Understandably, given the enormous hurricane about to hit the Gulf coast, the Republicans made the right move -- both substantively and politically -- to call off Monday's night's proceedings. The truth is the party will gain more from appearing to be above politics at this time of crisis.

In fact, though no one planned it this way, the week could turn out even better politically for the GOP than planned.

Two days ago we asked if Barack Obama's acceptance speech had legs, as we expressed skepticism that the speech was nearly as good as the critical reaction. The immediate answer to our question is, apparently not. The tracking polls moved during the convention a bit, but not after "the speech." It may be that the reaction to the Sarah Palin choice took the wind out of the Democrats' momentum.

To say that John McCain has thrown the dice by picking an untested unknown is an understatement. Which raises the question: Even if Sarah Palin does well, does this cause some voters to consider him a bit of a loose cannon? There can be a fine line between being a maverick and being a bit of a nut and with this choice, McCain runs a risk of coming very close to the line.

Good news for the Obama campaign: Last night's speech attracted an audience of 38 million -- more than 50% higher than the number who watched John Kerry four years ago. As we noted earlier, it wasn't his best speech of the campaign and it wasn't even the best speech of the convention. But it was decent enough that it had to impress some of those new viewers.

The early stories are indicating that John McCain may have selected Sarah Palin, the first-term governor of Alaska, to be his running mate. If true, McCain has made a very bold choice -- with both high upsides and downsides. As a woman with terrific appeal to working class voters, she adds excitement and transformative appeal to the McCain candidacy.

The introductory movie was great. The speech? Wonderful setting, it turned out, like a terrific rock concert. But was it too workmanlike? Obama tried to tie his life to the lives of ordinary Americans but the speech surprisingly lacked poetry, great lines, or a compelling narrative. There was no "New Frontier," "Rendezvous with Destiny," or even "I Still Believe in A Place Called Hope."

Other than the glitch noted below, the Dems have done a very good job of setting the table for Barack Obama's speech tonight. Wednesday night worked particularly well -- with Bill Clinton, John Kerry, and Joe Biden making the case for the Democrats.

Now Obama in his speech has to show that he's up to the job and understands the country. It will be one of the campaign's defining moments.

This has been a convention successfully choreographed down to the last second. That includes the music: When Michelle Obama had finished Monday night the band played "Isn't She Lovely." Last night, at the end, it was "We are Family."

So, how high up in the Obama campaign did the order come to play "Addicted to Love" at the end of Bill Clinton's speech last night? It looked at first glance Wednesday as if the Clintons and Obama were headed to a useful truce.

Regular readers of this blog know that we welcome "guest hosts" to offer their thoughts. Please feel free to submit to the host (me!) at any time.

Here are Matthew Sawh's thoughts on the first night of the convention:

The First Night: What Pundits Missed

Convention analysts all over the television and internet have been quick to criticize the relatively tame proceedings of the first night.

A hallmark of American coverage of the Olympics is the way it takes the viewer "up close and personal" -- involving the audience in the personal lives and struggles of the athletes. In its portrayal of the Obamas, the first night of the Democratic convention took a similar approach -- fitting in seamlessly with what audiences had been watching on NBC for the last two weeks.

Now that Barack Obama has made a conventional choice for vice president, it leaves the door open for John McCain to do something more exciting. If he were, say, to pick a woman -- it would have the potential to blow the election open, especially given the fact that Obama is already showing weakness appealing to women according to the latest Fox News poll.

For once, the conventional wisdom got it right: Barack Obama did select Joe Biden, widely presumed to be the front-runner in the veepstakes. His strengths have been well-documented: He's experienced -- especially in foreign policy -- and he's a Catholic who may help the Democrats in the industrial states that will decide the election.