad news conference, the shoe-throwing incident was generating front-page headlines and continuing television news coverage. A thinly veiled glee could be discerned in much of the reporting, especially in the places where anti-American sentiment runs deepest. ...

As of Monday night, no apology from the station was forthcoming. Instead, the network posted an image of Mr. Zaidi, 29, in the corner of the screen for much of the day. Viewers were invited to phone in their opinions, and the vast majority said they approved of his actions.

Opponents of the continued American presence in Iraq turned Mr. Zaidi’s detention Monday into a rallying cry. Support for the detained journalist crossed religious, ethnic and class lines in Iraq — vaulting him to near folk hero status. ...

“This is unsuitable action by an Iraqi journalist,” said Kamal Wahbi, a 49-year-old engineer in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya, where pro-American sentiment is strong. “His action served terrorism and radical national extremism. I think he could send the same message by asking Bush embarrassing questions.”

I'll buy one

Does the NYTimes.com not have copy editors?

Obama Team Anything but Shy and Retiring: Dan Gerstein, a Democratic communications consultant, said that while Mr. Emanuel had a reputation for clashing with others, he also got things done. “He wasn’t able to round up votes for Nafta by being a bullying, hyperpartisan ideologue,” Mr. Gerstein said of Mr. Emanuel’s role at the Clinton White House, where he helped to secure passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement. “This caricature of Rahm as this raging bull in a China shop is wrong.”

Looking back on Barack

You wonder what Abraham Lincoln would've made of Barack Obama and the 2008 presidential race.... Here, at least, is what I made of it:

June 18, 2006: Seed Corn

How great is Obama? I like him a lot--but you know, shouldn't every politician be like him? Inspiring, straight-forward, optimistic and connected to the people. It doesn't seem too much to ask, but I guess it is.

As for Obama in '08--sure, if the Democrats want to commit suicide. He's not ready for the job, especially in this day and age. It'd be a miracle if he was.

I'm sure Republicans are praying that a fit of insanity among Democratic voters in Iowa and New Hampshire will propel Obama to the nomination. They can then run McCain--GOP primary voters would rather him than a black man win!--and legitimately play the experience/real adult card, making Obama look foolish and hampering his chances for when he should really run, in 2012.

Besides which, many voters disgusted with Bush and looking for anyone but will draw the line at voting for black man for president. The same prejudice makes me worry that literally the only person who can keep the Democrats out of the White House in 2008 is Hillary. Gore, Kerry, heck, even bring back Jimmy Carter.

So don't do it, Barack, not yet. The Democratic party isn't so bereft it needs to eat its children, neither is it so strong it can make history.

Well, in my defense, I did recognize Obama's extraordinary qualities; and that McCain would be the GOP nominee against Obama. This was before the Democrats won back the House in 2006, it just goes to show how quickly things change in politics.

January 17, 2007: Running for history

It's interesting because four years ago at this time, Democrats were watching pretty much the same race between Howard Dean and John Kerry.

Yet Dean wound up with both the energy and the money, before Kerry outwitted him in Iowa and fed his self-destruction. Obama's a much more disciplined candidate than Dean; Clinton's got more star power than Kerry.

To the extent any argument you can make about Obama was also made about Dean--inexperience being the chief one--the fact that Dean overcame and indeed took advantage of all the rhetoric to become the overwhelming Democratic front-runner at one point bodes well for Obama.

That, plus the fact that all of Obama's forthcoming screw-ups will only feed into his image as an ordinary, likeable guy. Obama's about as close to bullet-proof as any candidate has been in recent years; well, except of course for the name-thing and the race-thing.

Just one sign of his popularity is his announcement of his candidacy, via his website, became--in just one day--one of the most popular items this month on Digg.

Hillary's chief danger is she is going to seem like old news compare to Obama; that everything she does or says, no matter its merits, can be tuned out by an electorate that may have hit historically high levels of cynicism when it comes to attitudes toward politicians.

Her top assets are she has a ton of money, and knows everybody there is to know. And a nearly-fanatically loyal and top-notch staff that's been helping her lay the groundwork for this run for the past decade.

Throw in the mantle of history both carry, and it's shaping up to be one heck of a race. With their contrasting styles, it may even turn out to be the most riveting thing on television this fall.

I don't see how this can be good for Republicans in any way--the country's gonna be riveted by all Democrats, all the time, for the next year-and-a-half. Whomever winds up being the nominee is going to have had a lot more free media on which to spread their message than anyone on the Republican side.

Then again, given the GOP's message is essentially whatever Bush says it is at this point, maybe it's not such a bad idea for them to lay low until they can sort things out.

Well, this turned out to be the 2008 primary race in a nutshell, laid out at the outset of 2007. Not bad!

March 24, 2007: From Illinois to Hawai'i

There's a fascinating Times look at Barack Obama's time growing up in Hawai'i, A Search for Self in Obama’s Hawaii Childhood, that gives you a glimpse into why he's so at ease with America circa 2007, in contrast with all the white male Americas running around as if it's 1957.

Unlike those carefully-constructed empty suits, Obama is an absolutely natural politician, totally relaxed in front of people and able to communicate his ideas and principles in a straightforward, understandable style. He has the gift of distilling the complex down to its essentials without patronizing his audience or himself.

Yet for all his ease with his fellow Americans, he's a uniquely complicated person--the more I find out, the more amazed I am at all the interesting little items in his background. His path has been harder and more meandering than I expected, based on his golden boy public image that's quickly taken on aspects of the mythic.

In a very specific way he reminds me of Lincoln--the optimism about America, intertwined with a dead seriousness about his personal mission; that same quick wit and easy sense of humor, overlaying both a prodigious intellect and a deeper, darker strain that comes from atypical levels of thought and personal experiences.

And, like Lincoln, shaped by the frontier, Obama, shaped by Hawai'i, knows America needs everyone.

This was a good post that, I think, gets at the core of Obama's appeal for a 21st century America.

April 2, 2007: Two shining moments

In politics, like everything else, both the things that grab the headlines and a flood of information can sometimes blind you to the telling details.

The big story Sunday was Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign announcing they had raised more than $26 million in the first three months of 2007, shattering the previous record (which was around $8 million).

Buried in the story, however, was a key line--Clinton wasn't revealing how much of that money had been raised for her primary fight, and how much for the general election.

It's obviously an important distinction; mixing the two numbers is like telling someone your salary's $1 million... based on lumping together the next 10 years.

How about Barack Obama? He hasn't officially reported yet, but his campaign is leaking that he raised $20 million. ...

I'd say Hillary is more than worried. Remember, the candidate who raises the most early doesn't always win--just ask Howard Dean about that.

However... Hillary had all the advantages coming in, and she's not someone who's got a lot of new people to tap into at this point. She's had years to cultivate donors; has 100% name recognition; has the support of tons of operatives and party officials; represents New York, where a giant percentage of the top donors live; has a big network in California, the other fundraising hub; and has hubby Bill's magic Rolodex to draw from.

They pulled out all the stops; and it didn't work. ...

Looks like the Final Four's set for the presidential race; only question is whether Hillary and Rudy deserve their current #1 seeds.

Not bad; not too many other people at this point arguing Obama might be the actual front-runner for the Democratic nomination.


August 3, 2007: When not winning is losing

In sports there's the concept of a team being behind in the game, but actually being ahead.

Like let's say in football, you turn the ball over 4 times deep in your own territory in the first half, but the other team is only up 10-0 on the scoreboard.

Really, you should be losing like 21-0, so the halftime speech from the coach goes something like they've taken their best shot at us and this is all they can do--this game is ours to win.

You'd be surprised at how often the team that's 'down' winds up winning the game in situations like that; you've got to make the most of your chances in sports, and when you don't the other team usually does.

The latest Washington Post/ABC News poll from Iowa has Barack Obama at 27%, Hillary Clinton at 26%, and Johh Edwards at 26%.

I'm shocked. Edwards has practically lived in Iowa the last four years; the state gave him a surprisingly strong second place finish the last time out, and his entire strategy this time around is built around winning Iowa so he's devoted the bulk of his resources to the state.

Clinton's also been running for president for the past four years, has poured money and staff into Iowa, is married to someone who's enormously popular in the state, and has picked up the endorsements of most of Iowa's political heavyweights.

And yet they're both not only not up on Obama, but are actually trailing a man whose only advantage in Iowa is his ads in the Illionois Senate race leaked over the border.

I mean, if four years of concentrated work by Edwards and Clinton in a state that's 94% white can't even give them a lead over someone who's basically just shown up, my gosh, where are they gonna beat him once voters get to know him? ...

Nevertheless, this poll result from a state with voters who are paying the most attention in the nation, along with Obama's ability to outraise Hillary, along with the size of crowds he's drawing everywhere, along with the people he's managed to get to run his campaign, are all pretty telling that this game is gonna play out differently.

My first concrete prediction that Obama would beat Hillary, 5 months before the Iowa caucuses.

August 3, 2007: Why Republicans will choose a Hispanic for VP

Come next September in Minneapolis, the Republicans should nominate a Hispanic candidate for vice president.

A Hispanic nominee totally changes the dynamic of the election. It'd give the GOP a shot at capturing the fastest-growing bloc of voters, lets voters make history by voting Republican, blows up the electoral map, and allows the traditional black/Latino fault line to tear Democrats apart from within.

A Hispanic is the only person who can fulfill the VP nominee's traditional job of attack dog against the other party's presidential candidate without coming across as racist (if it's Barack Obama) or a bully (if it's Hillary Clinton).

A Hispanic gives minorities a credible reason to not vote Democratic without feeling like traitors or bigots or sexists.

A Hispanic is the only way the Republicans can dodge the growing feeling that they're yesterday's party, top-heavy with tired white males.

A Hispanic ties 15% of the population to the Republicans, via an ethnic pride/emotional/historic appeal that cannot be underestimated.

A Hispanic demolishes the electoral map--it locks up Texas for the GOP, solidifies their hold on Florida, shores up their razor-thin margins in Arizona and New Mexico, forces Democrats to put more resources into the expensive New York and Illinois media markets, and--in combination with Schwarzenegger--actually puts California into play.

A Hispanic in the second spot gives cover for the Republicans to play their favorite wedge issue, immigration, following the George Bush/Karl Rove playbook.

There are only two reasons the GOP wouldn't nominate a Hispanic: The prejudices of their own core voters, and the lack of a credible Hispanic Republican candidate (Mel Martinez is the only one in the ballpark).

I guess it's apt that the only thing preventing the Republicans from seizing control of the 2008 race could be themselves.

They should've listened to me; Obama would still have won, but the GOP would've at least made it a much better debate about the future of this country.

January 2, 2008: Coming home

I still believe what I wrote in August, that Barack Obama's going to win the Iowa Democratic caucus Thursday. And think the margin will be surprisingly large.

Especially given that Obama's supporters tend to be younger, and passionate--the anachronistic but thrilling caucuses are really about neighbors arguing with neighbors and trying to come to a consensus.

I think group dynamics will make it easier for a roomful of people to wind up taking a chance and going with hope, than playing it safe--especially with a candidate as charismatic and likeable as Obama.

That, plus the Des Moines Register's poll (the only whose track record gives it any credibilty), plus Obama's parallels with Kerry's surge last year, plus the prospect of record turnout, plus the influx of independents, plus a relatively mild weather forecast, plus Kucinich/Richardson/Biden telling or likely to tell their supporters to make Obama their 2nd choice all make me think the Senator-from-next-door will turn the Democratic race upside down.

