Sen. Obama's Address: Minute by Minute

10:12 - He emerges with rather generic music. I mean really generic music. Who wrote that stuff? And these people are serious with these standing ovations. They got to President Clinton last night and they continue to drag on here.

10:16 - There's something about Sasha Obama. She sees everything with her youthful eyes and she has no clue about anything going on. She's surprised to hear her name and anyone in her family's name. How long will it take for the media to get too close to her?

10:18 - Could you really imagine that this guy would be the candidate four years ago? Yeah, he made a good speech but geez!

10:20 - It's interesting that Obama mentions New Orleans right here. Due to an impending hurricane, the Republican Party is mulling over postponing their convention. In this reference, Sen. Obama pits the Republicans in a damned if they do/damned if they don't scenario.

10:24 - Even when gone, Phil Gramm is an albatross around Sen. McCain's neck.

10:25 - Sen. Obama does the typical Democratic attack. Respectfully saying his opponent is wrong. He's not saying McCain is completely wrong, just really out of touch. The Democrats could be meaner.

10:26 - "You are on your own." This has been my problem with the Republican Party. While I do believe in the free market, we have to note we're a socialist-capitalist nation. It's a mix people forget.

10:27 - My friend Louis once said "politics is being able to go to the grocery store and take your kids to school." Obama echoes this statement here. America is the small things. It's the people who work everyday. The waitress living on tips, the steel workers, the self-made stories, the hard workers.

10:29 - Sen. Obama's life narrative is crucial to his campaign. While he solidly makes the retort of his elitism here, he needs to ensure this is said more often. He is the rags to riches story. Oliver Stone would have a field day with his biopic.

10:31 - If Obama can state the purpose of government so clearly, and these are ideals that we've always had, is he promoting change or reversion? Or is he saying his actions will reflect his rhetoric. We shall see.

10:33 - "Listen now..." The black vernacular just kicked in.

10:33 - His proclamation on oil had a Kennedyesque tone to it. But while it's good to here, it's no "we choose to go to the moon and do the other things not because they are easy but because they are hard."

10:36 - While Obama is promoting a variation on a new GI Bill it sounds an awful lot like Sen. Jim Webb beat him to it.

10:38 - Wasn't equal pay already legislated?

10:39 - Auditing the federal budget is a task that will certainly take more than his first 100 days in office.

10:40 - Did a Democrat just promote personal responsibility and family values?! Unheard of!

10:41 - "John McCain says he'll follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of Hell, but he won't even follow him to the cave where he lives." Now that is a good line.

10:43 - This is a well written speech with plenty of soundbites. The delivery conveniently packages these soundbites. It's not made for buildup. It's not even made for call and response. But the speechwriters are clearly political minds.

10:46 - Obama is above the fray but he legitimizes being above the fray. What kind of nation is this when we have to legitimize and remind people that it's best to be above the fray? He really just said it's best to not cause dissension in America, but he ironically does this at one of the most partisan gatherings in the nation.

10:48 - For the first time in four days, I'm seeing someone actually pitch for the moderates instead of rallying the party. While Obama spends most the speech doing what is expected of him in the convention, he does what's unexpected here and tries to find a common ground for the other Americans who have differing views about abortion, gun control, immigration, and gay marriage. Good move.

10:50 - And now he's fighting Rovian campaign strategies.

10:52 - Did he just say he's best because he's fresh and actually sort of inexperienced?

10:55 - People were wondering if he'd invoke King. He did. He most certainly did. Funny thing is, he knows people know without him having to say. Obama is a candidate who doesn't always have to say things because he knows the media has said it ten times over.

10:57 - HOLY CRAP, A RETRACTABLE PODIUM! Oh, and what on earth is this song? And where are the balloons? I knew there'd be something wrong with having this speech in a stadium. No balloons, no confetti. Yeah, history was made and the speech was good, but where are the balloons?

10:58 - Nevermind, fireworks are much better than balloons.

10:59 - Ooh, and confetti and streamers. At'll do, pig. At'll do.

Joe Biden Is Articulate And Clean: Why He's The VP That We Need

The DNC kicked off with moving speeches and great efforts toward unity by wonderful speakers. On Monday night, Senator Ted Kennedy stood as an example to remind Democrats what the Party once stood for. Then Michelle Obama delivered a powerful account of her and Barack's very American stories. On the second night, the mantle was upon Hillary Clinton to gather her supporters around the causes that she's been fighting for, through most of her adult life, despite her defeat in the primaries. All of these tasks were critical to the rebuilding and reunification of the Democratic Party but nothing can unite more than a rousing half-time speech by a bulldog coach. Enter: Joe Biden.

Pundits, political operatives, and news outlets had been warning of the Kerry curse in this election and during the convention. Four years ago, while being "swiftboated," Senator and Presidential Hopeful, John Kerry failed to remind his supporters that they were not only voting for him but against the policies of the Bush administration. After eight years of Republican domination, it was a mistake that the Dem's couldn't afford to make again so Biden's task was simple: build up Obama and point out the shortcomings of the Bush administration. Joe Biden was chosen as VP to counter John McCain's "straight-talk express" with what I like to call the "real-talk express." So? While Obama delivers the hope, Biden articulates the rally call of the progressive masses, "John McCain was wrong!"

