Tonight’s speakers included, among others, Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, Former Senate Minority Leader Bill Frist, Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Tom Ridge, Cindy McCain, and of course, John McCain.

I have to say this about Governor Pawlenty, and I say this only because he was on the shortlist for the VP pick and so many people are so uppity about Palin: His speech was completely uninteresting.

The decision to have Cindy McCain speak at the convention is a baffling one to me.  Yes, Michelle Obama spoke at the DNC, but the McCains, of all people, should back off using the spouse as a political show piece.  I know, the campaign is trying and get women voters, but really, the cognitive dissidence here (on both sides) is staggering.

Obama talks about his “typical white person” grandmother and his grandfather’s experience in World War II.  He claims his wife is off limits when she’s proud of America for the first time, and then puts her up on stage during the Democratic National Convention.  McCain and Palin both tout their sons’ military service.  Palin is proud of her husband’s union card and her son with Down Syndrome, McCain uses any excuse he can find to bring out his adopted daughter, and Cindy comes out to deliver a speech at the Republican National Convention.

Are families in play or aren’t they?  The double standard here is just absurd to me, but I digress.

McCain’s speech was the usual dry delivery he’s known for.  The speech was good for McCain, but that’s not saying much.  He complemented Obama and played on hope for change, did make a serious attempt at laying out a position at education, even though he didn’t touch on specifics, and of course, played up the usual Republican strengths of war and economics.

All in all though, tonight was fairly unremarkable.  Despite I’d say the Republican National Convention is a success though.  Last night was absolutely amazing, was easily twice as good as the Democratic convention, and had between 37 and 41 million viewers depending on what stats you read.  That, regardless of how tonight went, makes it a winner in my book.

I’m dying to see Monday’s Rasmussen Poll.