January 5, 2008: Scoring the New Hampshire debates

I do think Obama took some hits tonight; he stumbled a bit early, and Clinton probably scored some points with her sharp remarks about words being no substitute for hard work. However, and this is a huge however--the moments I remember from the night are mainly his. He gave a pitch-perfect response to Gibson's question about whether the surge in Iraq seems to have worked, denying the premise by saying it only seems that way because the bar's been set so low by giant failure. It made all the other candidates' technocratic quibblings seem stupid. He turned Hillary's premise about pretty speeches meaning nothing around on her, saying he thought words can matter a lot when people are hungry to be led.

Obama did this a number of times during the night, parrying critiques by saying essentially expand your narrow Washington outlook and don't get bogged down arguing point by point. He's uniquely good at this, with his cadence, his smile, his demeanor, his background. It's why he's going to win New Hampshire, he inspires you even if you don't always agree with all his positions (and I happen to, in general).

Obama resonates with ordinary people because he's just like us, but more competent. One of the funniest moment of the night was when he was asked about his reaction to what the Republicans had said about him; he said well, I was watching their debate, but I have to admit I also watched a lot of the football game.

At which point Charlie Gibson asked him how the Redskins had done, Obama informed him they'd lost, Gibson expressed disgust, and everyone laughed.

I was wrong of course about New Hampshire, but right about Obama. I really liked that debate, with Charlie Gibson moderating; it was American democracy at its best.

February 2, 2008: Clinton's last stand against Obama

I think unless Hillary Clinton blows out Barack Obama in Super Tuesday's delegate race, Obama will have a clear path to the Democratic nomination.

With 22 states voting Tuesday, there are a bunch of voters who will be casting their ballots without any real exposure to the candidates; in such cases, name recognition--and plain old inertia--will help Clinton a lot.

In order of definitiveness, I think Obama will win Illinois, Alaska, Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota and Georgia for sure--the Times reports Clinton's not even advertising in any of these states.

I think Clinton will win New York (home state), New Jersey (near-home state), Arkansas (home state), and Tennessee (big lead in polls) for sure.

I think Obama will win a lot of states that are currently either tied, or leaning Clinton: Connecticut (late endorsements will help), Alabama (African Americans), Idaho (see below), Kansas (mom's home state plus governor's endorsement), and Massachusetts (Clinton's had a big lead, but I think Kennedy endorsement will be enough).

I think Clinton will win Arizona (older voters, Latinos), Missouri (it's a weird state, she's been up in all the polls), and Oklahoma (no diversity).

I have no opinion on Delaware, New Mexico, North Dakota, or Utah--haven't seen any data, not sure which way they'll go.

I'm also not sure about California, which is obviously the most important Super Tuesday contest; you could argue the winner of this primary is the front-runner the rest of the way. ...

Hillary's only hope is some sort of momentum post-Super Tuesday, adn the Latino-vote thing. On the latter, it's a weird for her camp to hang its strategy on--it's not like there's any strong reason for Latino's to support the Clintons. It's more a level of discomfort with an African-American politician, but that's something which is likely to dissipate with time and exposure.

I think the calendar and the dwindling Latino thing is what all the veteran politicians, editorial boards, and unions who have started to endorse Obama are looking at.

Politicians and journalists and union leaders are people too; so it could just be everyone's seeing the merits of Obama's message, tapping into the mix of intellect and emotion that the giant crowds at all his events feel.

But these professional operatives didn't get where they are just by riding emotion. They're taking a cold, hard look at the remaining states, and realizing that if Clinton doesn't knock him out Tuesday, the rest of the race plays to Obama's strengths.

Who knows--maybe Obama will even win a majority of delegates on Tuesday, even without the giants of NY/NJ/CA. In which case it'll definitely be curtains for Clinton.

This was a good post; I predicted almost all of the states correctly, and said Obama was going to win this thing if Clinton didn't wipe him out on Super Tuesday, which is exactly what happened. Nearly all pundits and analysts didn't come to this conclusion until well into March.

February 19, 2008: Obama strides past Wisconsin win

Tonight's the night Barack Obama started acting like the Democratic nominee for president.

It's customary for candidates to coordinate their speech times, so they don't step on each other. Tonight, Obama started speaking a few minutes into Hillary Clinton's speech.

He didn't care--and, on cue, FOX News and MSNBC and CNN cut her off--you could actually hear someone on FOX yelling CUT TO HIM NOW. ...

Obama is incredibly strategic; he's building these huge volunteer organizations in each state as it comes up, spending a ton of money on grassroots organizing--but not just so he can win the caucuses and primaries. He's doing it so he has a network he can tap into for the general election; and beyond. He wants to build up the Democratic party, but also build up support so after he's elected he can get lawmakers to sign on to his likely fundamental policy shifts. His change is so not just rhetoric; it's concrete and structural and is going to be a mighty force for at least the next decade.

I bolded it in the original; it turned out to be Obama's hallmark outof this election. The thing people forget about Obama is he's ruthless--he really wants to win, not at all costs but he's not in it to look good. The talking over Clinton's speech was an early sign of that.

March 30, 2008: Don't put Barack in a box

Members of the artistic set--whether actors or sculptors or musicians or authors--like pretending they know more about politics than politicians. Because of course there's no better way to understand politics than spending your working hours in a studio.

Just as most non-artists have no idea how hard it is to create good art, so most non-politicians have no idea how complicated politics is.

Journalists, though, should know better. Which is why Holland Cotter's an idiot for suggesting that Barack Obama is lagging behind behind artists when it comes to talking about race.

His article sounds good, but let's be serious--Obama has done more to bring topics of race into the national discussion, and has better ideas about addressing problems related to race, than any artist you might catch in a gallery near you.

To play it any other way is just being silly. ...

Cotter gets it exactly backwards--Obama has never said we're over race in this country. To think that an intelligent black man could believe that is every white person's dream, their 'I told you so' silver bullet.

What Obama's been trying to do is get people to look beyond his race when judging his fitness to be president, which, as far as we know, is not a job that requires scruity of someone's race. To get to a point where every discussion of him doesn't mention his race.

It's too bad that Cotter seems to only value and assess the works of these black artists in terms of their contribution or lack thereof to the discussion of race in this country.

Lucky for us, Obama's candidacy is about so much more.

Yup--he wasn't running to be the first black president, he was running to be president; but of course that doesn't mean he thinks racism isn't a problem anymore. If anything, he probably thinks racism is such a big problem, the only way he could win was to not run as black. And this was before Obama's Philadelphia speech on race.

April 17, 2008: ABC was doing its job--debate will help Obama, not Clinton

Everyone who's outraged over tonight's debate on ABC--in particular the first 50-odd minutes when Barack Obama was getting hammered with questions from Charlie Gibson, George Stephanopoulos and Hillary Clinton--are missing the big picture: Tonight's debate treated Obama as the Democratic nominee.

Think about it--if this man is advancing to the final round in the race to be president of the United States, wouldn't you want to throw everything at him, to see how he responds?

Clinton has no path to victory, so she had no choice but to spend the night talking about him. Imagine if it were John McCain and Mike Huckabee up there--who'd you rather be, McCain getting raked over the coals because he matters, or Huckabee getting ignored because he doesn't?

So you give the car you're planning to buy one last, good, going-over; kick the tires, test out all the features. That's what the voters want, and that's why ABC spent most of the debate on Obama.

As long as the car starts--and Barack Obama did more than start, he roared at times tonight--it doesn't matter if you find some flaws.

This is the car you're going home with; the other car just happens to be sitting next to it on the lot, why would you waste time on it?

This is also why I thought the Republicans were idiots for making the general election campaign all about Obama. He's a Ferrari; why would you want to keep shining a spotlight on it?!

June 9, 2008: As long as he stays overseas

Roger Cohen's got an Op-Ed in the Times about how much the French love Barack Obama.

Cohen doesn't mention the profound problem, of course, of a country supposedly in love with a black American that's only got one black Frenchman in parliament.

Lost in the wave of Euro-adulation for Obama is it doesn't seem like the old country understands his repeated line, 'only in America'.

September 1, 2008: Obama: I was born to a teen mom, too

Anyone still doubting that Barack Obama is a different type of politician should see his answer to a question about Sarah Palin's 17-year-old daughter being pregnant, via Atlantic's Marc Ambinder:

Jake Tapper: Governor Palin and her husband issued a statement today saying that their 17 year old daughter Bristol who is unmarried is 5 months pregnant. Do you have a comment?

BO: I have heard some of the news on this and so let me be as clear as possible. I have said before and I will repeat again, I think people's families are off limits, and people's children are especially off limits. This shouldn't be part of our politics, it has no relevance to governor Palin's performance as a governor or her potential performance as a vice president. And so I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories. You know my mother had me when she was 18. And how family deals with issues and teenage children that shouldn't be the topic of our politics and I hope that anybody who is supporting me understands that is off limits.
I actually disagree with Obama, because Palin's made so much of her strong Christian values and is so strongly against teaching safe sex.

But how many politicans would willingly reach out to the teenage daughter in this case, saying in effect hey, my mom was there too--and look at how things turned out.

One of many telling moments that Obama is different. I'm curious whether Palin, freed from her VP role, will remember things like this.

October 29, 2008: Obama seals the deal

It's Barack Obama's 30-minute closing ad--and it starts with spectacular scenes of fields of wheat. Then Obama speaking directly on tape from a very presidential-looking office. Next it's him with voters, then a live cut-in from a speech in Florida. ...

Obama on the stump, I am not a perfect man, but will always be honest, listen to you when we disagree, open the doors of government.

Wow, live from Florida, in a huge basketball arena, big crowd. He's talking directly to the camera. In 6 days, we can choose... rebuild economy, hope over fear, unity over division, promise of change over the status quo, come together as one nation. Lists people across the country he wants to help. 2 minutes left; in this last week, if you'll knock on some doors, make some calls, stand with me, we will win this eletion, and together we will change this country and change this world. Crowd goes nuts, and as always the timing is perfect, he's smiling.

Website, phone number; Joe Biden joins him up on stage, they're holding hands; wow.

Yeah, that was amazingly powerful. I've been saying landslide all along--dimensions might be even bigger than thought.

Wow, and in a huge mistake, McCain runs a negative ad a few minutes after Obama on FOX and right before the World Series resumes! It just feels so wrong....

A lot of this campaign did come down to touch--Obama always had it, McCain almost never. It's an important quality for a president to have, I think; it's what keeps them in sync with the American people, so they can decide whether to lead or follow.

November 4, 2008: Why Obama will win in a landslide

Well, the headline really says it all on that post. It's amazing how long this great campaign has gone on for; I already miss checking poll results and reading the latest interesting/blind thoughts from pundits.

I can guarantee, though, that the Obama administration will be even better than the Obama campaign. It should be a great four years, with another four after that.

Why Obama will win in a landslide

1) Because Barack Obama and his campaign have outworked John McCain, spending money and energy building a turnout machine that's supercharged by today's great weather.

2) Because people are more likely to wait in long lines to vote for a winner.

3) Because in the four 'battlegrounds' that matter: the last couple of elections Pennsylvania also looked like it was tightening only to go big for Democrats; in Virginia Obama not only overperformed the polls on primary day, but he also drew nearly 100,000 to a rally yesterday; Obama has a half-million early voting cushion and a great ground game in Florida; and Ohio owes Democrats and the country not to make the same mistake again, and knows it.

4) Because Dick Cheney's endorsement reminded everyone how John McCain's still got the scarlet R next to his name.

5) Because Obama's been able to answer every Republican attack ad with 3 ads.

6) Because undecideds waiting for the other shoe to drop on Obama are now free to vote their gut, and because even racists need to pay the mortgage, fill up the car and go to the doctor.

7) Because McCain and Palin's last-minute lurching about and indiscriminate attacks underscores the erratic nature of that ticket.

8) Because like Lincoln Obama's truly a once-in-a-lifetime candidate and intellect, and fits the historical times perfectly.

9) Because the death of his grandmother reminds Americans that like this country he's neither black nor white.

10) Because in the privacy of their voting booth, Americans will choose quiet hope over strident fear.

