"Convention"al Wisdom

The 2008 Democratic National Convention was not a hit. It was a punch. It wasn't a tap. It was a bitch-slap. It didn't start out as such.

At midpoint, I was very nervous for the Democrats, who seemed to have such an advantage going in to this year but were actually losing going into Denver. Obama was letting McCain walk all over him at every turn. Ad after ad after ad blasted Obama for his lack of experience, this celebrity following and, yes, even his patriotism. Obama was not fighting back and McCain was rising in the polls. The Democrats needed firepower and now!

Nothing was strong. The first day, neither W. nor McCain were mentioned in prime time. Michelle talked extensively in her keynote about Barack as a boyfriend, husband and father and little else. Hillary's speech was pedestrian at best. She did what she needed to do to keep the blame off her and Bill's legacy should Barack lose. She made a few good points, but alas, it was not the greatest of speeches. Bill's was the same way. Joe Biden, Barack's Veep, had a well written speech, but poorly executed. Nothing seemed to be working in Obama's favor. The only surrogate which seemed to get the memo of exactly what to do was John Kerry. If Kerry had spoken at his convention the way he did this year, this would have been a gathering about re-nominating him.

Cue Obama.

At every turn, Obama had been playing the nice guy. The good guy. The guy who refused to go after and define his opponent, instead letting his opponent define him. At every turn Obama was getting slapped in the face with a proverbial flounder and McCain was enjoying it.

McCain was also hitting Obama on the spectacle of the convention venue, calling it "a Greek temple" and tried to add another question mark over Obama's skull by cynically asking whether or not he was delivering his speech in a toga.

The set was a bit Broadway, even for politics and the confetti cannons and fireworks seemed to be more a center-piece than accented flare. This may come back to hurt Obama.

He walked up to the podium and gave the speech of his life. It had what the other speeches lacked: substance. It lacked what his other speeches had an abundance of: poetry.

It also decked McCain in the one-hundred-point spot! He held fast to his plan, he stayed on message, and he brought up his weaknesses - or the ones the Republican machine will try to create - before they could which fizzles their attacks. Smart move.

The speech, though not perfect, was exactly what the convention needed. Either by accident or by perfect planning, the convention was a lot like the month of March: in like a lamb; out like a lion.

Here is an excerpt of Obama's acceptence speech at the Democratic National Convention: