more convention thoughts

I'm still working on a recap of the rest of the convention, but as time passes, here are a few basic points:

• I've been saying for months that Barack Obama is a star. He certainly demonstrated that with what I thought was the best speech of the convention.
  
• Teresa Heinz Kerry looked smug and arrogant as she belted out the Portuguese. Demonstrating a fluency in Spanish is an asset, but Brazillian immigrants just don't represent a very large voting block.
  
• I was dissapointed by Edwards. His rhetorical gifts were not on their finest display, perhaps in part because of time constraints. But the media continues their romance with him, and the speech played well.
  
• Kerry gave a terrific speech. Bounce or no bounce (a Washington Post poll indicates there was one), the convention overall, and Kerry's performance on Thursday should continue to build his support.
  

Though I am uneasy with his new role as Democratic spokesman, Ron Reagan has a pretty good piece in Esquire this month, The Case Against George W. Bush. He was very dry at the convention, but hits the President hard:

But George W. Bush and his administration have taken "normal" mendacity to a startling new level far beyond lies of convenience. On top of the usual massaging of public perception, they traffic in big lies, indulge in any number of symptomatic small lies, and, ultimately, have come to embody dishonesty itself. They are a lie.

Pretty strong stuff.