Obama photos from an amazing series by Callie Shell

Obama seals the deal

It's Barack Obama's 30-minute closing ad--and it starts with spectacular scenes of fields of wheat. Then Obama speaking directly on tape from a very presidential-looking office. Next it's him with voters, then a live cut-in from a speech in Florida.

It's very slickly-produced; shot beautifully, maybe too much so? First, Missouri, typical white mother talking about her family, Obama narrating, then going to clip from his acceptence speech. This is a new format, so hard to feel how well he's doing.

Back to Barack in the office, talking about the Wall Street crash. Let's see if he even mentions John McCain tonight--I wouldn't be surprised if not. Lists his plan, point by point.

Clip of him talking to voters, all old this time. He's listening and then reassuring an older guy about his pension fears, the guy says thank you a few times. Next, governor of Ohio Ted Stricklin speaks--hmmm, this is interesting, a lot of different things woven in, complete with a teaser, live Obama event coming up.

Now Kathleen Sebelius, then Deval Patrick from Massachusetts. Now, black family in Ohio, older, own home; this one's focused on health care. Husband had to go back to work at age 72. Wow.

Back to Obama in the office. Lots of hand gestures tonight. Talking about energy independence--odd, no transition from health care to this. He's not as good when he sits down, odd body language. His points flash on the screen as he lays out his plan.

Hmm, pivot to Iraq, clip from the debates about the cost of staying there. Then from the campaign trail. Wow, Google CEO talks; then Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine. Smart, it's not just him. The best parts are him talking to voters.

Now, big family--Hispanic--around the dinner table, New Mexico; she's a teacher, and then another job afterwards, plus teacher training classes. Wow, these segments are pretty good, she's grocery shopping. All these people are helping voters feel like Obama knows them.

This is definitely a commercial; clip of Obama talking about education, with footage of kids in school, impossibly photogenic.

Now pivot to his biography, photos and Obama talking about his father briefly, then his mother. Another clip from his acceptence speech, more on education. Better clip of him in his office now, cut at the shoulder-level so no odd gestures. Back to health care, odd transition here.

More biography, photos of him, talking about his mom's death from cancer. Clip from his announcement that he's running; then more campaign speaking, about his mom's last months reading insurance forms, never got to see her grandchildren, that breaks my heart.

Michelle, talking about him and his daughters, Malia and him read through all the Harry Potter books. Amazing b-roll of the next first family, clip from his acceptence speech, we all have to look out for each other. Wow, clip from his 2004 convention speech, looking impossibly young. Sen. Dick Durbin talking under the b-roll and photos.

Gov. Claire Macaskill talks about him taking on the establishment; then Joe Biden on his bipartisanship. Obama talks about Biden from a clip during the debates, some home videos and photos of Joe. We're 20 minutes in, so far this is very interesting.

Another white family--hey, where are the Asian Americans?!--from Kentucky, of all places! Hardly a swing state--at the moment. Focus on working class families. Struggling to make ends meet... you feel so bad for all these hard-working people. Wow, the guy's making phone calls with a diverse group for Obama.

Obama speech clip, talking about his grandparents over b-roll. This is our moment. As commander-in-chief, I will never hesitate to defend our country. Iran, Russia, Afghanistan. Clip of him with a woman on the rope line in Iowa, whose son had been shipped out to Iraq. Wow, ex-brigadier general, John Adams, talking about how Obama will be a great president.

Okay, he's hit it out of the park again. No mention of McCain, all positive, but specific, with real people and their stories. Bill Richardson--"this guy is special, he can bring people together, he's a good, decent man, can heal this country, very unusual, good, positive sides of this man that we need at this juncture in our history."

Obama on the stump, I am not a perfect man, but will always be honest, listen to you when we disagree, open the doors of government.

Wow, live from Florida, in a huge basketball arena, big crowd. He's talking directly to the camera. In 6 days, we can choose... rebuild economy, hope over fear, unity over division, promise of change over the status quo, come together as one nation. Lists people across the country he wants to help. 2 minutes left; in this last week, if you'll knock on some doors, make some calls, stand with me, we will win this eletion, and together we will change this country and change this world. Crowd goes nuts, and as always the timing is perfect, he's smiling.

Website, phone number; Joe Biden joins him up on stage, they're holding hands; wow.

Yeah, that was amazingly powerful. I've been saying landslide all along--dimensions might be even bigger than thought.

Wow, and in a huge mistake, McCain runs a negative ad a few minutes after Obama on FOX and right before the World Series resumes! It just feels so wrong....

Rain and ice for Obama

Photo of the campaign so far from Doug Mills of The New York Times, showing Barack Obama at a rainy rally Saturday at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

The other photo, from the AP, is from a rally today in Hockeytown.

Obama-McCain debate, after all

I can't remember a more highly-anticipated debate; like everything else this year, it just feels bigger, like a society-wide event (the way politics always should be). McCain's theatrics the last few days of course only pumps up the interest--if this was deliberate, he better destroy Obama, cause any kind of tie is going to go to the one who didn't try to pull out.

The non-traditional format--9 segments of 9 minutes each, with opening questions on each topic and then a free-form where the candidates can really debate each other--means there could be fireworks. I'd say the potential for a flash of temper or big gaffe is the highest in years; McCain doesn't like playing it safe in any case, and with his recent big polling deficit I think he's gonna roll the dice, again.

Not that Palin or the 'suspend campaign' gambit worked.

ABC's crew looks positively giddy; more Americans could be watching tonight than for any other scheduled event in U.S. history. 22 debates for Obama, 15 for McCain (none of which had him matched up against 1 other candidate).

Jim Lehrer gets us going; he's the perfect moderator, steady and sober. Man, I have butterflies; this is really quite exciting. Lehrer stands to welcome the candidates, the audience does too. Holy height differential, Batman.

Lehrer starts quoting Eisenhower; economic strength the foundation of military strength. Asks where do you stand on the financial recovery plan. Obama first, per coin flip. Looks at the camera; has 2 minutes here, starts out a bit like a stump speech, then gets more relaxed. Lays out his principles--oversight, taxpayers should get something back, nothing to CEO salaries, 4 is helping homeowners. Also have to recognize this is the verdict on 8 years of failed policies from Bush and McCain. Trickle down hasn't worked--middle class should be the measure.

McCain, wearing a horribly striped tie (first rule of TV: wear nothing stripey, it creates signal noise); mentions Senator Kennedy in the hospital. Been not feeling too great about a lot of things lately, but feeling better tonight. Speaks more deliberately than Obama, to Lehrer not the camera. Makes joke about having been around for a while, which falls flat. Man, he seems sedate; Obama was punchy, energetic; he totally seems feeble--has a cold or something.

Very morbid-seeming; no eye contact with the camera. So weird. Lehrer wants to go back to the question. Obama takes over, how did we get here--says he warned 2 years we were potentially going to have a problem, last year told the Secretary of the Treasury a problem was brewing. Why didn't we set up a 21st century regulatory framework.

McCain says he hopes he'll vote for the plan; I also warned about Mae/Mac, all that--a lot of us saw this train wreck coming. Reference to Eisenhower, wrote 2 letters before D-Day, congrats and resignation. We've lost accountability. Wants SEC head to resign.

Obama says we need more responsibility--but not just when there's a crisis. Years ideology has been what's good for Wall Street, not Main Street; 10 days ago John said the fundamentals of the economy are strong; Lehrer tells him to say it directly to McCain, trying to get them to engage a little. McCain goes off on how great the American worker is.

Lehrer is getting a bit energized; asks McCain the differences between him and Obama. He says spending is out of control, even under Republicans. Goes after earmarking and corruption.

Man, he looks grim; holds up a pen, says he's gonna veto spending bills. Hits Obama for earmarks. Obama says that's why he suspended all requests for his home state. Obama hits back, McCain wants $300 billion in tax cuts for wealthy corporations. Tax cut for 95% of working families.

McCain ignores Obama, goes back to earmarks again. Obama interrupts him, he's not raising taxes. Very forceful. Closes loopholes, pays for priorities as he goes. Let's go back to the point; $18 billion is important, but that's not how we're going to get the middle class back on track, your tax policy is aimed at people who are doing well, that's just the last 8 years.

Lehrer asks McCain to respond. He says he wants to cut the business tax to get jobs here. Goes on for a while; Obama says if you make less than $250,000 a year, you won't get an increase. The business tax problem is real, but there are so many loopholes that businesses pay one of the lowest tax rates in the world. Hits his health credit idea--he intends to tax health benefits, for the first time in history. An example of the notion that the market can always solve everything.

McCain is hammering on his fight against spending. Obama interrupts McCain, says it's not true, goes after him on oil companies. Obama's demeanor is pretty good, forceful and direct and calm.

3rd question, Lehrer asks what will you have to give up because of the outlays for the rescue plan. Obama says we can't do everything, but we have to have energy independence. Have to reform health care system. Have to compete in education. Have to rebuild our infrastructure.

McCain says we have to cut spending. Obama has the most liberal voting record. Eliminate ethanol subsidies. Cut cost plus contracts in defense spending. This is McCain's strong suit, he's coming across as consistent. Saved $6.8 billion by fighting Boeing contract.

Obama says John's right that we have to make some cuts, private insurers through Medicare shouldn't be getting subsidies. Mentions he set up Google for government, so taxpayers can see spending projects.

Lehrer asks again, how will this crisis affect your policies? McCain says spending freeze on everything; Obama says you're using a hatchett when you need a scalpel. $10 billion a month in Iraq--let's save some money there.

McCain says we're sending lots of money overseas in foreign aid; need offshore drilling and nuclear power. 45 new nuclear power plants; linked to climate change, along with Senator Clinton have done lots of work. Lehrer goes back to is the bailout going to affect your policies; Obama says yes, tough decisions ahead--but you've got to know what your priorities are.

McCain says don't hand the health care system over to the federal government. Let families make the decisions. They're letting each other speak; if I were Obama I'd slice into this.

Obama says you said you agree with Bush 90% of the time--you voted for almost all of his budgets, to stand here after 8 years and say you're going to lead, is hard to swallow. McCain says it's well-known I'm not Miss Congeniality.

Lehrer shifts to lessons of Iraq. McCain says you can't lose a conflict. We're winning in Iraq, this strategy has succeeded. Wow, it's like he's speaking off the top of his head here as he ticks off the possible impact if we had not 'won.'

Obama says first question is should we have gone to war to begin with. We've spent nearly a trillion in Iraq, lost more than 4,000 lives, and al-Qaida is stronger than any time since 2001. Looks into the camera, we have to use our military wisely, and we didn't in Iraq.

McCain says next president will have to decide how we'll leave. Obama recently said it exceeded our expectations. Obama says violence has been reduced; but that was a tactic to contain the damage of four years of mismanage. They war didn't start in 2007. McCain's trying to cut in, Obama is citing what he was on wrong on, ticks them off. Obama reframes it as judgment.

McCain says Obama doesn't understand the difference between a tactic and a strategy. Talks about speaking to troops in Iraq, says they said let us win, we don't want our kids coming back here. Obama refuses to acknowledge we are winning in Iraq. McCain says Obama voted to cut off votes for the troops.

Obama clarifies the vote was on whether there should be a timetable or not. Says McCain said Afghanistan not a threat, in rush to go to Iraq. Not enough troops in Afghanistan.

The best Obama can hope for is to talk about Afghanistan; and that's where Lehrer moves it. Says again, it was a strategic mistake to go to Iraq not Afghanistan. Hits Pakistan too.

McCain says he won't repeat the mistake that he regrets, abandoning the people after we helped them drive Russians out. That's a good point. Says he's not prepared to cut off aid to Pakistan, so I'm not prepared to threaten Pakistan, or strike them--you don't say that out loud. New strategy in Afghanistan is a surge, just like in Iraq.

