As of this post, the Democratic National Convention is now half over. Obviously, the highlight of the evening was Hillary Clinton. She was the main event. She delivered the best speech. She was by far the biggest crowd pleaser. She, quite convincingly in my opinion, made an effort to rally support for Obama. It was easily on par with or better than any of the other speeches I’ve heard her deliver. I think she did her best to burry the hatchet and unite the party.

Unfortunately, she was only one of two good speeches of the evening, and as good as they were, two good speakers out of over forty seems like something of a disappointment.

So, despite Ms. Clinton’s impressive performance, I have to ask: is this really the best you’ve got? As I said mentioned yesterday, the National Convention is theater. It’s free press. It’s total saturation of your message. You only get one opportunity like this. You have to put it to good use.

Tonight was markedly better than last night, but it wasn’t the blowout they needed. Granted, I’m a conservative and I usually vote Republican, but that should make their jabs hurt. Instead, as I watch, I find myself mentally shrugging. It’s not just the same old speeches, it’s bad delivery and poor reception. It’s one thing when I, as a conservativein my own home, can go for a soda and chips while someone’s talking – it’s another when you see the audience milling around chatting with one another obviously not caring about the people at the podium.

Anyway.

The other great speech of the night came from the Governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, who made an exceptionally moving speech about the American dream and how Obama and the Democrats want to ensure the working and middle class have access to that dream. I firmly agreed with his vision for what that dream is. Unfortunately, like basically all Democrats, his plan for how to accomplish that dream is horribly wrong. Still, I found the speech to be effective, moving, and uplifting.

Other speakers included one Gloria Craven, an unemployed textile worker from North Carolina. I am paraphrasing her here, but her speech went something like, “We decided to work instead of going to school. We got laid off. Bush told us to get an education, but because we dropped out we never learned to read. Now we’re living off social security.” Ms. Craven, you are a poster child for the Democratic Party.

Congratulations?

To add irony to her remarks, the keynote speech that eventually followed which was made by the Governor of Virginia, Mark Warner, whose biggest complaint about the Bush administration was that he didn’t appeal to the untapped spirit and resolve of the American people, asking them to stand up in the face of crisis and rely on themselves.

I just about died laughing.

Warner’s speech was a bland one overall. He did his best to get through it, but it was a typical one that, by the time he got his chance to speak, sounded like it had just been delivered, and delivered more persuasively I might add, by Senator Bob Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania.

Tomorrow is a new day. I’m hoping the Democrats kick it up a notch. It’s boring forcing myself to watch speech-in-a-can served up cold. Come on, big D … I can’t rant angrily at your audacity if you don’t have any!