She definitely delivered.

By hitting hard on McCain and for Obama, she's impressing a lot of Obama Dems who had lost faith in her.
Definitely a grand slam.
who said it first?
Greg or Keith Olbermann?

Awesome. Just awesome. Anyone who tries to take it down is a goddamn lunatic.

I eagerly await the McCain camp to tell us that she didn't really mean it.

She did exactly what she needed to do and delivered it with passion and convition. Hopefully this'll go a long way with her supporters. I also really enjoyed the feminist angle that she added to the convention...very nice.

apologies, all: comments were temporarily disabled. have at it

Very powerful speech.

I actually like my Junior Senator now. Wow.

The best line of the night

No way. No how. No McCain.

Hillary is my new hero! After this, if there are still people some of her supporters who can't turn then we'll know what the real reason is for hating Obama : are you thinking what I'm thinking?

Rock on Hillary, all is forgiven, and I want you on our team!

Hillary was powerful tonight.

If there are anymore undecided or pro-McCain PUMA's left after hearing Hillary's speech tonight, then they've always been closet-republicans and shame on them.

Hillary the Hammer

Media suckered again and Bill will not disappoint either

From the pointed criticisms of McCain and the tributes to Bill Gwatney and Stephanie Tubbs Jones to the unequivocal statements of support for Obama and especially the direct appeal to her supporters, it just couldn't have been a better speech.

Thank you, Senator Clinton.

Very powerful. However, my friend here in Italy where we watched the second day of the convention (until 5:30 a.m.), pointed out that it would have been more powerful still if Hillary had specifically released her delegates to vote for Obama in the vote tomorrow. I wonder if Hillary would have been capable of that. I do wish she had gone the extra step.

I can't wait to hear the PUMAs spinning their explanations after this. She just made them eat all of their lame-ass excuses.

Most definitely a grand slam.

She rocked. That puts the end to the PUMA movement. What are they going to say?

Well, let's just elect Hillary as the God of the Democrats, shall we?

As someone said above, she did not release her delegates to vote for Obama. She did not refute her inexperience claim that McCain is running in a damned ad. She did not say she changed her mind or thought Obama had really grown in the campaign and now was experienced enough for our former First Lady.

You have to have been an adult when the Clintons went to WDC to know how they squeeze meaning in every word and where omissions are sometimes very important.

Hillary delivered enough to get rid of the PUMAS. But her real belief is that Obama will lose in November. The Clintons are preserving their power in the party for 2012. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind about this.

PUMA's are saying - see how brilliant she was? What's four years of McCain if it means we get Hillary in 2012.

Everybody likes Hillary now, so she is off the hook if Obama loses. Which means she'd win in 2012...

she did very well, and sounded really pumped up. if i have one criticism it's that as an obama supporter i wish she'd vouch a little bit for barack obama the person, his character and abilities. so many of her holdouts have a very visceral hatred of sen. obama, they're bitter about the primary and they think he's some horribly unqualified guy that cheated & stole it from her, there was nothing countering that bogeyman image of obama. this was the biggest audience she's going to have to make that case, and it seemed to still be on the level of support the democrat. maybe her supporters weren't ready to hear that kind of pitch yet, but i feel like that's still going to be needed at some point.

As I have noted on the cafe, her entire campaign leading up to tonight was a feint, intended to ensure her election in 2016. All you Obamanauts who accused her of seeking to sabotage his chances to pave the way for her election in 2012 have been fooled again. After two successful Obama terms, her job will be that much easier. She did it all for herself, of course. It's part of the Clinton Master Plan for World Domination we've heard so much about.

Campbell Brown is married to Dan Senor, a former Bush flack. But sure, have her on to tell us about Hillary. Gotta love the media.

What a much needed shot in the arm for this convention, this party and this campaign. Let's face it ... we've been sleepwalking for weeks.