McCain's really improved as the debate has gone on, his somberness works here where it didn't on the economy. His body language and tone conveys credibility. Obama says he didn't talk about attacking Pakistan--he says we'll attack al-Qaida with or without Pakistan. Obama says you have to be prudent about what you say--coming from you and your crazy remarks on North Korea and Iran, that's not credible.

Hmm, interesting, Obama now pivots, we shouldn't have propped up a dictator in Pakistan like you supported. McCain says he doesn't think Obama understands the situation in Pakistan when Musharraf came to power.

McCain says I voted against sending Marines to Lebanon. Gulf War, I supported. Bosnia, supported going in too. Odd, these are contradictory points--what's he saying, he supports intervention, or not? Getting a bit meandering. I have a record of being involved in these high level decision-making, about sending our troops into harm's way.

Talks about wearing bracelet of soldier killed in combat, his stock story. McCain says he knows what it's like when an army is defeated. Lehrer cuts him off, he keeps going on. Obama jumps in. I have a bracelet too--make sure another mother's not going through what I'm going through. The question is for the next president are we making good judgments precisely because sending our military into battle is such a big deal--the original point is we took our eye off Afghanistan.

Nobody's talking about defeat in Iraq, but we are having big problems in Afghanistan because of that decision--it's not true you've been concerned about Afghanistan, you said we could muddle through.

Wow, Obama is taking him to the woodshed on this. McCain's remark is he's never gone to Afghanistan. I've been there, I know what our needs are.

New question to McCain, what about the threat from Iran. If Iran gets nuclear weapons, it's a game-changer, so we can't let Iran go there. Wants to form a league of democracies; Russians are preventing action in the UN. Impose painful sanctions on Iran--they have a lousy government, so bad economy despite oil revenues.

The tone of this section has been different; words really matter here. McCain links Iran to Iraq insurgency; hits Obama on revolutionary guard terror amendment. Obama says let's correct something, the guard is a terrorism organization, what McCain's talking about is broadening the mandate in Iraq to include Iran. That war has helped Iran. Policy over the last 8 years has not worked.

Obama actually uses the word gamechanger; says McCain is right, we can't tolerate a nuclear Iran. Tougher sanctions--but we can't do that without the Russians and the Chinese, they're not democracies but trade with Iran. Major difference, we need to talk to them--by not talking to people we're punishing them is a failed strategy.

McCain says Obama would talk to everyone without precondition, has trouble with Ahmadinejad's name, says we shouldn't just talk to him. McCain says Reagan wouldn't talk until the Russians reformed, I'll sit with anyone but there has to be preconditions.

Obama says Ahmadinejad's not the most powerful person in Iran, so we may not talk to him; I reserve the right to talk to anyone. One of his advisers, Kissinger, said we should meet with Iran without preconditions. It doesn't mean you invite them over for tea. Of course we have to do preparations; it may not work. Raises North Korea as what happens when you don't engage a country; when Bush reversed course, we made some progress at least. Obama says McCain wouldn't even meet with Spain's prime minister. Wow, he really went after him.

McCain says what Obama doesn't understand is you legitimize comments when you sit down across the table from someone. McCain says he's known Kissinger for 35 years, Obama's wrong on this.

Next question, Russia to Obama. He's held his own so far, it's all back and forth; as long as he's on equal footing he's won. Goes through his talking points on Russia. We can't return to a Cold War posture on Russia, we have a lot in common, brings up his loose nukes actions. His answer is okay, you'd have thought it'd be better.

McCain says Obama again doesn't understand what happened with Russia vs. Georgia. I hope Obama hits him on this trope. McCain says no Cold War, but Putin's eyes are all K-G-B. Odd lines from him every so often. Keeps saying he's been to all these places. Watch Ukraine, McCain lectures, this whole thing has a long to do there.

Obama says actually we mostly agree here, but I immediately said it was illegal for Russia to go into Georgia. We have to have foresight and anticipate some of these problems, in April I said Russian peacekeepers shouldn't have been in Georgia. Obama's very good at controlling time, says in advance 2 points, which them means McCain listens to both. 2nd issue here is energy policy.

We can't drill our way out of the problem. So much of this is about demeanor and credibility, Obama oozes confidence. Hits McCain on his energy record. McCain hits Obama on nuclear, then says drilling is a bridge, at least temporarily. Obama's gonna jump in here, McCain keeps talking about Nunn-Lugar on nuclear waste. Obama hits McCain, they're talking over each other.

Last question: liklihood of another 9/11 attack on the U.S. McCain says we're safer now, but a long way from safe. I've worked across the aisle on first responder. Obama's gonna hit him on that; McCain says we'll never torture again. We're safer today than we were on 9/11, but still have a way to go. Ha, says Homeland Security employees are doing a great job.

Obama says safer in some ways. Transit, ports, chemical sites, biggest threat is nuclear proliferation. Doesn't make sense to spend billions on missile defense, but not enough attention to suitcase nukes. We also need to focus on al-Qaida, Iraq focus isn't enough. One last point: the way we are perceived in the world is going to make a difference in cooperation and rooting out terrorists. I'm going to restore our standing in the world, we shouldn't be less respected; gives McCain credit on the torture issue. McCain says Obama doesn't get that if we fail in Iraq, it encourages al Qaida, they'd have a base there.

Obama says Bush and McCain have just been focused on Iraq. In the meantime, al-Qaida is stronger. Challenges from China. Then pivots, ties our deteriorating economy to national security, spends the last part of his time talking about domestic policies. Nobody's talking about losing this war, next president has to look at the big picture.

McCain says I've been involved in everything for 20 years. I don't think Obama has the knowledge or experience, has made the wrong choices; have seen this stubborness before in this administration, refuses to say he was wrong about the surge, we need more flexibility in a president.

Wow, that's kind of a crazy point. Goes on to talk about how he'll take care of the veterans, I love them, they know that I'll take care of them. Reform, prosperity and peace; I don't need any on-the-job training.

Obama says let me make a closing point--will be hard to follow up that soundbite-friendly compilation from McCain. My dad came to Kenya, that's where I got my name; in the 60s he wanted to come here. Our standing in the world isn't what it used to be; we need to send a message to the world.

I don't think his closing is good, it sounds too liberal and wooly-minded. McCain finishes with when he came back from prison, he worked on POW-MIA issues, I know how to heal the wounds of war, I know how to deal with adversaries, and our friends.

And that's it; Obama says good job to McCain, caught on microphone. Michelle comes up on stage, then Cindy. Whoah, wives shake hands.

George Stephanopolous says both candidates played on each others' turf; McCain on economy, Obama on foreign affairs did well. Charlie Gibson said Obama strong on judgment, McCain hammered Obama on experience. Diane Sawyer says Obama campaign wanted to show fight and passion, and he did.

On NBC, they also say both did well, expressing themselves. Tom Brokaw says McCain really went after Obama, we're all looking at the same polls; surprised Obama didn't work harder at pinning McCain to Bush.

CBS has voters and their dials; during Iraq war talk, Obama scores with his list of things McCain was wrong about on the war. Few think McCain won, more think Obama won.

I think McCain did well tonight; he really owned the last few minutes, those soundbite-ready comments are going to be what a lot of people hear the next few days.

Throughout, he was clearly comfortable and familiar with all of these issues, and although I disagree with his philosphy, he at least has a well-thought out world view to apply consistently to foreign policy. McCain has also done well to avoid being tagged as Bush III, totally seemed his own man tonight except during the economic section.

Obama also did well, didn't get hammered on surge, and simply went toe-to-toe with McCain. His demeanor and tone were presidential. I don't think he 'won', but he didn't lose either, which given the polls and what people want him in office for, is a win.

Don't think the polls move much out of this; people will pretty much hear what they want to. McCain's lost one of his last best chances to move the numbers; he's going to have to pull another maverick moment.

McCain takes the stage

Watching ABC to start, they say Mark Salter finished this speech 3 weeks ago and John McCain's been practicing ever since. They've got McCain on a runway that goes into the audience, so he'll have supportive people on three sides of him.

A clip from Cindy McCain's speech earlier tonight, looking scary in some crazy green outfit with big blonde hair. They go right into McCain's bio film, his mom saying he's a 'momma's boy'.

Some technical issues, video flickering green. POW comes right up. Lot of black and white footage. Music is very dramatic, announcer is even more so. Hmm, photo of him shaking hands with Richard Nixon.

His mom says noone else in U.S. history has ever had as much experience as him. 'Common-sense conservative' is what they call him. "He's not in it for the glory", "he's seen too much to think petty."

Pivot to Iraq, ties it to our security here at home. Father of 7, his youngest was 'discovered' as a baby in Bangladesh. They show some photos of non-whites, wonder where they got them from. "Change will come from strength".

His mom again, he'll renew America, he loves our country. Film ends, hall goes dark, words reading from his memoir ring out. "When you've lived in a box". Goes on for a minute, then spotlight, and out he comes; film narrated by Senator Thompson.

Dark suit, gold tie. Crowd gives him a loud ovation, now chants of USA. The visuals aren't stunning, like they were with Obama. He accepts the nomination, without mentioning the Republican party. One of his houses flashes on the backdrop; that's weird. There are protestors in the hall, I think--McCain votes against vets.

Hmm, that weird green background is back. Starts by talking about the candidates who opposed him; there's a young guy, Iraq veterans against war, he's off by the side holding a big sign. Thanks Bush, I think. Keeping us safe from another attack. The guy is heckling him, you can hear him in the silences, crowd tries to drown him out with USA chants. This is pretty interesting.

Thanks George W. Bush too. Odd beginning, meandering. He's squinting to read the teleprompter at times. That weird green background is still there, it's the lawn from his house or something--there are people walking up the sidewalk. So dumb.

Thanks his wife, she has the weirdest smile. Praises his mom, who stands up. 96 years young. Background changes to something else, blurry and dirty looking--ah, cornfields. I won't let you down, he says.

A very rocky beginning. Mentions Obama, you have my respect and my admiration, to tepid applause. Much more unites us than divides us, we're fellow Americans. Reads like it was just stuck in there.

Hmm, honors Senator Obama and his supporters for his achievements, but leave no doubt my friends, we are going to win this election.

He's low-energy, oddly subdued. "After we've won, we're going to reach out our hand to any willing patriot." Odd, Kentucky right up front. I know, these are tough times for many of you. Some woman is protesting, the crowd is booing her, she's fighting; crowd drowns her out, USA, USA, USA. Code Pink, as she's wrestled out. "Please don't be diverted by the ground noise and the static".

"These are tough times for many of you"--another protestor, crowd chants USA again, drawing more attention to it. I've found the right partner, big cheers for Palin. Man, this speech is really not going anywhere, he seems out of it. Talks about Palin--hey, where's her infant, anyway? "She stands up for what's right, and she doesn't let anyone tell her to sit down".

He says 'change is coming' with an arm gesture, it really looks pathetic, like he's trying on someone else's clothes. Applause, he looks down, waits, continues. Wow, it's really quite a bad speech. "I understand who I work for. I don't work for a party, I don't work for a special interest, I don't work for myself. I work for you."

Okay, now--tell us what you would do! Funny, this comes right after he references being a maverick, who usually are just out for themselves. Says he's fought big spenders, pork. McCain's in a very odd position, he could wind up looking second-best on his own ticket, with the constant prod of a younger, more articulate running mate reminding voters of Obama.

So far, we're 20 minutes in, it's all biography. The Dow plunged 340 points today on more bad economic news, no clue from this speech. Now on Iraq; then talks about how he's had a few tough fights in his life. Matters less that you can fight, what you fight for is the real test.

Okay, now--tell us what you would do! Names a couple from Michigan, who lost their real estate investments. Pennsylvania couple, with an autistic son. Just highlighting their woes so far, it's like he's a Democrat. Another--white--family, from New Hampshire, mentioned, now it's about how their son died in Iraq, will make sure we remain safe from our enemies.