That night, Biden echoed the sentiments of a war-weary nation in saying, “Our country is less secure and more isolated than at any time in recent history. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has dug us into a very deep hole, with very few friends to help us climb out." He brought the lofty Dem's down to earth with a simple bit of wisdom that his mother gave to him as a boy. After being beat-up, she said, "bloody the other guy's nose so you can walk down the street again." That was the message that the Democrats needed going into a general election. We can be positive and stick to the issues but politics is a full contact sport.

Months ago, joe Biden came under fire for referring to Barack Obama as "articulate" and "clean." In his brash and bumbling way, it was a compliment. After seeing his performance tonight on behalf of Obama, I will return the favor. Joe Biden, you are one articulate dude and that suit was clean!

Anthony Harris's Minute By Minute Account of Former President Clinton's Address

Feel free to read over this while watching this over MSNBC.



9:00 - 9:05 - President Clinton found the standing ovation cute until he found it to be annoying. Yet another reason why this is a pep rally.

9:06 - It is almost inevitable for Pres. Clinton to go deep into this speech without giving credit to his wife. Yes, Hilary didn't win. Yes, we all know this. Yes, we have to note the elephant in the room. But moving on...

9:08 - I have a job to do as head cheerleader who isn't running for an office. Get in line behind Sen. Obama.
The brief invocation of Pres. Jimmy Carter is a small shout out to the South which could possibly be in play.

9:09 - The litany of problems leading to the rote line of the week: Obama is suitable for the presidency. All the while, Pres. Clinton's statements fly directly in the face of comments he made during the primary season.

9:14 - Stating that he is involved in the fight against AIDS seems to remind America that he is still involved in global issues. Juxtaposing this task with Sen. Obama's eventual presidency says the two will work in tandem, which is a good statement to make.

9:15 - "...economically beneficial ways to fight global warning" - It sounds like oil lobbyists still get to him, even out of office.

9:17 - While it is true that we are in a serious recession, take note that there was also a recession at the end of the Clinton presidency as well. Although, the 2008 recession puts America in a worse predicament than in 2001.

9:19 - "Yes, he can, but first we have to elect him." Who was the staffer who wrote that "off handed" comment. I feel like he was saving that one up. Just waiting to spring it.

9:21 - I heard numbers, real numbers that not only attack Sen. McCain but also attack Republican policies with a real argument. Without actual balance in the government, a one sided view of America could bring its detriment.

9:22 - "In this case, the third time is not the charm." Someone thought that line was cute. That person was wrong.

9:23 - President Clinton brings up a point. People called him too young to lead the nation. President Bush was too inexperienced to lead the nation. Sen. Obama is hearing the same claims. We've been having a lot of young presidents. It's campaigning in the advent of television. It started at Kennedy and moved on from there. It's waxed and waned, but it also hit a spike when Ted Turner took the task of giving the news to the world.

9:25 - And the speech concludes with U2's "Beautiful Day". What's the deal with this song? Sure, I liked it when it first came out. I liked it back in 2001. I liked it for the occasional event. It's good at a football game. You could throw it in a movie here and there. The video was good. But for crying out loud, someone come up with a new song. Even Bono is probably sick of it by now. The Edge would have said something by now but he only talks once every ten years or so. He's probably going silently insane. Listen, Barack Obama is black. Let's use another song. Break out some Stevie Wonder. Seriously, give me a new song to drive me crazy for every campaign event for ten years.

That's a full lid folks.

Why I Wasn't Watching the DNC Until Now

In all honesty, I haven't been watching the Democratic National Convention. I really haven't been following the race as closely as I should have. I'm here right now out of peer pressure if anything.

I recall an episode of Aaron Sorkin's brilliant series, The West Wing, in which Communications Director Toby Ziegler is meeting with the various network heads. They're all meeting with him to tell him they are significantly paring back their coverage to just one hour out of all four days. They would show the candidates speech and the balloons (people like balloons). I'm like those network heads.

While I like to think of myself as an informed person, I could be doing significantly better. I could be reading more front page stories from various periodicals of the day. I could spend more time watching CNN. I could even be watching The Daily Show more often than I do. I'm a mix between those clueless masses and those truly tuned in, many of those who blog along with me here with more care and knowledge about the issues.

But even though I wish I were more informed, I still don't think it would make that big of a difference in relation to the Democratic National Convention. The DNC is a pep rally. It is four days of energizing the base. It's four days of bashing the opponent. It's four days spending money and partying hard. And it's four days in which everyone tries to find a new way to cover the same thing.

The DNC doesn't talk about policy in a way that motivates undecideds. It doesn't speak all that substantively about any issues in general. It's a cavalcade of who's who in the party with the 24 hour networks talking over them. Frankly, I have a short attention span and hearing different faces say the same thing just isn't all that interesting to me.

So yes, I'll read the occasional story online. Yes, I'll go back and watch the YouTube clips of the major speeches. Yes, I'll watch Sens. Obama and Biden make their speeches. Yes, I'll watch the balloons (people like balloons). But I won't hear people say what I've heard all year long. I don't care if I agree with most of what they have to say. When you hear things ad nauseum, you tend to lose a taste for things.

America is action, not rhetoric. America is what happens in November when the people pick the next President of the United States. America is what happens in January when we install that man in office (hopefully with a gigantic music festival which current Opinions Editor Alexander Brown and I call "Obama City Limits" or "Obamella" or "Obamapalooza"). America is that man following through with the promise to make this a better nation. But it's not me wasting more electricity leaving my television on to hear everyone talk so much.