I'm an Obama volunteer, supporter and financial donator from the primary, but the bottomline is Hillary is an incredible asset to this party. Let's not kid ourselves here ... This is going to be another 51-49 election, and Obama is not going to cakewalk his way to the Oval Office just on his "awesomeness" like some of my more naive brethren believe. We're going to need every vote, and Hillary has 18 million of them. We're going to need grit and determination, and Hillary has it in spades. And if Obama wins the office, he's going to need a leader in the Senate, and Hillary has earned the right with her 18 million votes to be the head honcho.

I'm off to her website to see if she's still accepting donations to pare down her campaign debt.

I've always thought Hillary and Obama would (and probably do) get along just fine. Bill is, has been, and always will be, the problem.

Here's my fondest hope - Bill will have the honor and decency not to piss all over his wife's gracious performance, and rise to the occasion tomorrow for Obama. He won't mean it (I believe Hillary did), but he can do it for her.

Hillary Clinton finished the restoration of her status within the party tonight. If there was any self-interest component, that was it (not 2012). You probably saw her become the next Senate Majority Leader tonight (if she wants it).

I'm calling this a Rainmaker. I just donated my first $25 to Hillary to show my appreciation for tonight's demonstration of unity, and to encourage her to keep this up until November.

Anybody with me?

Great stuff. We've got all the energy and drama. The Republicans have McCain and Romney.

I bet we got a huge audience tonight.

Dana Milbank makes a fool of himself.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/26/AR2008082603459.html?hpid=topnews

That's the candidate I've always known and supported this entire campaign. I'm proud to be carrying on the fight to elect President Obama in November.

PS I am bookmarking this thread for future reference :o)

Obama/Biden 2008 & 2012 HRC/Schweitzer 2016

Hillary's speech was great, and very supportive of Obama. Bill's speech tomorrow will be too. Anyone who expected anything different has watching too much cable news.

Hillary's speech was great, and very supportive of Obama. Bill's speech tomorrow will be too. Anyone who expected anything different has been watching too much cable news.

An amazing speech. Easily the best speech I've ever seen her give. She did everything she needed to do and more.

I got the sense that she was almost relieved to give this speech. I wonder if this "catharsis" she's been talking about lately wasn't more about her than about her supporters. Tonight seemed like a catharsis for Hillary. Did Bill want Hillary to be president more than Hillary wanted Hillary to be president? Just a thought...

Hillary's speech was excellent. She is gifted at speech giving. I admit to being a little nervous about what she would say, but she came through with flying colors.

I know I'm new here, but what is up with the obsession with right wing TV? I have never watched Fox and never will. I don't know anyone who does. Why does the blogosphere give so much attention to them? They have fake wrestling on TV as well, but not many actually watch it. You guys seem to confirm their importance by constantly quoting them and linking to video. Who gives a rip what Faux Snooz says or does?

Wonderful speech. Amazing. Masterful. Moving.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was on point tonight to say the least. If her energizing and inspiring speech doesn't sway her supporters to unite as one party behind Barack Obama nothing will.

She so graciously thanked the thousands upon thousands of people who supported her calling some of them the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pansuits"; acknowledging how far we've come as a country in the 88 years since the 19th amendment was passed giving women in this country the right to vote. She drove that point home by saying her mother was born before women were granted the right to vote yet her daughter, Chelsea was able TO VOTE for her MOTHER as President of the United States!

The crowd went wild when Hillary spoke of the similarities between McCain and Bush saying that the two of them being in the Twin Cities together next week was pretty par for the course since they're looking more and more like twins everyday.

It was relatively late in her speech that she drove home how much this election isn't about her, Obama, McCain or any one person. It's about us as a nation. The questions (which was aimed at her diehard supporters) was "Were you in the campaign for me?" Or was it for the young marine caring for his family, the parents that worked day and night, the millions of Americans with no healthcare. "These among many others were the reasons I ran for President and the same reasons I support Senator Obama. We're on the same team" the Senator said.