Said Republicans were elected to change Washington, lost the trust of the American people when some Republicans gave in to corruption. Haven't freed ourselves from a dependence on foreign oil--tries to claim Obama passed a corporate welfare bill for oil companies! Wow, that doesn't wash.

Party of Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Reagan is going to get back to basics. Lieberman is in the audience, laughing--not a good image.

We're all God's children and we're all Americans, he says--actually, the immigrant Latina girl he mentions, many Republicans don't see her as American. This is a very broad speech; culture of life gets a big hand. No specifics, people in the audience, including Palin, are talking during it.

It's like a laundry list of core GOP applause lines. Can't imagine any independent tuning in and finding any of it persuasive, let alone any Democrats. I wonder if the Republican spinmeisters will blame the protesters for this.

My opponent will raise taxes, my opponent will close markets, my opponent will increase spending, he'll eliminate jobs, his health care plan will force families into a government-run health care system. People in the hall boo each line, people at home wonder why none of this worked under George W. Bush. This speech is seriously a Democratic dream come true.

Now says he knows some of you feel like your government has left you behind, says he's gonna change Social Security essentially. "We'll help workers who lost a job that won't come back find a new one that won't go away."


Now he's reading the speech like he's newly-acquainted with it. It's too late, shoehorning in these economic things, tone's already been set. "Education is the civil rights issue of this new cenutry". Oh?!

Wants to shake up schools with competition, choice; "help bad teachers find another line of work." Hmm, not sure with schools just starting for the year, attacking teachers is the way to go.

Misreads a line on the teleprompter, starts over and rereads. His eyese are watering, it's odd. Crowd is a bit dispirited; Obama wants schools to answer to unions and bureaucrats, I want them to answer to parents and students. Weird that he keeps talking about Obama. Then a weird smile.

"When I'm president, we're going to embark on the most ambitious national project in decades", stumbling over the words. Ah, time for energy talk--crowd starts applauding, big cheer for this. "Drill, baby, drill." And we'll drill them now. We'll build more nuclear power plants, etc. 'Electric aut-o-mo-biles'. No energy independence without more drilling and more nuclear power.

And restore the health of our planet is thrown in there as a last line. "It's an ambitious plan, but Americans are ambitious by nature, it's time to show the world again how Americans lead."

Wow, holy stolen from Obama!

Stumbles over reading the word 'today'. Al-Qaeda's not defeated; Iran remains the chief state sponsor of terrorism; Russia's leaders have rejected democratic ideals. Wow, he's not really going to make this the key issue?! Goes on about Georgia, 'the brave people need our solidarity and our prayers.'

He's still talking about Georgia; a Democratic line will be he cares more about people in Georgia overseas than Americans in Georgia here. "I know how the world works. I know the good and the evil in it."

My god, now talking about how when he was 5, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Are you kidding, is he really going to end with this?! Talks about Vietnam, "I hate war, it's terrible beyond imagination".

"I will draw on all my experience... and all the tools at our disposal, to build the foundations for a stable and enduring peace." Delegates are openly checking their cell phone and emails.

"We change things that need to be changed." Then, "we need to change the way government does nearly everything," starts listing a bunch of things that were designed before the rise of the global economy and the information technology revolution.

You have to be kidding me! He thinks people will see him as a competent steward for the information age?!

"I have that record and the scars to prove it. Senator Obama does not", as he's talking about his ability to change things. I cannot believe he's mentioning Obama near the end of his speech. "Let's use the best ideas from both sides", instead of fighting over who gets credit.

He'll be bipartisan, transparent, and accountable. The whole speech sounds like a me-too thing, and is really one of the worst major speeches we've heard in a while.

"I've been an imperfect servant of my country for many years." But I've always been a servant. He's winding up now. "I was blessed by misfortune". "I mean that sincerely". Oh my god, he's actually finishing by talking about his POW days.

Talks about how he was a selfish rebel before that day in October when he flew over Hanoi. "I was dumped in a dark cell and left to die." He's actually very sincere here, but he should've started with this and finished with what he'll do for the country economically.

Democrats have already innoculated themselves against this, by calling him a hero, but not the man we need for these times.

Talks about how he turned down a chance to go home early, crowd gives him an ovation. Talks about being tortured, and being broken. McCain is getting very emotional, the hall is totally silent; says one of the other prisoners said nobody can ever make it alone, now get up and fight again, for your country.

Lists what he discovered he loves about America, was never the same again, "I was never my own man anymore--I was my country's." Not running for president because he thinks he's been annoited to save our country in its hour of need; people laugh. My country saved me, and I will fight for her so long as I draw breath.

He'd make a good Cabinet official in an Obama presidency. He's showing his decent side here, but it doesn't make up for his campaign and his speech to this point. Gets energized, ticks off a bunch of ways people can act to help this country.

It's 11:02, must be time to wrap up. "Fight with me, fight for what's right". Keeps talking as the crowd cheers. "Stand up, stand up and fight". Wow, this is getting weird. "We never give up, we never quit, we never hide from history, we make history." Crowd's in a frenzy, and he ends.

Very, very odd speech. A bit over 45 minutes says Charlie Gibson; it was like two different speeches. George Stephanopolous says the second part where he told his story and called people to service brought him to life.

Bob Schieffer is saying he could win, if he gets people to believe he can form some sort of unity government. Tom Brokaw says giving a big speech like this isn't really one of his strengths, but he has a lot of courage, and a compelling story. What was missing, obviously, was a lot of details. And he talks about change, but his own party has run Washington for 8 years.

Palin's out there with him now, they're waving to the crowds. Brian Williams talks about the protestors, and about how his background was again green, with the lawn. Down come the balloons.

Chuck Todd says this was supposed to be non-ideological--ha! Claims there were few barbs at Obama. Used the word change 10 times, versus 15 times for Obama. Wow, there's a lot of white people up on the stage all at once now. Todd says like most recent Republican presidents, not a great speechmaker.

Fireworks on the big screen behind them--fake fireworks for a fake convention, I guess.

An interesting postscript, from the always-insightful David Gergen writing over at CNN:

.A few thoughts as John McCain takes his bows: one cannot leave that speech without having enormous respect for him as a war hero and patriot. His retelling of his story tonight was extremely moving. I have long been a fan of John McCain the human being and I came away even more impressed tonight. It is worth remembering that a McCain has fought in every American war since 1776.

Wow; that should just be what McCain says in his ads.

GOP: Meet Obama, and meet Sarah

Rudy Giuliani's at the podium; a huge image of the NYC skyline's on the screen behind him. He starts with a bunch of jokes about his own failed presidential run. Blasts the media right off, this is an odd strategy the Republicans are pulling--nobody cares about media bias except the rabid faithful, if you don't have those guys you're in trouble anyway.

Rudy casts it as two good and patriotic men applying for the same job. One guy's been tested time and again, and has passed. John McCain's a true American hero. The other guy--oh, whoops, Rudy goes on about McCain. Well, this analogy doesn't work.

McCain's mom is in the audience, looking stone cold angry. Rudy is tossing off applause lines, he's really a bad speaker.

Now, on the other hand, a gifted man with an Ivy League education, who worked as a 'community organizer'--what? The audience laughs. Immersed himself in Chicago machine politics, nearly 130 times couldn't decide whether to vote yes or no, voted present. Wow, Rudy's just mocking Obama, and the crowd loves it. Am pretty sure how non-Republicans are going to see this.

You have to make a decision, says Rudy. Hmm, this only works if people think of Obama as indecisive; I don't think that's the case. He spent most of his time as a 'celebrity senator'--it's the kind of thing that can happen only in America. He's never run anything, or lead people in crisis, Rudy says. The most inexperienced candidate in at least 100 years. Obama's never lead anything.

Wow, he's really piling it on; crowd is chanting something. Rudy keeps laughing; this is coming across pretty badly. This is no time for on-the-job training. Odd that this is how they're introducing Sarah Palin. Rudy's treating this like it's a big joke.

We can trust McCain to deal with anything that's thrown in his way, we'll all be safe in his hands. So odd, is this really what the GOP is running on still? There's good change, and bad change, Rudy says, then waits for the crowd to applaud. Change is not a destination, like hope is not a strategy.

"Let's talk briefly about specifics". Lower taxes, less government, more free trade, energy independence. Wow, so specific; and why hasn't Bush succeeded in any of this? Nuclear power, and offshore oil drilling. He cackles again. Drill, baby drill. Oh wow, this is crazy. The entire crowd is actually chanting it.

Rudy says McCain will keep us on offense, against Islamic terrorism. Rudy says Democrats think it's politically incorrect, it'll insult someone. Dems aren't mentioning 9/11.

Democrats had given up on Iraq, just like they've given up on America. McCain was right on Iraq, Obama was wrong, on the biggest policy decision of this election. Obama changes his position, Rudy says--on public financing, on wiretapping, on an undivided Jerusalem.

Then, in a line that could turn out to be truly hilarious, Rudy says if he were Joe Biden, he'd want to get that VP thing in writing.

McCain said 'we are all Georgians' when Russia rolled in; Obama blamed both sides, just like he has when talking about Palestinians and Israelis, then changed to have the UN get involved. The crowd boos this for some reason--yeah, let's get into another war; Rudy says apparently Obama doesn't know Russia has a veto.

Like Reagan, McCain will enlarge our party--in choosing Sarah Palin, he's chosen for the future. The other guy looks back. Palin's the most popular governor in America, says Rudy, a few minutes after he talks about how McCain doesn't care about the polls.

Rudy loves that she's been a mayor, mocks Obama for not thinking her hometown is cosmopolitan enough, not flashy enough; maybe they cling to religion there. Audience rises up for that one. Wow, Rudy is really ripping Obama.

As governor she's cut taxes, encouraged energy exploration, one of the best governors in the country. An 80% approval rating. Took on corruption, has no fear. They're gonna shape up Washington.

How dare they, Rudy yells, question whether Palin has enough time to spend with their children and be vice president? Crowd applauds that. When do they ever ask a man that question?

Rudy says we're the party that ended slavery?! Wow. All about expanding freedom, parents should choose where their kids go to school. (But women shouldn't choose what happens to them).

Now the job is up to us, let's get McCain/Palin elected, and let's shake up this country and move it forward.

Wow, what a bizarre speech. Stephanopolous calls the attacks tough, well-thought-out; but maybe too nasty, too ugly.

GOP sends out Sarah Palin right afterwards, no time to discuss Rudy. Was to be a film, but Rudy ran long so no film. She's in a short black skirt, tan top, pearls. Big liberty bell behind her. Blue tinted glasses. Big standing ovation--husband's got the infant now, went from daughter to Cindy to him.

She accepts the nomination--pretty strong and steady in her opening line. She's actually doing a pretty good job with her first few lines. Crisp, straightforward.

Out comes her accent; last year experts counted out McCain. Okay, now she's delivering this thing like she's on a tv drama--overlooked the resolve and guts of McCain. Weird facial expressions, like someone on Saturday Night Live. She looks nervous. Points to her son when talking about Iraq, he stands up.

Oh, she's gonna introduce her family. Ticks them off by name, then waves at them. The girls stand. Trig, too. She keeps raising her right arm, says our family has the same ups and downs as anyone. To the families of special needs children, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House. Now St. Louis arch is on the screen behind her.

Talks about hubby, a fisherman, snow machine racer. He hands off the baby, ready for his moment; mentions his Eskimo ancestry, says they met in high school and he's still my guy.

Awesome! Great! She's doing the up-talking too; introduces her parents. She's a pretty good speaker--no greater sense of the moment, just simple and direct. She talks about her people, who do the work and are always proud of America. I've lived most of my life in a small town, hockey mom and signed up for the PTA. A bunch of identical hockey moms 4 Palin signs go up.

