That whole family can talk better than most of Washington. Certainly better than Nancy Peloci. Michelle, her brother and Obama's sister all gave great speeches. I love the story about how Michelle's family made Obama go play basketball with her brother to prove his worthiness.

I thought it was terrific. She did everything she needed to do. I thought she came across as very sincere. It was great.

I thought it was really, really good - she was pretty much perfect, I thought, in the tone and tenor of what she said and how she said it given that she's not running for anything. She did really well, especially considering that we've been used to either first ladies who are entirely in the background or right alongside their spouses - this involved-but-in-the-background thing fits her whole life story as a community organizer and leader.

And the whole satellite videophone/say-good-night-to-Daddy thing at the end with the girls? OMG! Epic stage management and the same relentless attention to detail and technical competence that the whole Obama campaign has had from day 1. "Daddy, what city are you in?" That's like five million votes right there.

And her brooch was gorgeous.

Oh, and if I hear one more pasty old white pundit say "Obama needs to prove that he's one of us", I'm going to scream.

I liked her speech. I actually hit pause on the streaming video when they started with the babypic slideshow - I can only take so much glurge - but turned it on just in time for her to come on.

And the kids' conversation was cool, too. I know he's gonna get ripped to bits for it seeming to be contrived, but man, if he gets elected, he's almost never going to see them, so making them a part of it that way doesn't offend me much.

And I'm apparently in long sentence mode.

And octothorpe - I stopped reading pundits when Molly Ivins died.

I'm really uncomfortable when people put their children on TV. Those girls are going to have enough to deal with if they grow up in the White House, I don't want them to become comfortable with or used to sharing their lives with the media.

Oh, and if I hear one more pasty old white pundit say "Obama needs to prove that he's one of us", I'm going to scream.

Yeah, but it's true. People naturally fear what's different. Obama sounds Muslim. He's obviously black. You have to go the extra mile to prove to the not-so-enlightened bunch that you are "normal". You don't have to do it for their vote. You need to do for a fair shake that you will be heard. That people will actually listen to what you have to say. Before tonight the descriptions that go through a fair amount of people's heads when thinking of Michelle Obama might be bitter, elitist, uppity, non-patriotic, etc.

You do have to show that you're one of the regular people to win this election and she did it nearly perfectly.

It was great to see both Jimmy and Teddy. Kennedy sounded great, that man is made out of tough stuff.

I didn't see Michelle Obama's speech, but I saw some (glowing) analysis of it. What's more, I just saw on the MSNBC crawl that Cindy McCain is being dispatched to Georgia to assess the civilian casualties there.

Can anyone say "running scared"? I mean, come on. I guess they want to prove that she has gravitas, but that's just so...

Well, it's just so nothing.

Wow, that was a great speech. Michelle for 1st Lady!

I did read that, mudpuppie. Many people have a nice picture of who Cindy is. She's a perfect package. She shows unconditional support for her husband. She's smiling and sweet and adopts children. Now, by making a trip to Georgia people are going to drudge up the home-wrecking, pill-popping, filthy rich, etc. If you play the political game, people start digging. She's going there to score political points. I think it's a mistake for the Republicans.

You've got a much deeper analysis than I do, Lori. :)

I'd just watched a Daily Show episode from a week or two ago, and Jon Stewart was making fun of McCain for sending Lieberman and Lindsey Graham to Georgia. Like, you know, he has the authority. (Stewart's joke was that HE was going to send, um, I forget -- two completely irrelevant people, because he had just as MUCH authority.)

So to see the Cindy McCain thing right after the Jon Stewart thing -- well, I just didn't go that deep. But I like your take on it. Perspective. Thanks!

Gah. The MSNBC wags keep referring to the Obama image as 'the Huxtable image.' I don't really know why this bothers me so much, but it does.

home-wrecking, pill-popping, filthy rich, etc.

It wasn't just pill-popping, she was commiting prescription fraud to obtain those pills, something that would have landed her in jail if she weren't rich and well connected, and something that caused the doctor writing the prescriptions to lose his license.

When the McCains are put next to the Obamas, it's deeply embarassing that they actually stand a chance of getting into the White House.

cmonkey, everyone's got stuff. Some is quieter, some is blatant, some never gets outed...but everyone, eVERYONE'S GOT STUFF.

