Convention surfer: Democratic National Convention Day 2

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton soaks in an extended ovation before she addresses the Democratic National Convention in Denver,Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2008. Copyrighted AP photo by Charlie Neibergall.

If Monday night was The Cosby Show at the Democratic Convention, Tuesday was more like some reality show with warring members of the same team or the cliffhanger of a favorite drama.

What would Hillary say?!

Will her supporters follow her?

Will it help Barack Obama's foundering poll numbers?

Just before prime time, on CNN, Carl Bernstein said Hillary Clinton was, "uniquely positioned to deliver the presidency," to Barack Obama. John King did follow up asking why, if she had that power, didn't she deliver it to herself.

But the drama was set for the second night of the convention: What would the close second in the primaries and her ardent supporters do to help the nominee? It was the story all the cable news nets  told.

Get this on a Daily Show loop: Who says the Democrats can't stay on message? With a whole day to kill, Dem after Dem was asked how they thought Hillary Clinton would do in her speech, and they all said she'd, "knock it out of the park." Maybe it was the thin air that makes Coors Field such a hitter's park. Or maybe that's just a really easy baseball cliché.

Hardest working man: Terry McAuliffe, Clinton's campaign chairman and most myopically passionate supporter during the primaries, was everywhere on the air Tuesday, on MSNBC at least twice and even venturing into enemy territory on Sean Hannity's radio show -- Hannity, like John McCain, trying to act like a Clinton supporter or something.

Speaking of strange bedfellows: Only in convention coverage could you get moments like this spirited chat on MSNBC between ultra-liberal Rachel Maddow and ultra-conservative Pat Buchanan, about the soft tone of the convention up to Hillary Clinton's speech:

Maddow: If you stand up and say, 'We are all things to all people, we are nothing really specific, we're going to move past all the specifics of fighting now,' you're going to offend no one, but earn no votes. You have to define who you are . . .
Buchanan: . . . and what you are against.
Maddow: Yes.
Buchanan: This what we don't want, we've had enough of this, we're against this, against him . . . Where's Cheney for heaven's sake?! Cheney's at 18 percent or something. It's a free shot.

At that line, the crowd behind the MSNBC perch erupted in cheers. Maddow and Buchanan agreeing and crowd of Democratic die hards cheering Buchanan? Dogs and cats living together . . .

By the way, Maddow is emerging as the most passionate, articulate liberal voice among the punditry. The convention is giving her a great ad for her new show.

Not so strange bedfellows: Attempting to plot strategy for John McCain on Fox News, Bill O'Reilly and Karl Rove imagined going into campaign consulting together with Rove musing, "O'Reilly and Rove, consultants to the very rich and powerful."

From the department of reading too much into things: While MSNBC's cameras lingered on Bill Clinton, he was handed a "Unity" sign and quickly put it down, continuing a conversation. Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews immediately seized on this as possibly a sign he was not on board with the whole unity message.

No more tears: That Hillary video to introduce the senator signaled an end to the weepy campaign videos -- or at least a suspension -- with much of it set to Lenny Kravitz and Tom Petty.

Make some coffee: Clinton went on at 10:41 p.m. I can't remember when Michelle Obama started Monday, but it was late in prime time too. These aren't sporting events with indeterminate time limits. The primary speeches could at least have been timed to being shortly after the broadcast networks sign on at 10 p.m.

Best pop culture riff: Hillary Clinton referring to her supporters as the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Suits."

What could have been: CNN probably had the most compelling delegate after the speech in a woman identified as Ann Price Mills (spelling not specified), who told Suzanne Malveaux, "You know that was a Presidential speech . . . and now everybody wants us to simply shift." Mills said she wouldn't vote for McCain, but, "Obama has two months," to get her vote. After weeks of talking head chatter and poll results, this delegate put a passionate, human face on the frustrations of Clinton supporters.

Best nightcap: Charlie Rose's interesting panels on KET, including presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin on Tuesday, have the best post-show chats, delving into subjects like Obama's actual policies and the media's reluctance to address race, that are never cracked by the news nets in their hours and hours of coverage. And they can be fun. Last night we had Elvis. Tuesday, it was Rose introducing New York Times columnist David Brooks by saying he'd written a column he'd written before. Brooks folded his arms in mock offense at the fumbled intro saying, "I didn't come here to be insulted."

All about the Clintons:  The morning chatter is focusing on Bill Clinton's speech tonight. Hey, isn't someone else the headliner?

Comments

[Rick St. Peter]

Rich, no mention of our Virginia bretheren Mark Warner and how the MSNBC folks lit into his underwhelming speech? He didn't exactly light up the convention hall although I think he will win his Senate seat handily.

I keep coming back to the Mark Twain phrase, "I don't belong to any organized party, I'm a Democrat." It seems like only the modern Democratic party could screw up this election, coming on the heels of perhaps the most unpopular president in our history (I guess only the Democrats could have screwed up 2004 and gotten him reelected to begin with), but I think Rachel Maddow (with whom I have a giant crush) is right, the Democratic party has been hammered on wedge issues for a generation now: Gun control, defense, social issues, taxes etc that they seem to be overly cautious when it comes to staking out their turf. Since Reagan, "conservative" has been a buzz word and "liberal" has been made into a dirty word. Can the Democrats seize that back or will they continue to try and be all things to all people? Will they continue to lose presidential elections to the collection of clowns the Republicans keep running? (BTW I supported John McCain in 2000, where did that guy go?)...Just my $.02, but I have been pretty bored by the convention, with the exception of Sen. Kennedy and Michelle Obama...

I have been watching MSNBC's coverage exclusively and they didn't show it but the Governor of Montana seemed to give a fiery, funny and impassioned speech, did anyone see it?

Also, did anyone notice the minor temper tantrum Chris Matthews had when Keith Olbermann basically called him out for blathering on about how women feel regarding Clinton v Obama?

Peace
Rick

Rich replies: It was sort of a split decision on the Warner speech. The CNN folks kinda liked it. I think Anderson Cooper said he thought it would play well at home. Someone even compared it to Obama's '04 speech, though that's a stretch. But no, no one has seriously fired up this convention yet.

If it sounds like something's been going on, like the Brian Schweitzer speech, I've flipped to KET or C-SPAN, where they show the speeches pretty much uninterrupted.

[Bobbi Rightmyer]

I was totally impressed by Clinton's speech! When she said (and I'm paraphrasing), "are you for me or for the party", I hope she convinced her diehard supporters to vote for Obama.