She's going to explain to us what the job of mayor involves. In a mocking tone, like a community organizer, except you have actual responsibilities. She's got some steel in her, that's for sure. Not sure what we think of people who say small town people cling bitterly. We prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Scranton and one way in San Francisco. Hmm, that's a pretty strong line. McCain is the same man, no matter where he goes.

Not a member of the permanent political establishment--some in the media think you're unqualified for that reason alone. To big boos. Hmmm, this is a pretty effective speech. I'm going to Washington to serve the people, not to get your good opinion.

She winks at the crowd. Totally at ease. Politics for the right reason is to challenge the status quo, leave this nation better than we found it. Big smile, light tone. Govern with integrity, good will, and a servant's heart. I will carry myself in this spirit.

Now she's using Obama's speech--reform hard to achieve, with the help of the people of Alaska we shook things up. Sold off the luxury jet--put it on eBay. Like driving myself to work, got rid of the personal chef. Says she's vetoed nearly half a billion dollars in spending. Thanks but no thanks on that bridge to nowhere. Well, she's lying, but it sounds good.

Insisted on competition among oil companies. Build natural gas pipeline, to help lead America to energy independence.

She's the kind of politician that talks about basic things as if she's just discovered them. She reads a part of the speech about Russia that she obviously didn't write. Goes on about foreign control of oil, with some geographic names thrown in there, we need to pump more oil, we have lots of it.

Interesting, she's also arrogant. Simple-minded, and arrogant; what a combination.

Drilling won't solve every problem, but that's no excuse to do nothing at all. She's definitely going to infuriate people with that tone of hers, built on so little.

Talks about 'our opponent' and his dramatic speeches, there's much to admire about him. But this is a man who's authored two memoirs, but not a single major law. When the stadium lights go out, what exactly does our opponent seek to accomplish after he's turned back the waters and healed the planet. Wow, she's very snarky.

Some, like McCain, use their careers to promote change; she's really throwing in a lot of stuff, makes fun of the presidential seal thing. Says McCain's record is why so many entrenched interests have fought his candidacy, from 2000 on. Not looking for a fight, but not afraid of one either.

Quotes Harry Reid, who said he can't stand John McCain, says that's proof we've chosen the right man--he actually meant he can't stand up to John McCain. Wow, she really gets in these little digs.

The American presidency isn't supposed to be a journey of personal discovery. This world isn't just a community, doesn't need just an organizer. Obama and Biden say they're fighting for you, but only one man in this election has ever really fought for you.

McCain will bring the compassion of someone who was once powerless, someone who's seen evil and seen how it was overcome. A fellow POW, from Ohio--she blows him a kiss as he stands up--says after he came back from torture every day he'd flash a grin and a thumbs up. That's the kind of man America needs to see us through the next four years.

If character is the measure in this election, hope the theme, and change the goal we seek, I ask you to join our cause, elect a great man as the next president of the United States. Thank you, and god bless America.

Brian Williams--if they didn't know her before, they'll know her now. Stephanopolous says she's one tough cookie. Tom Brokaw says she makes a very auspicious debut, could not have been more winning or engaging, made the case for her candidacy strongly. Bob Schieffer says it works for the base, how about the rest? Jeff Greenfield says she has a perfect populist pitch, putting the big shots in their place, a strong first impression. Dan Bartlett says he thinks the McCain campaign is giving each other high fives.

And out comes John McCain. Tough rhetoric was necessary, Bartlett says, she's ready to play with the big boys.

McCain takes the mike, don't you think we made the right choice? Stephanapolous says in her first speech to the country, she spent a lot of time attacking; but a lot of beautiful and effective lines in the speech.

ABC on the floor with an undecided delegate, says she was real--funny, came out there swinging, talked about her record, she was fantastic. Greenfield on CBS says she cut Obama, but with humor, unlike Rudy and his sword.

It was a great debut for Palin, about as good as the GOP could've hoped for. She had to be tough, and she was; she had to be a good speaker, and she was. She didn't self-destruct, and she left the delegates energized.

And voters at home feeling like she belongs.

Republicans get their chance

Watching the Republicans in St. Paul--they really are tone deaf, McCain's friend Wes Gullett is standing up there with their adopted daughter 'Mickey' from Bangladesh, who was unexpectedly brought back for them by Cindy McCain.

The girl just stands there the entire speech, beaming, as he talks about how great Cindy is for bringing her the blessings of a life in the U.S., including her now being a 'naturalized U.S. citizen'.

She is literally a prop--isn't allowed to speak at all, just stands there while her father talks about her, and in a truly ludicrous moment, reads from an essay she wrote. Likewise, the McCain's daughter from Bangladesh, Bridget, sits next to Cindy smiling, holding her mom's hand.

It's somehow entirely fitting for the GOP; delegates applaud throughout.

Next, a firefighter from the area who was a hero during the bridge collapse last year--Jim Lehrer tells us afterwards--speaks about service to your community. It's a pretty good speech, the timing is a bit screwed up; she stands there for quite a while waiting for George H.W. and Barbara Bush to sit down; the crazy big screen behind all of the speakers shows flowing water as she speaks.

Wow, next, a non-white person! A Mexican-American. People in the crowd look restless; then he says Jesus Christ and the Virgin of the Guadalupe are at the center of our home.

Refers to McCain as a 'maverick' Senator, is the godfather of their son Jimmy. "You're probably asking, why does a Hispanic Democrat support John McCain"?

First, faith--no one can survive a prisoner of war camp without God's protection. Oh? I think some people from Auschwitz have a different perspective on this. He's not just a public servant when the lights are on and the cameras are running, it's a way of life. Vs. Barack Obama, and all the TV crews when he was working in community service in Chicago, I guess.

Quotes the Bible, then says McCain sees immigrants as also God's children. Wow, want an amazing thing! Talks about sanctity of human life from conception. Ends, Viva America! Crowd is forced to cheer.

Judy Woodruff interviews McCain's cellmate, says he had a great sense of humor even in jail, refused to come home early. He's 83; says McCain's got everything going for him, will be president--has the experience, no on-the-job training, decisive as proven during the Saddlebrook interview.

Wow, Lehrer points out the veteran has the Medal of Honor hanging around his neck, the highest military honor any American can get.

Now, Christine Todd Whitman is talking in advance of George W. Bush's 8-minute speech via satellite, says nothing really. She's okay, one of those politicians who seems more impressive on paper than in person/reality.

Michael Gerson, who's an ex-Bush speechwriter, is also on to pump up the president; he's the definition of a fop, his words are ridiculous and the way he comes across is comical.

They're now running some sort of video, it's telling the story of a soldier in Iraq, keeps referring to him and his 'teammates'. Okay.... Michael Mansoor, saved his fellow soldiers by throwing himself on a grenade. He's Lebanese American, wonder if that made it into the video. Won the medal of honor, the third to get it during 'the war on terror'.

Now Orson Swindle, who was Ross Perot's spokesperson, and also a POW. Hmm, now Mansoor's family is sitting next to Cindy McCain, wonder what happened to Bridget? They stand, get a looooong ovation from the crowd. Next, the five Medal of Honor recipients stand and are recognized. Then, other former POWs stand and are recognized. And then G.H.W. Bush is told to stand, and be recognized.

And, that's it. Swindle leaves, his entire job was to ask people in the audience to stand. Lehrer thinks we're taking a break, but then Laura Bush shows up, so he says first mistake I've made. She's in a red dress; will be introducing her husband--conveniently, 15 minutes before the networks go on the air.

Interesting, when was the last time a sitting president wasn't scheduled for prime time?! She calls Sarah Palin a "strong executive and proven reformer." Wow, next she highlights the non-white members of the Cabinet! Elaine Chao and Condoleeza Rice.

Laura says we haven't heard very many facts recently, so she's sharing a little straight talk. Goes on for a while, then says no one knows better what this job requires than the person who holds the job, and President Bush comes on.

He says his duties regarding Hurricane Gustav keeps him from attending, thanks everyone for their work. Shout out to his parents. Then, McCain is ready to lead this nation. It's funny, they're timing this so it ends right before the networks come on air, 4 minutes left.

Bush reads off McCain's story. Says if the Hanoi Hilton couldn't break McCain's resolve, you can be sure that the angry left never will. Adoptive parents, defender of human life.

Talks about McCain being there from the start on Iraq. We need a president who understands the lessons of 9/11, to protect America was must stay on the offense, and not wait to be hit again. McCain will have a strong leader at his side, Sarah Palin. And that's all on Sarah.

Says he's optimistic that at the end, Americans will look at the judgment, experience, and policies of the candidates, and will vote for McCain-Palin. Thanks Laura for being a fantastic first lady. And that's it--10:01 EST.

Seems like CBS and NBC are rerunning the speech in its entirety, looks like ABC will too. Interesting, so the first thing Americans now tuning in will see is Bush. Hmmm, something interesting--on CBS, there's no crowd noise early on, it's just the video apparently; so it's bizarre when he stops for 'applause', you just get silence.

Laura is speaking live on PBS, she's still not a great speaker. Wonder if Cindy is speaking at this shortened convention.

On NBC, Tom Brokaw says the whole convention's been improvisational, like how Bush's speech ended before prime time. That wasn't by happenstance, Tom.

Dan Bartlett on CBS says this is an emotional time for Bush, a lot of support here, trying to transfer that to McCain. CBS then runs the first photos that have been released of Palin in the last couple of days, a staged photo with Cindy McCain. They then do a story on the vetting.

NBC goes to Chuck Todd while Senator Fred Thompson talks; ABC and CBS are running talking heads over the speech as well, ABC now cuts into it on tape, the part where he talks about Palin being a breath of fresh air, how the media is unfairly going after her. Odd to hear a Senator like him tout the outside-the-Beltway selection, says the other side and their friends in the media are in a state of panic. She knows how to field-dress a moose--with the possible exception of Teddy Roosevelt.

Hmm, McCain's top operative Steve Schmidt's on CBS; they're bringing out the big guns. He says he's been asked outrageous questions by the national media. Smear, after smear, after smear. Katie's the perfect person for this, they can't accuse her of being sexist; asks about her raising the sales tax, and earmarks.

He just says when she was mayor she fought for her city, now she'll join McCain. Hmm, Katie at the end is just palling around, maybe she wasn't the perfect person for this.

NBC is running Thompson live, RNC is running a slideshow of McCain photos behind him. NBC cuts out of it, as Thompson talks about Iraq. Hmm, Senator Olympia Snowe on the floor with NBC. Haven't heard her speak about Palin before, she says it's a historic choice. Says she trusts McCain's judgement, in terms of what he's decided is important for his ticket.

Jeff Greenfield on CBS says Palin has the potential to appeal to the broad middle of the country, that doesn't care about her resume. Bob Schieffer says but she's so anti-choice she won't get Clinton votes.

I guess Sen. Joe Lieberman's speech is the only one tonight they'll carry in full. NBC back to Thompson, he keeps clearing his throat, it's odd. Totally disjointed speech, just spewing out lines here and there, no internal logic at all. Keeps repeating 'our country', while the cameras keep panning an all-white audience.

Visuals aren't great on his speech, audience seems half there. Says earlier--now watching ABC's tape--we need a president who sees no need to apologize for America. Sure, cause we never do anything wrong....

Wow, what a screw-up by ABC--Lieberman is speaking, and they're still showing Thompson on tape. Joe's a bad speaker, seems ill-at-ease. We're all Americans, references Gustav. Talks about how senseless partisanship is. Hmm, this all feeds into Obama's message, especially post-Palin nobody thinks of McCain as non-partisan.

Delegates aren't attentive, applause is tepid. What's a Democrat like me doing at a Republican convention like this? Well, given that he won his last race as an Indepedant.... Hadassah's up next to Cindy, looks very uncomfortable.