In closing Senator Clinton urged the Democratic Party to "KEEP GOING". Reciting words spoken by the great abolitionist Harriet Tubman - If you hear the dogs, keep going! If you see the torches, keep going! If you hear the shouts, keep going! IF YOU WANT TO TASTE FREEDOM,.....KEEP GOING!!!!

Great speech but, but, but...

She didn't rend her clothes and cut her hair.

Sigh.

I heard Bill Nichols, managing editor of Politico.com, tell all DC news radio WTOP that Hillary gave only a "perfunctory" performance -- a "bare minimum of support for Obama." She "did what she had to do, but she barely did what she had to do." He said Hillary spoke primarily to her supporters, and the Obama campaign probably was okay with this speech, but it wasn't the "unifying moment they'd hoped it would be."

He said the Obama campaign was "realistic" about this speech and that she "did do enough that they'll be able to move on from this."

Listen here:
http://wtop.com/emedia/130431.mp3

The media is trying to stir it up again...

And by the way, does anybody out there who thought they were seriously screwing up by giving the keynote to Kaine see a little method in that madness now?

Hillary couldn't be the keynote because it simply wouldn't have been appropriate. The keynote's job is totally different from the one she had to do tonight. On the other hand, a keynote had to be given and you sure didn't want anyone who'd upstage her, or even seriously compete with her. On the other, other hand it was essential to have a thoroughly solid, completely adequate, but not electrifying, speech (and not a near-career ending disaster like Bill's in '88). Kaine filled that role perfectly. I don't think it was an accident.

Well, you guys are right, know thy enemies, I guess. It just sickens me to give them any cred.

Thanks for the handle compliment, Caracala. One of my all time favorite movies.

So, after Hill's moving speech (I knew she would do it) let's get through Bill's, then it's go time. I am not young, but this is the first time I have ever followed the election so closely. I truly feel it is a matter of life or death at this point, or at least preventing more death by wars and our own citizens dying through lack of health care. I am so glad I discovered these blogs. It was lonely there for a long time!

I've been here a little while and if THIS crowd like Clinton's speech...

Superb convention floor routine...AND she stuck the landing.

Maddow said it best. Hillary can fully support Obama to so she is a team sport but the reason she put COUNTRY first before her own ambitions was by GUTTING John McCain and drawing the line between the two campaigns. It was unbelievable and I think so much more of Hillary Clinton today than I did just a few hours earlier.

Thank goodness for CSPAN. Not a single talking head. You only see (and hear) the convention, from the best seat in the house. Do yourself a favor and avoid CNN/MSNBC.

Hillary's job was to get her 18 million voters on board, and get their heads straight that what's at stake here goes way beyond petty hurt feelings. She did her job.

It's Obama's job to make the case to undecideds why he should be President.

I can't resist MSNBC when Olbermann and Maddow is on.
It seems like there is a nice flow to the convention, and tomorrow night is about commander-in-chief. Hopefully it will be said that McCain is too war happy to be president.

If Barrack loses, will Hillary run in 2012 and could Obama also try to run again???

Kristol's comments about the lack of commander-in-chief talk by Hillary is doubly stupid because that's the exact theme for tomorrow night, when Bill speaks (who I hear wrote the entire speech himself, for better or worse).

"I think 'grand slam' is taking things a little far, don't you? Do you have lotion and a box of tissues with you, Greg?"

Ha! Straight up. Maybe Grand Slam is reasonable, but "by any measure"? She vaguely even knows what it would mean to fully endorse another person for anything, much less executing it. To those who say what more could we ask for, we just live in different worlds. One party, two worlds. Could be a tough autumn.

A thought about the Hillary supporters in Denver and their seeming conversion (chanting Obama, etc. behind the MSNBC set). Are we seriously to believe that since she said what she said and not something else, they were persuaded and came on board? That they might not have been if the speech hadn't been so wonderful by their lights? This just looks like a big attention stunt on the part of these people, the media focusing on them, and by extension, as always, on the Clintons and Hillary especially. I don't buy it -- it just looks like a lame pro forma complainathon to me. And beyond that, if they're not ostensibly converted, they're dissing their own diva since that was the task she and the party and the media set for her. Just a bunch of pomp and self-inflation for someone who isn't getting nominated for anything. That's my take.

