I can't add much to Erik's thoughts about last night here in Denver. After two days of kvetching and other nervous anxiety, it really did feel as if the convention blew off the cobwebs. Bill Clinton was superb. The crowd's outpouring of affection was extraordinary; a five-minute standing ovation holding up the start of his speech as if to remind him, and themselves, how he is adored. Biden also was stirring, if not quite as good. His attacks on McCain were forceful, his life story compelling, and his aged mother charming. Walking out you could feel the sense of relief in the crowd.
That said, anxiety still remains. This morning much of the papers discuss whether the seemingly enlightened decision to move Obama's speech to a giant stadium will actually work. Steps are being taken, says the New York Times, to try and make the stadium look less stadium-like, better to play down Republican attacks on Obama's glitzy star quality. Meanwhile, people are beginning to think about what happens after tomorrow, when McCain will announce his Vice Presidential pick in the morning, and the much feared Republican attack machine will limber up for a week of gleeful Obama bashing. (This piece in the Politico, in passing, gives a deeply intriguing overview of how McCain's choice, thought most likely to be Mitt Romney, has been made more difficult in recent days.)
Maureen Dowd wrote an unusually measured column in the last few days, claiming that the tension felt in Denver was all down to the remaining, dormant enmity between the Clinton people and the rest. My sense is different. The delegates gather here care less about the Clintons, and more about how the Republicans can steal a seemingly unstealable election. Bill Clinton wowed them last night because he looks like, and is, a winner. Democrats don't have many like him. Losing twice to George Bush has left an almost psychological doubt about whether the party can win. They desperately want Obama to join the winner's list, but still aren't sure he can. And, as this cartoon from yesterday's Washington Post nailed, as the week goes on, the reality dawns that the election it isn't just about Obama, his wow factor, and 70,000 fans in a stadium. Even if this evening goes well - and, i predict, it will - it is next week in St Paul that provides the true test of this week's success.
