>If I wasn't the anal retentive detail oriented research fact finding crazy loon that I am, I would have rushed out to vote for her myself after that speech :o)
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>Now, to me, that represents a speech with the power to influence...

Perhaps, but if McCain chooses Hutchison, it'll be irrelevant.

>>Hillary's role wasn't to convince you or the undecideds to vote for Obama, it was to smooth over her own voters. That's why she delved into her own reasons for running and what it meant to women historically. She took minor jabs at McCain, self-deprecated a bit and offered her full backing of Obama in order to come across as gracious. The build-up was that she is angry, spiteful and not fully backing Obama. This speech proved a perfect prime-time counter to that image. That was her role and I thought she gave the best speech she could. Her speaking talents are, to be kind, lacking, however, in her given role she delivered.
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>>President Clinton's role was to make the transition from Hillary to Obama and make the Democratic case along the way. His speech accomplished this and at the same time reminded everyone what a gifted politician can do in front of the tv. He was complementary of his wife, deferential to McCain's service, supportive of Obama and Biden and he put forth the Democratic party platform. In my opinion his style was a bit constrained, either by the rigidity of the speech, his hard feelings or merely because, his role dictated that he not upstage the nominee as Obama did to Kerry.
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>>Biden's job was to complete the transition from Clinton to Obama. He began by providing a glimpse at himself, moved onto a glimpse at America and provided a launching point for Obama tonight. His job was to introduce himself to a great deal of the electorate without overstepping the candidate and in few words. Obama's "surprise" appearance capped off the transition and leads perfectly into his acceptance tonight. I again thought Biden performed his role well but that's mainly because I've seen the man speak too many times and brevity is a challenge.
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>>Tonight is the big one and really the only one that matters to most of the nation. I'll give Obama this, he's taking a big risk and with big risks come big rewards. Having already seen pictures of the set it will be interesting to see how it comes off on tv. I'm certain the speech will be delivered expertly. The trouble comes from the substance, and memorability given the timing. The McCain camp has already indicated that they'll announce his vp choice over a 3-day roll out this weekend. Now they're hinting that the announcement will come today around 3pm. My gut instinct tells me that this is a feint to draw some attention away from Denver and that the actual announcement will be tomorrow. Whether today or tomorrow, that will be the latest news going into the weekend and that's what Obama's speech tonight must overcome. If McCain announces Lieberman or Hutchison Obama will have to have given an extraordinary performance to gain traction in the news cycle. If McCain picks
>>Romney or Pawlenty the collective yawn will be much easier to overcome.
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