The Convention: Night One

Last night was the opening night of the Convention, and for what it was supposed to be, it seemed to come off quite well. There were no really big stars, no particularly relevant players (Nancy Pelosi spoke, but it isn't as if Obama has been cozying up to her; there's a reason she got stuck early on Monday evening). The main goal of the evening seemed to be making Michelle Obama seem less like a combination of Stokely Carmichael and the alien from Predator, and more like...well...Cindy McCain.

Forgetting for a moment that Michelle Obama has never come off as threatening or un-American other than in GOP attacks, she succeeded admirably in her goal. The introduction by her brother was authentic and heartfelt, and the mini-documentary narrated by her mother did a good job of expanding on the idea that both Barack and Michelle came from largely humble backgrounds, very much like Joe Biden and unlike either John or Cindy McCain.

Michelle's speech was expertly delivered; she's nearly as good at this as he is. She came off as warm, charming, confident, and intelligent, the very qualities a First Lady is expected to project. After the speech, when her kids joined her on-stage to say goodnight to their father via live feed from Missouri, the shades of Jack Kennedy were hard not to notice. The family looked undeniably happy, young, vibrant, and American. Last night will definitely make them harder to smear.

Sen. Ted Kennedy, following a tribute to his life and career, made a symbolic "passing the torch" type speech that seemed to me at least merely to hew to expectations. Nancy Pelosi, as always, was droning and uninspiring. I do not deny that she and Harry Reid are expert legislators (no wait, I do deny that), but they make for lousy party leaders. As she walked off stage, the only thing I could think about was how glad I am that she won't be the face of the Democratic Leadership for too much longer.

Of course, not everyone agrees with me. James Carville was unhappy that the Democrats used airtime to do anything other than ridicule McCain, while David Brooks was unhappy that there was any ridiculing done, believing instead that the Democrats should have spent the evening talking about what a "good man" John McCain is. William Kristol, shockingly, was unimpressed.

Tonight ought to be some fun. It's night one of the Clinton Spectacle, starring Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, fresh off his not-unifying media-bashing yesterday, and finally, the vanquished Sen. Hillary Clinton. The Obama people have tried to take the spotlight off her performance by scheduling Kathleen Sebelius, Deval Patrick, and Keynote Speaker Mark Warner the same evening. Yeah, I bet that works out well for them.

I guess we're about to find out.