Democratic Convention Watch 2008 - Barack Obama

Abrupt end to Durbin's speech. Odd.

Tribute film! Barack's mom was sorta hot. Woo! Kansas! Grandparents from Kansas! Well done, Kansas. We're getting more about Barack's mom. She was, of course, the perfect mother. More jokes about the name, because really... It's Barack Obama. And the love of Michelle.

The missus is moved by the tribute film. She's a sucker for tribute films. I showed her a tribute film of me before I asked her to marry me, and she could only say yes. By the time she came out of the fog of my tribute film, we were married. Sucka.

Obama still gets choked up talking about his mother's death. The missus thinks Obama is handsome. But she's married to me.

Film over! And Barack is out on stage. Music swells! Crowd roars! Sheer joy! He's shouting thank you and crowd members weep. He's really trying to get going now. OK, I'm gonna listen, if you don't mind.

Except that he can't get a word in edgewise.

Now he's off. OK. I listen.

HE ACCEPTS! WE NOMINATED! HE ACCEPTS! Oh, boy, if he'd refused... What a disaster that would've been. But now we can move forward. After another shout-out to Hillary and Bill. And Ted and Joe. Those are some pearly white choppers Joe's got. And he likes to show them. And shout-out to Michelle, the love of his life, and his daughters who are not quite old enough to be horrified by their daddy.

Obama just hit the failed policies of George W. Bush. "We're better than the last eight years." And he brings up Katrina, as he well damned should. "Enough!"

EIGHT IS ENOUGH! Cut to Dick Van Patten! No. Too bad.

Golf applause for John McCain's bravery. John voted 90% of the time with Bush. A 10% chance of change? I don't think so, suckas. (Why do some people say he voted with Bush 90% and other say 95% of the time? What's the discrepancy?)

Hitting "nation of whiners" now. Good for you, Obama. It's not that McCain doesn't care; it's that he doesn't know. Good point. "Ownership society" means "You're on your own! And it's time for them to own their failure." Nice.

Tying the regular stories he's heard with his own family is nice, especially when he mentions the "celebrity" thing from John McCain.

America's Promise. I think we've got the theme. He just kicked into philosophical gear. We are part of a society: brother and sister's keepers. Spelling out the change is coming up.

Cut taxes for 95% of working families. Off oil in ten years? OK, so that's fucking bold. Green jobs. Invest. Big plans. Good education: early ed, higher salaries for teachers and accountability. Adding service to the college ed deal. Health care for all. Safety nets. Equal pay for equal work, because his daughters deserve it. I'm guessing his daughters will be fine, but I get the point.

Individual and mutual responsibility. I can dig on that.

He's talking like a tough Commander-in-Chief now, comparing his judgment to McCain, whose judgment has been a disaster.

OK, so when he starts talking about unity, well, that's when he really starts cooking. Common ground on tough issues. Surely, we can be reasonable. You can't make a big election about small things. Change doesn't come from Washington but to it.

So I spaced out while listening there for a bit. I guess that's a good sign. And then a country song and fireworks.

Gwen and Judy at the stadium? Like no other convention we've seen. He answered criticism and gave some more specifics about his plans and his family. And he sounded tough.

Historians? Historian 1 thinks Obama's catapulted us into the 21st Century. Historian 2 says he sacrificed eloquence for electability. Interesting. I think I agree with that. I was hoping for another highfalutin speech. It was pretty nuts and bolts. Historian 3 thinks Barack spelled it out well and thinks it'll help him a lot.

Jim Lehrer? Shields and Yarnell? Shields thinks he established the humble roots and the differences with McCain. Steely resolve about patriotism. And he got specific. Yarnell thought the text was assertive. Here comes a "but." Not wowed. Unmoved.

Yarnell and Historian 2 disagree about the partisanship of the speech. And Historian 2 says that this speech won't be carved in granite, but if he gets elected, he'll have an inaugural address for that. That made PBS laugh heartily.

And they're done.