Conventions Do Matter

So, will "Yes, We Can" become "Well, Maybe Next Time"? Could the Obama campaign end in a whimper?  

Watching the first night of the convention, I can imagine seasoned and grizzled Democrat operatives around the country starting to get the first taste of the night-terrors that visit every time their party blows an election. The odds are still in their party's favor, no doubt. And the GOP is saddled with an unpopular president, a fragile economy, and a nominee who has spent a considerable part of his career alienating his party's base.

And yet, the last week looks like the opening paragraph of a political suicide note from the Democrat Party. Let's recap:

The "Change We Have Been Waiting For" candidate names as his VP pick a 36-year veteran of the U.S. Senate. A VP candidate whose only real job has been to be a U.S. senator, working in that Washington that supposedly needs changing.

A tribute to Jimmy Carter. (Really, Carter?)

An emotional tribute to Ted Kennedy, complete with an ocean of "Kennedy" signs. (Were Mondale and Dukakis not available?)

A droning speech by some guy from Iowa who used to be a congressman and might have been a Republican at one time, so isn't that interesting.

Needless to say, this is not the change I've been waiting for.