I think Kristol is playing the tool and extracting the story he wanted out of it. It's easy to do if you're case is made entirely from "stats". With 30 minutes worth of data, you could pretty much tell any story you want. Tool or otherwise, I noticed the same trend throughout the speech. I think it would be hard to argue that the speech wasn't more "pro Democrat" or "pro Democratic values" than it was "pro Obama".

Thing is, "pro Democratic values" was the smart move if her goal was to rally that elusive 30% of her supporters who have yet to fall in line. They are obviously not about to be swayed by a series of kind descriptions of Obama - they've heard them all before, frequently from her lips. Instead, she presented the case for Obama as gut based reality check when considering action or inaction on election day. I'm going with extremely thoughtful and extremely well executed. She just turned out the vote.

Ending with "God Speed" was about as clear of a suggestion of "Get to work right now and get this man elected" as it could be.

No, THAT's nice. Ha!

right there... for all his faults, bill clinton is exquisite in deliverying his message...

Anyone watch Larry King tonight? After the convention they had a number of Republicans doing analysis (it was kind of sad) and one PUMA member talking about why she's not voting for Obama. She founded one of the groups I believe. Something about heels or shoes or something in the name.

The PUMA woman was, well a little weird. She seemed to really be put off by the fact that she had been called names in the "blogosphere" (man I hate that word). I guess I can understand that. The fervent Clinton supporters turned me off to Clinton with their constant bashing of Obama, so the reverse isn't hard to imagine. Still I'm not sure any of the people running these blogs or commenting that upset her actually working for the campaign in any official capacity.

What was weird about it though was that she seemed to want a personal invitation to vote for Obama. At one point she mentioned what hotel she was staying at as a kind of invitation for an official party member to stop by (or Obama himself for all I know) and personally ask her to vote for him. I found this to be pretty outrageous. I mean, I guess if you live in a small town and the Mayor is being elected, you might want him to stop by for a chat, but a candidate for President?

I'm not able to see Hilary's speech until someone posts it ... no fun reading highlights.

Anyway, Washingington Independent has an article about McCain's Ayer's ad ...

The filmmakers behind the 2002 documentary “The Weather Underground” have sent a “cease and desist” letter to the American Issues Project, which they say illegally used copyrighted footage from the film in its ad tying Sen. Barack Obama to former Weatherman Bill Ayers

Coupled with issues concerning Frankie Valli’s record label and “Wayne’s World”-creator Mike Myers, Obama should be painting McCain as acting like Bu$h ... his actions are above the law.

Ok, I watched the speech with an older parent in her late sixties. After about 3/4 of the speech, she got up and left to go to bed. I asked her why she was leaving without it finishing and her response is "Hillary made the case and Obama has her vote and full support."

She later came out to ask how the post response was and agreed with James Carville who said Republicans are not happy tonight. In her opinion, when you compare the speech to that of Reagon for Ford, Kennedy for carter, or even Buchanan for Bush, the Hillary speech is a clear full fledged endorsement.

You can watch gavel to gavel coverage of the convention on CSPAN on cable with no babble, no commercials, no mindless interruptions and no crawl. Unless I were paid a huge amount of money to critique CNN, etc I will not watch them. I saw some good speeches by people we never hear about, such as Amy Kloubacher, Dem Sen from MN, all of the basic human beings who are giving short speeches, Gov Schweitzer - all of this with no interruptions. It was very moving, and the music has been good also (most of the time).

I was slightly disappointed, to be honest. I will allow that the way she did it might work better for the purpose of unifying the party, but that is for time to tell.

She did do an excellent job on the speech she made rather than the one I wished she had. By no means was it bad either, so I cannot gripe much.

B+.

I think what I wanted her to say was som