Brain Droppings

Okay, I seriously would have stabbed somebody for floor passes to the Convention. Monday was great... Ted Kennedy and Michelle Obama just absolutely killed it. Last night was even better... Bob Casey, Brian Schweitzer, Mark Warner and Hillary Clinton all hammered it clear out of the park. Wow. They all seriously came out with guns blazing just destroyed it.

Monday was all about setting the table, about introducing Barack and his family to the party and to the nation. Last night was all about uniting the party, defining the differences between McCain and Obama and about showing that the Democratic Party is ready to scrap.

Here are a few choice quotes from last night's festivities...

From Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania:

"John McCain calls himself a maverick, but he votes with George Bush more than 90% of the time...that's not a maverick, that's a sidekick."

From Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer:

"Even leaders in the oil industry know that Senator McCain has it wrong. We simply can't drill our way to energy independence, even if you drilled in all of John McCain's backyards, including the ones he can't even remember."

From former Virginia Governor and soon-to-be Virginia Senator Mark Warner:

"Think about it. After Sept. 11, if there was a call from the president to get us off foreign oil, to stop funding the very terrorists who had just attacked us, every American would have said, 'How can I do my part?' This administration failed to believe in what we can achieve as a nation, when all of us work together. John McCain promises more of the same. A plan that would explode the deficit that will be passed on to our kids. No real plan to invest in our infrastructure. And his plan would continue spending $10 billion a month in Iraq. I don’t know about you, but that’s not just right. That’s four more years that we can’t just afford."

As good as Schweitzer, Casey and Warner all were, and they were, they were all overshadowed of course, by the address given by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. Some believe that unifying the party and that the fate of the Democratic party's fortunes this November rested on her shoulders, rested on her ability to present a sincere and unified front with Obama. And boy, did she ever get it done. She gave an amazing speech that left no doubt that she wants the party to come together, that she wants a Democrat in the White House and that she wants a better future for this country.

Hillary wasted no time, having this to say mere moments into her speech...

"I'm here tonight as a proud mother, as a proud Democrat, as a proud Senator from the state of New York, as a proud American, and as a proud supporter of Barack Obama."

And then she punched the PUMA's square in the mouth...

"I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?"

And then she started kicking McCain's ass while firing another shot across the bow of the PUMA's...

"I haven't spent the past 35 years in the trenches advocating for children, campaigning for universal health care, helping parents balance work and family, and fighting for women's rights at home and around the world... to see another Republican in the White House squander the promise of our country and the hopes of our people.

And you haven't worked so hard over the last 18 months, or endured the last eight years, to suffer through more failed leadership.

No way. No how. No McCain."

Then it was time to kick McCain and Bush's asses...

"It makes a lot of sense that next week John McCain and George Bush will be together in the Twin Cities, because these days they're awfully hard to tell apart."

She gave a magnificent speech and she absolutely electrified the audience. She made it unequivocally clear that she is on board with Obama and that she is working her butt off to help get him elected... that it's vital to this country that he be elected. Hillary challenged those that say they either won't vote or are going to vote for McCain to question their motivation and ask themselves if they think that's really what's in the best interests of the country. (ARE HEARING THAT PUMAS???)

Thank you, Hillary. You were absolute magic last night.

If you haven't seen her address yet, check it out. It's well worth the time...



Looking forward to tonight... Bill Clinton and Joe Biden get their turns!

I swear... the DNC just keeps getting better and better and better. Seriously. The parade of speakers at the convention, Nancy Pelosi and Evan Bayh aside, has pretty much rocked. Absolutely rocked. The momentum and the fervor has been building with each successive night. Tonight was no exception as the energy got ratcheted up even higher and tomorrow night... well... I'm glad that they moved it outside of the Pepsi Center because the roof would absolutely get blown off. Mile High Stadium... 80,000 people... Barack Obama. Buckle up, kids... it's going to rock and rock hard.

Tonight's action started with the long anticipated roll call vote... and it played out pretty much as everybody expected that it would. It was a little bit of manufactured stagecraft, but it was all good. After a few states cast their delegate votes, New Mexico was up and yielded to Illinois who in turn yielded to New York where Senator Hillary Clinton moved that all remaining delegate votes unanimously go to Obama, thus confirming by acclimation, his nomination as the official candidate of the Democratic party. And the place went nuts.

Seriously... I so want to be on that floor so bad. Last night I said that I'd stab somebody to be there... after a little thought, I think I'm going to have to look into becoming a delegate. It's just a little less felonious that way.

