A hard act to follow

The 2008 Democratic Convention is history. Literally.

For the first time, a black man has been nominated to be his party's candidate for President of the United States. That's some big history.

Like all conventions, it had it's highs and lows. Some of the best speeches and best moments weren't even covered on cable or major networks, since all of them seemed intent on letting us hear them gab endlessly or else interview one partisan, and entirely predictable, Democrat after another.

But one thing's for certain; the Republicans are going to have one hell of a time trying to come close to this with their effort.

Obama appearing before a jam-packed 80,000 plus crowd in a stadium, with thousands more who couldn't fit in standing outside vs. McCain, who reportedly was struggling mightily to fill a 10,000 seat theatre where he expects to announce his VP pick, including the campaign having to resort to busing in people simply to avoid an embarrassingly sparse audience.

I may write a fuller review later, but for now, here's a spot for you to share your views of it, how effective you thought it was, and reviews of the whole show, how the stagecraft aspect was carried out, who you thought did particularly well, and why, or who you thought stunk up the joint.

Overall, I thought it was an awe inspiring production, unlike any before it, and was very well, with several exceptions.

What did you think? Did Hillary do enough? Did the Clintons effectively put to rest any doubt that they're entirely supportive of Obama? Or were they only doing what they had to do?

I know one thing. The country is fired up and ready to go.

Some memorable phrases:

Teddy Kennedy's, "The work begins anew, the hope rises again. And the dream lives on."

McCain isn't a "maverick". He's more of Bush's sidekick. - Bob Casey

Before McCain debates Obama, he should finish the debate with himself. - John Kerry after noting McCain's incredible list of flip-flops.

Hillary's quip about how it's appropriate that McCain and Bush are appearing in the Twin Cities this week, since it's so hard to tell them apart. And her "No way, no how, no McCain", which I think is a bit weak, but......

Bill Clinton's "Thanks, but no thanks." and what I thought was one of the best lines of then entire convention, his saying, "People around the world are more impressed by the power of our example rather than the example of our power."

There are many more. Feel free to add any I've omitted.

I hope to also link to full texts of some of the best speeches.

The convention was inspiring and moving, even beyond the speeches and partisan rhetoric. Just seeing the incredibly diverse crowd, and so many African-Americans fully engaged and hopeful, and witnessing how powerfully so many feel about this historic campaign, just how desperately they want this era of Republican selfish and foolish rule to end and to get some relief, how badly they want their country back, that so many were in tears, men and women alike, just at the fact that it was finally reality, that Obama was actually the nominee.

I think the country will now witness a election effort like none ever before in history. Within literally minutes tonight, the campaign had received over 30,000 responses to a text message invitation for people to volunteer to work on the campaign. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

As the Governor of Montana, Brian Schweitzer, said after his rousing speech, "That's it baby! Let's go win this election!"

P.S. During coverage of the convention, I actually saw not one, but TWO people from the Quad Cities during cut-away shots from the podium, one at the Pepsi Center, and one at Mile High stadium. What are the odds?