See, this is how you do a convention. During the off-hours, when only your base is watching, you heap the red meat from the stage (Barbara Lee of California, SEIU, NARAL, Pelosi, Reid, Ted K tribute, gay congressman, strong suggestions that Romney is unpatriotic). As people start watching on cable in prime time, you go more for the swing voter's hearts and minds (double-amputee Duckworth, former GOPer Chafee, woman saying repeal of ObamaCare will kill her daughter, POTUS/FLOTUS siblings, Ledbetter). Then you have your best speaker fire up the crowd (Deval Patrick) before the full audience tunes in on the broadcast-TV hour, at which point you send out really inoffensive, broadly likable superstars (the disappointing Martin O'Malley, 100-watt-smile keynoter Julian Castro, and FLOTUS herself).
Yes, there was no more than the Republicans had in Tampa about how to actually improve the economy, but that's not nearly as noticable when you've got really good speakers letting it rip.
I would also argue that the Democrats were much, much crueler to Romney than the RNC speakers were to Obama. Sure, the RNC speakers repeatedly called him an anti-capitalist, occasionally seemed to be questioning his love of country, and told a lot of fibs about his record. But it was very rarely personal, and generally limited to reasonably legitimate complaints that as President he hasn't done a good enough job getting the economy moving.
Yesterday's speakers were much harsher, and more personal -- although again, done so well and mixed in with other strong rhetoric that it often didn't seem cruel. But there were several pretty direct suggestions that Romney is unpatriotic for having money in overseas accounts, and other pretty personal attacks.
The best, though, was the Michelle Obama speech, which never came close to mentioning Romney, but very clearly and effectively repudiated his entire life by implication.
But I especially enjoyed the military mother who introduced her. The one with five sons. Like someone else we know. But her sons are serving the country through military service. What a good parent she is, to have boys who devote themselves to country and service! Why, it almost makes me think that someone would have to be a very bad parent if they had five sons and none of them went into the military. Right, Willard M?
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