Says McCain's the best choice; only McCain has actually broken through partisan politics. Says John doesn't think we need a natural disaster to take off our partisan hats... well, it seems like for McCain's campaign, it did.

Man, Lieberman really must have exacted a guarantee from John that he'll invade Iran if he wins. Says they've worked together to make every American safer since 9/11. Don't be fooled by the political statements and advertisements, God made only one John McCain, and he is his own man.

That's odd--Obama thinks that too, the problem is the man is erratic, angry, and not fit to lead....

Recites a list of things that make McCain stand apart from another partisan Republican. I think if Lieberman were a better speaker, and if he said something like hey, I don't agree with you on abortion, but this election is about bigger issues, than this would be an effective speech; as it is, it isn't.

Obama is a gifted and eloquent young man, he says--but eloquence is no substitute for a record, not in these tough times for America. Hmmm, and how did these tough times come to be?!

Says Obama hasn't reached across party lines, or done anything within the Democratic party. Whereas Bill Clinton actually did do some of those things, like welfare reform, free trade agreements and a balanced budget. He seems a bit like Dana Carvey, actually.

Mentions Palin, calls her a great lady. She's a reformer. The real ticket for change is McCain-Palin. An oddly energy-less hall. DC won't be able to build a pen that will hold in these two mavericks. Ok.... America needs more national unity, not party unity. Especially because we're a nation at war--need someone to fight, not just when it's easy but hard.

Says McCain sounded the alarm about the mistakes we were making in Iraq. Others wanted to retreate from the field of battle, when colleagues like Obama were voting to cut off funding for our troops on the battlefield, McCain stood against the tide of public opinion, supported the surge--and that's why today thousands of troops are coming home, with honor.

My friends, he says wrapping up, McCain is respected and liked by our allies around the world, he'll be feared by our enemies--and that's what we need. Yeah, he'll convert everyone from friends to enemies, too.

Wants to speak directly to his fellow Democrats and independents. This is no ordinary election, this is no ordinary times; McCain is no ordinary candidate. Hmm, that's persuasive!

You may not agree with McCain on everything, but he'll be straight with you on where he stands, and he'll stand regardless of politics. He'll be what he is naturally--a restless reformer, he'll clean up Washington. When you vote for president, vote for the person you think is best for president, not the party you happen to belong to.

Wow, how's that for polishing the Republican brand! Vote for the leader who's always put America first. Let's come together in November to make a great American patriot our next great president.

Williams claims Lieberman was elected a Democrat--actually, he wasn't, ran and won as an independent. It's been 40 years since a sitting president didn't appear before his own party's convention.

Mark Shields over on PBS says he's never seen a convention like this, where they're running against their own party, making it all about McCain's biography.

Obam: I was born to a teen mom, too

Anyone still doubting that Barack Obama is a different type of politician should see his answer to a question about Sarah Palin's 17-year-old daughter being pregnant, via Atlantic's Marc Ambinder:

Jake Tapper: Governor Palin and her husband issued a statement today saying that their 17 year old daughter Bristol who is unmarried is 5 months pregnant. Do you have a comment?

BO: I have heard some of the news on this and so let me be as clear as possible. I have said before and I will repeat again, I think people's families are off limits, and people's children are especially off limits. This shouldn't be part of our politics, it has no relevance to governor Palin's performance as a governor or her potential performance as a vice president. And so I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories. You know my mother had me when she was 18. And how family deals with issues and teenage children that shouldn't be the topic of our politics and I hope that anybody who is supporting me understands that is off limits.

I actually disagree with Obama, because Palin's made so much of her strong Christian values and is so strongly against teaching safe sex.

But how many politicans would willingly reach out to the teenage daughter in this case, saying in effect hey, my mom was there too--and look at how things turned out.

Clinton and Biden close down Pepsi Center

What will Bill Clinton's speech be like tonight? One indication is the person introducing him is an African American Congressman from Florida.... I think he'll be great, will want to show everyone he still has it. Rep. Meeks isn't a great speaker, the contrast will be even larger.

Short intro too; the crowd roars as out walks old Bill, who Jim Lehrer says has spoken in every Democratic convention since 1988. Looks like he's in good shape for someone who's 62. Hillary in the audience, aqua pantsuit.

He gets a long ovation from the crowd. This will put him in a good mood, I think he's a little surprised. Laughingly tells everyone to sit down, repeats the first line of his speech, says please sit down, then says I love this, and I thank you.

Right off the bat, says he's here to support Barack Obama, more applause; and to warm up the crowd for Joe Biden. He recasts the primary race as being tight until the very end, praises Hillary and her speech.

Big roar, as he says he'll do everything he can to elect Barack Obama. Actually, that makes 18 million of us. Like Hillary, I want all of you to vote for Barack Obama in November.

Man, he's still magical, even after all the stuff of the past two decades. He's competent, smart, confident and passionate. And a great speaker. I hope he and Obama really spend some time together, Obama could learn a lot. Hmm, Theresa Heinz Kerry is sitting with Michelle.

Wow, he says everything he learned as president and since then has convinced him Barack Obama is the man for this job. He has the intelligence and curiousity every successful president needs. Has a unique capacity to lead our increasingly diverse nation. The long, hard primary tested and strengthened him....

Hmm, Bill is very clever. Which has always been his problem. Then says Biden plus Obama equals what we need on national security. Obama is ready to lead America, and restore American leadership. Some blacks in the audience are looking a bit skeptical, until Bill says Barack Obama is ready to be president of the United States.

"When he cannot convert adversaries into partners, he will stand up to them." "He won't let the world's problems obscure its opportunities."

It's kindof odd for Bill to be speaking on national security night; but he sounds credible delivering these lines. Most important of all, we can't be strong abroad unless we are first strong at home. People have always been more impressed by the power of our example, than by the example of our power. Gets people to their feet. Not sure Saddam Hussein was ever impressed by anything.

This sure ain't no 10 minute speech; and now he's going off on economics. He's looser now, this is clearly what he loves talking about. Now hitting Republicans. Just listing a litany of abuses, ending with what about Katrina and cronyism. Gets the crowd all riled up. Standing ovation as he says Obama will do better than that. Crowd chants Yes We Can.

Yes he can, but first, we have to elect him. Obama couldn't ask for more. He says McCain is honorable, but he's wrong on the two great questions of this election, rebuilding the American dream and rebuilding our power overseas.

Now he's hitting the Bush administration on how they've destroyed the economy, reeling off a list of facts. Now McCain wants more of the same.

Man, what's Biden going to say after this?! Clinton's totally stolen the show; he's got the crowd in the palm of his hand. Let's send them a simple message--thanks, but no thanks. The third time is not the charm.

What great lines. Yeah, everyone's wishing he was running again. Total silence as he slows down, talks about 16 years ago it was his chance--GOP said I was too young, and too inexperienced to be commander-in-chief. Crowd cheers at that--sound familiar? It didn't work in 1992, because we were on the right side of history--and it will not work in 2008, because Barack Obama is on the right side of history.

Obama's life is proof of the American dream. Freedom, and equal opportunity will be what he also wants for all Americans. This is totally the most effective case for Obama's candidacy we've heard.

Obama will lead us away from division and fear, back to unity and hope. If, like me, you believe America must always be a place called hope, join me and Hillary and Chelsea in making Barack Obama the next president of the United States. Huge applause, off he goes.

Jim Lehrer says--to say he was well-received is an understatement. Yeah, off he goes, what a great speech. Too bad it wasn't live in prime time. Crowd is totally riled up now.

Now, John Kerry. How the mighty have fallen, not even in prime time. He's stumbling a bit, a hell of a speech to have to follow.

Some interesting numbers out of the tv ratings for the convention so far:

According to new figures released by Nielsen, Day Two of the convention -- anchored by Hillary Clinton's primetime speech rallying support for Obama -- delivered a huge audience: 26 million U.S. viewers. ...

Viewers older than 55 are glued to the convention coverage. More than 20 percent of Americans in that age group watched the event on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, MSNBC, BET, and TV One. ...

The Democratic convention is holding its own against the heavily watched Summer Olympics in Beijing, where 27 million viewers tuned in each night.

That's pretty amazing, that as many people are watching this as watched the Olympics. Don't think the Republicans are gonna get this type of viewership. The bounce for Obama may well be in double digits--it's especially great that older voters are watching, they'll have heard Hillary and Bill and Joe vouch for Obama.

Kerry is speaking as if there's a stopwatch on him. He says he's been friends with McCain for almost 20 years, but candidate McCain is no Senator McCain. Compares the two, but is speaking a bit too fast for us to soak in. Talk about being for it before you're against it! Odd, some audio problems, at least on PBS.

This has actually turned into a pretty good speech. Kerry's a good soldier. Tries to get a refrain going, recites a list of foreign policy things that Obama was right on, then 'Who can we trust to keep America safe?'

"How desperate to tell the son of a single mother who chose community service over money that he doesn't put America first?"

Oh wow, Obama's uncle, who served in WWII and helped liberate a concentration camp is here, sitting next to Michelle, he stands and the crowd gives him a standing ovation. Now that's great television. Nice touch, Kerry.

He's actually doing a very good job of acknowledging that what worked against him won't this time--I wish he'd been this strong attacking Bush in 2004 that he is attacking McCain now. It must be humbling to say some of these things, but he really does love the Democratic party and America.

A very different speech than Clinton's, but much more personal, vulnerable, and in some ways--hard to measure--better. PBS commentators say not a Kerry-like speech, the most hard-hitting speech of the convention.

And now the first and only female three-star general, Claudia Kenney; wow, and she was head of Army Intelligence. Man, this is a well-run, well-thought-out convention.

Rep. Chet Edwards now speaking; Sen. Evan Bayh spoke earlier. Both showed why they weren't picked to run with Obama. Neither were inspiring, seemed like lightweights. In comparison with the Clintons, and Kerry. They're showing a film by Stephen Spielberg on PBS, the networks are replaying and analyzing Clinton's speech.

ABC replays the roll call vote, when New York--with Hillary at the mike--put Obama over the top. A black woman is wiping away tears, as Hillary says she moves that by acclamation all votes cast go to Obama. Hmmm, with Nancy Pelosi presiding. Everyone seconds; no-one opposes--or is given a chance to by Pelosi's gavel, and the motion is adopted. George Stephanopolous mentions all the barriers being broken--Hillary to Nancy to Barack.

This really is like a dream for the Democrats. Great visuals, great speeches, and enough interesting things going on that people are tuning in. Maybe the whole Clinton-Obama thing was ginned up by Obama? Figuring may as well turn lemons into lemonade.

Everyone's run or is running a lot of Clinton. Hopefully Kerry gets some time too. NBC is speculating about who McCain will pick for VP, Chuck Todd talks about the Biden choice being a factor.

Wow, I think CBS is rerunning all of Bill's speech. NBC is running parts of their interview today with Michelle. She says she told them as they came out on stage that she had a surprise for them, Malia asked, is it the Jonas brothers.... Michelle says they really miss their daddy, Malia was crying backstage, then said well, that family [he was with] seemd pretty night.

Man. Now NBC will talk to Kerry after the break. I think ABC is coming back with Kerry. Hey, PBS has someone on a blonde woman who looks like Ainsley Hayes from the West Wing. The guest here was in the Marine Corps though; same kind of toughness, genuine in her case.

Hmm, Marc Ambinder says Obama is going to make a 'surprise' appearance at the end of Biden's speech. I think Clinton did this first, with Gore the first time around. Especially good idea here given that tomorrow night's speech will be at the football stadium, the visuals will be different, no risk of taking away from Thursday.