Kennedy was not at his best but just the fact that he was there and obviously overcoming his various afflictions for what is likely his last convention speech ... that's something else.

I had to listen to Michelle on the radio because I was picking up my 19-year-old (and completely politically inexperienced) nephew. I was preoccupied with thinking about the strategic and tactical aspects, such as avoiding any memory of the remark that got her in trouble months ago. As we drove back, he suddenly randomly interjected, "She's good!"

It was obviously a speech vetted to an apostrophe's width, and well practiced, but it really came across as genuine nevertheless.

Oh, sorry. Edited out something like this: That Caroline managed OK, considering she's basically unpracticed (good thing that the plan for her to fully take Ted's place in the schedule didn't need to be used), all the more interesting that she has become a backroom power within the Obama campaign (selecting Biden). There have been other indications that she has taken the mantle of being the Kennedy clan's spokeswoman. I wonder what is in store for her.

More fireworks tonight when Hillary steps to the podium.

Michelle raised the bar for this gig, no question - Hillary will need far more than the "clap, clap, point, point, look surprised, surprised" routine.

I've been a little at sea with Barack's campaign as of late (perhaps just withdrawals from the fierce infighting of the primaries), but after last night, it's rock and roll all over again.

Michelle Obama is an amazing public figure. We could do it right this time, folks. They're definitely the real deal.

Michelle kicked ASS. I was really really impressed.

'the Huxtable image.'

Seriously? Such crap.

This is why I don't watch television news. C-SPAN and Fark. That's it.

I have to say I don't care a fig about First Ladies, and the trend over the last few elections to have "the battle of the Spouses" just irritates me. If we're going to hire the spouse, too, then let's make it a cabinet position and be done with it. We're not electing the SO, we're electing the candidate.

geez, puke, tone it down.

bunnyfire, it's a little more serious than "stuff". There are many Republican-connected drug addicted people who get all the understanding and compassion that we* liberals ask for everyone, but that standard somehow doesn't get applied to those who aren't rich and connected.

*yes, yes, speaking for myself.

John McCain's first wife. Some "STUFF" is worse than other "STUFF".

There is no fucking way in hell I'm voting for an archaic dinosaur who can't even decide which party he is in. I don't know a single Vietnam Vet who isn't the tiniest bit unstable, much less one who was a POW.

Huh, Michelle Obama's speech sounded like a bunch of "Me Me Me" to me. I'm sure it's what was needed -- "Meet the Obamas" night -- but I tuned out after the first 10 minutes or so. What was substantive in her speech? (Don't get me wrong, Obama has me excited about voting for a Democrat for the first time since '92, but that speech was just a lot of political blah, blah, blah IMO.)

I literally went to sleep during Pelosi, and never really recovered.

Pelosi was terrible, as much as I like her.

One of us? I know he's one of us b.c. he emails me. (Sometimes, even though I asked him not to, nicely, a long time ago.) I got home after ten and was upstairs on the computer while the end of her speech was on. "Oh, I got an email from Michelle," I said. "Who?" he said. "Never mind," I said. Just like regular folks!

I wonder who the imaginary friend email composing staff is. It makes me giggle to think of that war room.

So, I work with a bunch of guys that will never vote for Obama for various reasons. I'm sure more than one are racist. The lunchrooms at work have teevees that alternate daily between CNN and Fox, and the DNC is all that's on. None of this hoopla is going to convince any of them to vote for him, and they especially were gloating about the statistic of what people thought about her speech.

The funny thing for me, actually being familiar with Obama's ideas about various issues, is correcting these guys' misconceptions about Obama. For example, the biggest thing I get is that he's going to raise our taxes. So, I ask them if they make more than 250,000 a year, and of course they say no. Then I explain that he's proposing not only cutting their income taxes, but also their payroll tax. The answer of course is "he's just saying that because he wants to get elected." Then I ask "what does McCain propose?"
"He's going to cut taxes"
"And, he's not just saying that?"
"No, he's a republican, and they do what they promise."
"Oh, like the first Bush?"

... silence...

I can't wait for November for a lot of reasons, but a huge one is I won't have to listen to the endless crap anymore.