Last night, I hunkered down with twitter, ignored the dirty dishes, and went into full geeky mode. I love my Twitter friends during these things. It's like political Mystery Science Theater 2000. 

Clinton's speech last night was a grand slam. I'm not quite sure how Obama's going to top it. He went off the teleprompter to give a 48 minute speech full of geeky policy goodness. He rebutted every claim that came up at the RNC. He resurrected the enthusiasm for Obama that has been tepid up until now. He addressed the moderates, who felt alienated by some of the other speakers at the convention. It was good politics. It was good entertainment. 

The Democrats have been amazingly on message during this convention. Are you better off than you were four years ago? Yes, they said over and over. I almost believe it. I'm not sure how much blame or credit for the economy should go to presidents. Forces beyond their control shape the economy, though they can tinker around the edges to make things better or worse. They can lay the groundwork for long term changes and can support groups that are the big losers in a bad economy. But politics doesn't work in these subtleties. 

These conventions often end up being Star Searches for the next election. During the RNC, I saw a few people that were clearly laying the groundwork for themselves. The DNC has been notable for its few entrepreneurial moments. We haven't seen a Christie yet. Perhaps Clinton was setting up Hillary for 2016, but I kind of believe her when she says that she's not interested in another election. Her hair looks tired of politics. 

Did Clinton's speech change anyone's mind. I don't think so. I've been skimming the conservative blogs for the past hour and they found lots of faults in Clinton. They focus on the Democratic platform use of the word "God" and their views on Jerusalem. I also don't think that there are any undecided voters left in America. They are only people who are undecided about bothering to vote.

I suppose that's not unusual. People stick with their parties from birth to grave, barring one of those rare party realignments. That's not going to happen this year, which means that November is going to be a close race regardless of the homeruns coming out of North Carolina this week. 

UPDATE: Here's Bill's speech marked up to show all the ad-libbing. I could not do that.