Man, CBS has an emotional interview with a black delegate from New Jersey, who's in tears, says her dad who has Alzheimer's now marched on Washington with MLK, when they couldn't drink at water fountains, she's just glad Democrats voted for the best candidate, regardless of skin color, wished he could know about it. Oh, man....

Kerry on NBC, Brian Williams says at the end of the interview perhaps the most forceful speech here so far. Ann Curry is now playing reporter, trying to grill an Obama foreign policy advisor, by asking very abrupt, bordering on rude, questions. Yes or no? Yes or no?

Everyone's showing the Biden bio video, except CBS, which consistently has skipped these. They've got Bill Richardson, who's looking large--smartly, Obama's got him speaking at the stadium tomorrow night.

Wow, what a classic-looking family. This should play well with the senior citizens. If Biden has Obama's organizational skills, he could've made a real run at these things. Vice presidency is perfect for him, no real duties except to advise the president. He looks a bit like Donald Trump.

Beau Biden, his son, who's going to be serving in Iraq in a few months. Wow, he was in that automobile audience with his mom, and his sister and his brother! The hall is transfixed, Michelle is just weeping as he tells the story, and how at first his dad didn't want to go to the Senate, wanted to stay with his kids.

My gosh, this is almost too good to be true. Such an understated style, but totally sincere. Michelle is totally weeping, they split screen it for a while. His mom's crying too. Highlights his writing the violence against women act, crime bill, called Milosovic a war criminal to his face. Mentions because of other duties, he can't be here this fall. So I have something to ask of you--be there for my dad, be there for Barack Obama, because this country needs him.

My friend, my father, my hero, the next vice president of the United States. Charlie Gibson interjects, the other duties are he'll be sent to Iraq, part of the Delaware National Guard.

Thank you, and thank you John Kerry. Biden is clearly thrilled, keeps saying thank you, crowd keeps cheering. Talks about his son, how proud he is of him, and his other son and daughter, and his wife. Oh man, this is gonna be good. He thanks President Clinton, words that'll warm his heart. Praises Hillary too, made history and will continue to make history. They stand for her.

Honored to represent the first state, my state, the state of Delaware. Yes, I accept your nomination.... I think one reason Biden was picked is because Michelle likes him.

Starts telling his story, his dad always told him, champ, when you get knocked down, get back up. God, I wish my dad was here, thankful my mom is here--says her entire Irish name, the crowd gives her a standing ovation, she clearly is very proud.

This is a very genuine speech. Talks about his mom's words to him as a kid--my mother's creed is the American creed, no one is better than you, and everyone is equal to you.

That American dream feels like it's slowly slipping away. He talks about the questions people have around the kitchen table every night, the worries they have--that's the America George Bush has left us, and what we'll get if John McCain is elected president.

John McCain doesn't seem to get it. Barack Obama gets it; he's worked his way up. He chose to go to Chicago, the South Side, to work as a community organizer. That's why Obama knows work is more than a paycheck; it's dignity, it's respect. Hmm, Biden seems to be slurring his words a little. Not sure I remember that from before.

Talks about his achievements in the Senate. You can learn a lot about someone campaigning, debating; he's tapped into the oldest thing in America, we have the power to change.

John McCain is my friend--I mean it. Personal courage and heroism demonstrated by John still amazes me. But I profoundly disagree with the direction John wants to take this country. Ticks off his Bush ties, his bad policies. He's skipping some words on the teleprompter, but I think that's good, he wants to be a bit rough.

That's not change--that's more of the same. He's getting worked up, into a rhythmn now. He voted 19 times against the mininum wage. He'll continue to spent $10 billion a month in Iraq. These time require more than a good soldier--they require a wise leader.

And that's the key line right there.

Ticks off what Barack Obama will do. That's the change we need. It's a slightly uneven speech now, keep feeling like he'll flub a line. Hammers home the equal pay for women.

Now, foreign policy, his area of expertise. We will hold Russia accountable for its actions, and we will help the people of Georgia rebuild. Bush administration's policy has been an absmyl failure.

McCain says Obama is not ready to protect our national security. Now whose judgment should we trust... John McCain was wrong on Afghanistan, and Barack Obama was right. On Iran. On Iraq.

Wow, a full-throated attack. The world will trust us again, we'll be able to lead again. Jill and I are honored to join Barack and Michelle on this journey. Here for the future of our kids, grandkids, everyone I grew up with.

A slightly odd speech, not quite in rhymthmn--unlike Clintons and Kerry. But--this speech is also targeted at a very specific audience, older white blue collar voters. I think it hit home with.

Big finish, standing ovation. They're waiting for Obama to come out. Stephanopolous says you saw why Obama picked Biden tonight. He's just pacing back and forth on stage, out comes his wife to hug him--she has a handheld mike. Hmmm....

Jill has the mike. A special surprise guest. Joe asks who? And now--out comes Barack. And the place goes nutso. Huge applause; Jill is in between them. The mike seems to still be live, as Jill goes off stage, in search of someone or something.

He's got the mike. Hello Democrats. This is why I'm so proud to have Joe Biden, and Jill Biden, and Beaux Biden, and Mamma Biden, with me. Michelle kicked it off pretty well. If I'm not mistaken Hillary Clinton rocked the house last night--huge applause. Praises Bill, and thank you President Clinton. See you tomorrow night!

Off he walks, hugs and shakes hands on the way out. Biden family out on speech, as Obama's on his way out. Split coverage here, not sure what's the focus. Ah, now he's mingling with the huge Biden family, this is great television.

ABC and NBC to local coverage, CBS still here as We Are Family plays. Delegates have connected tonight, PBS says, they feel energized, there's enthusiasm they had only seen moments of previously.

Michael Beschloss, who I like a lot, says this was a huge help for the Democrats, Clinton gave a great speech--including that Obama's ready to be president. Biden did a great job; Richard Norton Smith says it was classic populism, Hubert Humphreyish. And it was a values speech, a character speech.

Hmm, all the photos leading the sites are of Biden/Obama together. I think Biden was authentic tonight, which is quite a bit rougher than Obama, which I think is good. Jeff Greenfield on CBS' webcast is saying he thought Biden connected with those lost Reagan Democrats.

Schieffer says this is what the campaign is going to be--lack of experience vs. lack of judgment. I think if that's a wash, Obama wins in a landslide.

Katie says, Hey you guys, I have a Web question.... End of an era for the Clintons? Nobody knows, as Greenfield says, depends on whether Obama wins or not. Clintons want to make sure nobody blames them if Obama doesn't win.

Katie is like, Hey Byron, are you out there? She's actually really good in this forum. Fits her speaking style, her morning show casualness and personality. One of the delegates says Obama-Biden is the dream team. Other delegate says Biden's rougher around the edges, more working class. Hmmm, what is McCain gonna do about that?!

Byron Pitts asks a black delegate if Obama can connect with whites, the delegate says yeah, this is the Democratic party, this place is full of working class whites.

References the 'slips' where McCain got referred to as George Bush. Byron's very smooth, thanks everyone by name afterwards. Katie says yo, it's a webcast, not a miniseries; he says okay sis. This is kind of funny, actually.

I really like Katie in this role, CBS should put her in this kind of frenetic, seat of the pants vibe more often.

Now she's reading breaking news from the NYTimes--McCain has made his decision on his VP, Governor Pawlenty and Romney the favorites, with possibly Sen. Liebermann in there.

Katie's playing traffic cop, goes to Dean Reynolds, who I've always liked. He's saying Obama's speech will be stark and sober. The smiles will be replaced by a much more serious demeanor.

Afterwards, Katie says Dean, it's nice to see you smile on TV, you should do this more often; Dean says thanks, I'd like to. This is really fun.

Now Joe Biden's sister, Valerie Biden Owens. They shoot them from the back, you can see all the monitors. Katie talks about how cute to see your 91-year-old mom there, hearing Joe talk about her words, and seeing her say to the person next to her, "I said that, yes I did". Valrie's very good, too bad more people aren't watching this....

There's a palpable sense of excitement and anticipation about tomorrow night; I think an amazing number of people will be watching, if nothing else to see what those crazy columns look like.

Katie's telling us she'll take another Web question, then we'll go see the blogger's tent. She's very cute, trying to talk our language. Joe Trippi says in answer yes, he does have a chance in the South, he's spreading the field out on McCain. Audio problems, so Katie says hey Byron, are you out there?

He is, she's teasing him about a CBS staffer I think. Byron's good at this too, talking to people as he's walking about. He's showing the signs they held up, Katie is telling him to save them, as souvenirs. Pitts is just randomly talking to people, calling them brother, it's great--the heart of being a reporter is chatting up people.

Trippi and Dan Bartlett are joking back and forth. It's clear that all these people like Katie, and she has a good relationship with them; there's a looseness and familiarity that you very rarely see.

Trippi says the Clintons have laid the divide to rest, Obama didn't err by giving them so much time. Ha! Of course... Hmm, Trippi makes a really good point, he thinks Obama's going to spread the field, especially as McCain starts spending down his public financing--and I think the Clintons will be part of that.

Man, Katie looks so normal walking around the bloggers tent talking to people. Again, back to her journalistic roots, just chatting up interesting people. She's getting a massage at the YouTube tent. Wow, ex-gymnast Katie is impressing everyone with her yoga positions; it's hilarious and great.

Have got Nightline on mute, this is better. Well, until they run the Ted Koppel 'lost interview' with Obama. Lost? Or shelved?

Declan gives a long answer to a question about Obama and McCain's positions on net neutrality and copyright, at the end Katie laughs, says thanks. They talk next about the techiness of the Obama campaign.

Ah, now Marc Ambinder, whose blog everyone political reads religiously. Katie is showing hilarious buttons, Ask me how many houses I own.... Hmm, he's fatter than I thought he'd be, more schlubby. But funny, and very clever. He peeks into a donor's lounge, moves the curtain to peek in. Ah, talks to James Yee, the former Muslim chaplain at Guatanamo Bay. Talks to Bill Plante.

Katie teases him about going into TV, he says call that Ambinder Unhinged. Some actual stories here to cover. Katie calls a young reporter who's editor of the Harvard Crimson "Mr. Smarty Pants." It's hilarious.

Stephanapolous on Nightline is giving the Democrats an A for tugging at heartstrings, and A for attacking the Republicans, A for Body Language. Perfect political choreography says George, Obama's only problem--a "high class problem" as Bill Clinton used to say--is can he top this tomorrow night.

Ha! He doesn't have to; Team Obama has always been about doing the small things around the margins so it's not all swing or miss for the candidate. They could end the convention tonight and Obama would get a nice bounce; he just has to let people see him being serious and substantive, and then hit the campaign trail with Biden while the GOP goes crazy in the Twin Cities.

On the webcast, Katie says she needs a hand-held mike, as they wire up an angel and a devil, asks what's their deal. Ah, part of Trick or Vote--on Halloween, they're going to go out and sign people up to vote.

Back on ABC, Koppel grilling Obama. He's using the bus into the ditch analogy. Now, Ted says he was hugely impressed by him that day, he gave brilliant answers to what he thought were tough questions. So they dumped the interview that day to talk to Michael Moore... which Ted says further confirms his excellent news judgment.

Now that is an endorsement--from Ted Koppel, who's no pushover! It's amazing how young he looks; he's really gained some gray since then, seems to have filled out.

The only guy he's ever interviewed that he thought anticipated questions better and answered questions better--Bill Clinton.

"What an astonishing journey, unlike any in the history of American politics," says Terry Moran. Whatever your politics, that statement is worth basking in for a little while. And now ABC is pushing us to their website to watch the full interview.

Moran asked Donna Brazile to step back, the Democratic Party nominated a black man to be president of the United States. She said she never believed it would happen growing up in the segregated South, wanted to weep tonight. Matthew Dowd says it was like, as an Irish Catholic, John F. Kenney in 1960.

Yup, it's been that kind of night. Tomorrow will only be better.