FREE PUNDITRY

Here is some free punditry for you based on my scattershot viewings of the Democratic National Convention, the highlight of which was figuring out the different time delays between networks and then switching between them to hear the same word up to four times.

Bill Clinton:  Clinton proved why he's remembered for his charisma and speaking skills; far and away the strongest speaker at the convention.  Well-written jokes that were equally well delivered.  He's smooth and at ease and almost conversational.

Al Gore:  Gore spoke to his audience like they were stupid, stupid children.  Make no mistake, he should have won in 2000...  it was handed to him and he blew it.  This speech showed why.

Obama:  The man with no one to run against is the new star of the Democratic party.  I imagine Democrats are thinking what sportswriters have been thinking about Michael Vick since watching him do that-crazy-thing-he-does...  Please don't let anything happen to him.

John Edwards:  For all the praise he gets about being a great orator...  Bleh.  Not a bad speech, but the kind of speech that would be considered quality from a Cheney or a Gephardt or a not-so-good-speaker.  Edwards reputation sets him on another plane, where speaking actually turns votes.  And it's on that plane that he fails.  BONUS NOTE:  Very socialist undertones.  SUPER EXTRA BONUS NOTE:  Edwards did demonstrate that if you don't mention the opposition, you can say whatever the hell you want.  This could actually be an effective rhetorical strategy in the long haul to November.

John Kerry:  Didn't see it.  I'm sorry.  But I wanted to mention that Kerry's delivery oftentimes reminds me of the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror with Bill Clinton and Bob Dole being replaced with aliens.  From Kerry stumping today (and not an unusual thing):  "We need to reach, reach, reach for the future."  From Kang (or was it Kodos?): "Always twirling, twirling, twirling towards the future."