Though there was a full slate of speakers at the convention, only two generated massive amounts of buzz... Bill Clinton and Joe Biden. But before I go into them, I just have to mention my guy, Senator John Kerry... the sister-unit simply refers to him as my "political mancrush." I thought Kerry lit it up... at least what I was able to see of it... damn MSNBC for only showing several minutes of his address. What I was able to see though, was Senator Kerry just hammering away at John McCain... literally categorizing the flip-flops coming from the "Straight Talk Express." Senator Kerry listed the positions held by McCain prior to the 2000 Republican primaries and then transposed those against the positions McCain now holds as the Republican nominee for President. He absolutely drilled McCain, fully exposing his flip-flopping and political pandering. And then Senator Kerry broke out this little nugget...

"Before John McCain debates Barack Obama, he needs to finish the debate with John McCain."

So true, so true, so true...

As good as some of the other speakers were, (again, Evan Bayh notwithstanding) the evening belonged to Bill Clinton and Joe Biden. Hands down.

The Big Dog came on stage and received a nearly 4 minute standing ovation so loud and raucous that he wasn't able to begin his address.

Following Hillary's cue from last night, Bill wasted no time in letting everybody know that he was there to unify the party while urging everybody to get behind Obama...

"Hillary told us in no uncertain terms that she’ll do everything she can to elect Barack Obama... That makes two of us... Actually that makes 18 million of us - because, like Hillary, I want all of you who supported her to vote for Barack Obama in November. "

Laying aside the bitterness of the primary campaigns, Bill threw his full weight behind Obama...

"Barack Obama is the man for this job... Barack Obama is ready to be President of the United States"

Bill was on fire tonight and I thought he was in great form. He spoke forcefully and passionately. He made his best case for Obama and took it to McCain and the Republicans...

"Look at the example the Republicans have set: American workers have given us consistently rising productivity. They’ve worked harder and produced more.

What did they get in return? Declining wages, less than 1/4 as many new jobs as in the previous eight years, smaller health care and pension benefits, rising poverty and the biggest increase in income inequality since the 1920s. American families by the millions are struggling with soaring health care costs and declining coverage. I will never forget the parents of children with autism and other severe conditions who told me on the campaign trail that they couldn’t afford health care and couldn’t qualify their kids for Medicaid unless they quit work or got a divorce. Are these the family values the Republicans are so proud of? What about the military families pushed to the breaking point by unprecedented multiple deployments? What about the assault on science and the defense of torture? What about the war on unions and the unlimited favors for the well connected? What about Katrina and cronyism?"

He kicked McCain and the Republicans up and down the street. It was a beautiful thing to behold...

"They actually want us to reward them for the last eight years by giving them four more. Let’s send them a message that will echo from the Rockies all across America: Thanks, but no thanks. In this case, the third time is not the charm."

Well said, Bill. Well said indeed.

Then it came time for Joe Biden's Vice Presidential nominating speech. And he was absolutely nails. After a very moving introduction by his son Beau, Joe took to the stage and showed us all why Obama picked him to be his running mate.

"When I got knocked down by guys bigger than me, she [his mother] sent me back out and demanded that I bloody their nose so I could walk down that street the next day."

He then proceeded to bloody the noses of George W. Bush, John McCain and the Republican party...

I've never seen a time when Washington has watched so many people get knocked down without doing anything to help them get back up. Almost every night, I take the train home to Wilmington, sometimes very late. As I look out the window at the homes we pass, I can almost hear what they're talking about at the kitchen table after they put the kids to bed.

Like millions of Americans, they're asking questions as profound as they are ordinary. Questions they never thought they would have to ask: Should mom move in with us now that dad is gone?

Fifty, sixty, seventy dollars to fill up the car?

Winter's coming. How we gonna pay the heating bills?

Another year and no raise?

Did you hear the company may be cutting our health care?

Now, we owe more on the house than it's worth. How are we going to send the kids to college?

How are we gonna be able to retire?

That's the America that George Bush has left us, and that's the future John McCain will give us. These are not isolated discussions among families down on their luck. These are common stories among middle-class people who worked hard and played by the rules on the promise that their tomorrows would be better than their yesterdays."

Biden spoke eloquently and passionately about his life, about his running mate and about his love of this country. It's abundantly clear that Biden cares about the welfare of the people of this country and wants everybody to have the chance to succeed. He told it like it was. He spoke plainly and from the heart. And he made it crystal clear that he's not about to take any sh*t from John McCain or the crooks in the Republican party. Joe Biden is a scrapper, a brawler and he's the perfect choice for this ticket. He's not afraid to roll up his sleeves and get dirty and he's not above getting a little bloody to win a fight.

I think that tonight was a great night for the Democratic party and a great night for the nation as a whole. The Democratic party is unified, it is strong and it is going to kick the piss out of McCain and the Republicans this November. Believe it.

I can't wait for tomorrow... that is going to be a sight to see...