I know that a lot of people liked it. I thought that it was eloquent, but I also thought that it was written by committee and did not have enough of her voice. The biggest flaw with the speech is that it didn’t tell me anything about Barack Obama that I didn’t already know. Maybe that’s because I am a political junkie but the speech sounded and reads more like a political endorsement than a testimonial from a wife about the strengths of her husband.

When Bill Clinton got nominated in New York in 1992, his campaign put together “the Manhattan Project,” an effort to reintroduce Clinton and his family to the American people and to tell the American people things about the future First Family that they did not know going into the New York Convention. The effort worked brilliantly; by the end of the convention, people felt as if they had finally connected with Clinton and his family. He took the lead in the polls and never looked back.

I had thought that the same effort would be made on behalf of Barack Obama. Thus far, however, it has not been. And if his wife wasn’t going to tell us anything new, startling or somewhat game-changing about her husband, who will?

Again, Michelle Obama did a fine job delivering the speech. She is eloquent and poised. But it wasn’t her speech. As a result, the speech suffered.

MSNBCers talk about their feelings. Hilarity ensues.

For every gaffe that John McCain makes, Barack Obama seems bound and determined to match him. Of course, if McCain misidentified the city he was in, the senility jokes would begin anew. With Obama, apparently the same mistake barely merits a mention.

I didn’t think it was possible, but apparently, Nancy Pelosi has set the art of trash-talking back half a century or so.

It amounts to a two point lead . . . for John McCain. And that’s just amongst registered voters. For likely voters, Team Obama may be facing worse numbers.

I realize that every effort is being made to bring about a successful convention and a powerful launch for the Obama campaign as it moves fully and completely into general election mode. But in many ways, the intensity of the work being done to cap matters off successfully in Denver serves to underscore just how divided the Democrats are on a number of fronts.

Exhibit A–There is a split amongst the Democrats concerning the tone of the convention:

Have the Democrats wasted the first night of the convention?

Yes, says Democratic Strategist and CNN contributor James Carville.

Speaking on CNN, Carville said the party was too soft in its attacks on John McCain Monday night — the same mistake, Carville says, Democrats made at the 2004 convention.

“The way they planned it tonight was supposed to be sort of the personal — Michelle Obama will talk about Barack Obama personally, Ted Kennedy was a very personal, emotional speech,” Carville said. “But I guarantee on the first night of the Republican Convention, you’re going to hear talk about Barack Obama, commander-in-chief, tax cuts, et cetera, et cetera.”

[. . .]

“If this party has a message it’s done a hell of a job hiding it tonight, I promise you that,” he said.

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Aptly summed up by Dan Griswold: “For a senator who prides himself on his foreign policy experience, Biden’s record shows great ambivalence about American participation in the global economy.”

That’s just not good enough anymore. We deserve, as a country, to be more prosperous than people like Joe Biden would have us be.

That’s what Buffett–one of Barack Obama’s economic advisers–says. Wonder if Obama believes that to be true. We are experiencing that degree of slow growth right now which means that according to Buffett–and perhaps according to Obama–this is the best that can be expected from us.

Obama, of course, attacked John McCain for saying that the fundamentals of the country’s economy are strong. Well, they are. But unlike Buffett–and perhaps, unlike Obama–McCain believes that we can do better economically.

If you believe that as well, you know who to cast your vote for.

The intensely political city is being wracked by sectarian conflict that appears ready to devolve into out and out civil war, with partisans on each side looking to destroy the other as they work to ensure the political supremacy of their respective leaders.

Baghdad? No, Denver:

A number of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s top advisers will not be staying in Denver long enough to hear Barack Obama accept the nomination for president, according to sources familiar with their schedules.

Clinton will deliver her speech Tuesday night. She will hold a private meeting with her top financial supporters Wednesday at noon, and will thank her delegates at an event that afternoon. Former president Bill Clinton will speak that night. Several of Hillary Clinton’s supporters are then planning to leave town. Among them, Terry McAuliffe, Clinton’s campaign chairman, and longtime supporters Steve Rattner and Maureen White. Another of Clinton’s top New York fundraisers, Alan Patricof, did not make the trip to Denver.

Obama backer Robert Zimmerman points out that this is not that big a deal, because Gary Hart’s and Howard Dean’s backers behaved the same way back in 1984 and 2004. Excuse me, but didn’t Republicans also win the Presidential elections those years? Just askin’.

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In the world of former Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Joe Biden, the Constitution doesn’t mean what it explicitly and clearly says it means.

Still think that Joe Biden is a serious student of foreign and national security policy?

Or even a minor one. Here is why.

Really, this is embarrassing stuff, even when one considers that it is Rich doing the writing. It shows no understanding whatsoever of the nature of international competition, the state of affairs in China, how China will be able to compete in and influence the world or the underlying strengths that continue to buttress America even in tough times.

Oh, and by the way, the Chinese had to cheat in order to win the women’s gymnastics gold medals by misrepresenting the ages of several of their competitors and when the overall medal count is considered, the United States total beats China’s total. Of course, none of this information is found in Rich’s column, but then, no one should be surprised that Rich won’t let facts get in the way of his nonsensical rants.

I admit it. I signed up for the text message and the e-mail. I got the e-mail at 3:50 am on Saturday morning and did not read it–as I was asleep. I never got the text message. It would appear that there were problems with the transmission of the text message. Not exactly the best way to show the campaign organization’s competence in the prelude to the rollout of the eventual Democratic Vice Presidential nominee.

If that was the only problem with the introduction of Joe Biden as Barack Obama’s running mate, the Obama campaign would be able to rest easy. But despite various hosannas that have been offered in response to Biden’s selection, he is, in fact, a bad pick on multiple levels.

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Ben Bernanke thinks that price pressures are easing up because of the strengthening of the dollar, the recent drop in oil prices and the weak overall economy. Let us hope that he is right; a stagflationary situation is scary beyond measure to think about. I suppose that it is too much to ask that we get another rate cut, given that inflationary pressures still exist and still are a cause of concern. But dare we hope that we can keep interest rates relatively stable so that we can perhaps spur some more growth?

Behold the argument. I buy it; I suppose that my concern is that someone else is determining what I ought to be nudged towards. And yes, since you asked, I am still hostile towards the basic concept of “libertarian paternalism.”

Take a look. If people really are serious about keeping jobs in America, then corporate taxes ought, at the very least, to be cut significantly. Otherwise, we are getting the short end of the stick when it comes to being able to compete with the rest of the world in attracting business activity.

Well, it’s really not shorter. It’s just plain Jacob Weisberg: There is no policy, ideological, or philosophical reason to vote against Barack Obama. If you do, you are a racist. End of story.

People like Weisberg must be devastated that we are actually having an election. They probably think that a coronation is in order instead.

No further reason to pretend and time to fess up: Our sinister plot has been revealed.

James Pethoukis provides motive. Pray that opportunity follows very quickly.

And lives to tell the tale. Once again: Isn’t Meyerson’s tale supposed to one from the “reality-based community”? And since it so obviously is not, what on Earth is the Washington Post doing allowing Meyerson to draw a salary?

It is one thing to have differing political opinions. Obviously, no one should think that we have or should have political uniformity to the degree that no dissenting opinions are allowed. At the same time, when a columnist’s arguments are so clearly and consistently divorced from the facts, one must come to the conclusion that said columnist adds no value to the conversation and that better punditry can be found–and paid for–from others.