Last night, following Hillary's wonderful speech, I wrote a diary with this very same title, noting that the one element that was unfortunately missing from Hillary's otherwise perfect speech was a full on endorsement of Obama's readiness and leadership ability.

Well, folks. Bill Clinton did it. And if this doesn't reassure Democrats, then nothing will. Bill and Hillary delivered a one-two punch.  Hillary set the stage. She urged her supporters to reject John McCain and support the party. Bill followed up by showing us why Obama is the one who needs to be President.

I'm not sure to what extent this was the plan. I suspect it was all along. Hillary and Bill would work together to reunite the party. And what an incredible job they did.

I think the most interesting thing about these last to nights is how effectively the Clintons united this party. Now, I think a lot of us Obama supporters were thinking, "boy, the Clintons really need to fix what they broke."

Alright I'm going to keep updating based on coverage for those of you who are watching CSPAN due to shitty pundits, but Bill just unequivocally stated that McCain blows monkey nuts, and Obama is oh so ready to be Commander in Chief. More to come. Not a Diary yet, but I wanted to get this in quickly.

I just watched Bill's address to the Democratic National Convention. Yeah, there were things I didn't like, but overall, he did what he needed to do. I don't doubt he didn't like some of what he did, but that's what makes him qualified for any number of jobs that I'd get fired from, just after lunch on my first day. The Big Dog's a pro.

And, of course, there were parts that I liked. "And second; I'm here to warm up the crowd for Joe Biden." Okay, so even if he's not totally happy, he can be funny. And, "the power of our example, than by the example of our power."; "Katrina and cronyism..." May G-d bless the Big Dog. "Thanks, but no thanks."

1939 - First flight of the Heinkel He 178, the first modern jet aircraft.

1962 - Mariner 2 unmanned space mission launched to Venus by America's NASA.

COINCIDENCE? I think NOT!

I would rather have peace in the world than be President.

--- Harry S. Truman

From the Church of Ineffable Stupidity:
(some games are rain delayed, today's sermon's pain delayed)

Delegates and party leaders were overwhelmed with emotion even as they steeled themselves for the brutal election season ahead as Hillary Clinton unified the party and affirmed the official nomination of Barack Obama as the Democratic Party's nominee for President of the United States.

"I can't describe it," said Governor Kaine, his face streaming with tears. "It's the greatest thing we've ever worked for.  How do I feel?  I feel like we’ve got 10 weeks of hard, hard work ahead of us and we've just got to bring it home."

Senator Henry Marsh was filled with pride and hope, his face washed in tears. "I'm overjoyed, but not just because Obama is the first African American nominee for president.  If he was white, I'd be just as happy.  I'm happy, because he is the right man for America and for the world at this time.  When America elects Obama president, it will validate the sacrifices of our fathers.  My father worked and died for our family, and he is smiling down, right now.  This isn't over.  The hard work is just beginning."

I don't often write diaries unless I have something really important to say.  And today is one of those days.  I'll try to keep this short & sweet.

(Cross-posted from Obamaism.org)

    Though I didn't have the chance to glue myself to the whole day/night of DNC coverage, I was at least able to catch some big hitters.
    Mark Warner (former Virginia gov) showed why wonky isn't always bad: he was not the most exciting guy, and his speech was not exactly the "Obama 04" speech. But people understand that details on creating jobs and other economic stuff are not always light and fluffy; MW's somewhat technical-tinted presentation added some intellectual ballast to the evening. --Warner wouldn't have been a bad Vice President!!

    Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana was somewhat in the same vein, though more exciting and excited. His presentation was largely about energy issues, and his joke about McCain's proposed $4 billion tax break for oil companies not being the kind of "change" we need echoed a "change" pun I'd wanted to make for a while.

    (kinkiness below)

Now that we have seen the very passionate, very aggressive, very clear in her support for Sen. Obama (the Next President of the United States of America!) speech from Sen. Clinton the Dog is wondering if we are seeing a political head fake. This might be too clever by half, but stick with the Dog on this.

We know that summer is a usually a time where most voters are more interested in the Olympics or the Pennant Race in MLB or even the recalcitrant brown spot in the middle of the lawn than the presidential politics. It is a time of framing and dirty tricks precisely for this reason. But this summer has been a little different. We had a primary process that was not over until the beginning of June, so there was more awareness going into the summer. Then we had the PUMA’s pop up. They got plenty of air time claiming that they would not support Sen. Obama, no, no, no, never! This went on, even though Sen. Clinton appeared in Unity, NH with Sen. Obama and gave her unequivocal support. It kept a story line going that would get play on every network everywhere, right up to this week and the convention.

Yesterday I was with a client who was appearing on FOX News as a Democratic spokeswoman. She was a guest on Studio B with Shepard Smith on the subject of a People magazine article about the VP rollout and how Senator Joe Biden got the news.

It was an education to be in the FOX News studio at the convention. My female client was taken to make-up which was very Hollywood-like. (They put false eyelashes on her and I must say when they were finished she looked amazing). We were then taken to the news floor where at one end of a newsroom bullpen was a raised platform serving as Shepard Smith’s set.

While the Democrats celebrated Hillary's second-place finish as a yet another phony "triumph" for women's liberation, Susan Faludi sketched the big picture in an editorial for the New York Times.

I turned on C-Span to look at the convention, and realized the roll call was beginning to start...

Okay, you guys, turn on CSPAN  and watch history in the making.  It's fun to hear the speeches, see the enthusiasm, feel the excitement.

Arkansas had some wonderful things to say about Senator Clinton and Bill Clinton their former governor and first lady, yet they awarded all their votes for Barack Obama in the spirit of unity.

The American Samoa delegation has just voted, casting all 9 votes for Senator Obama.

The land of endless blue skies (Arizona) and on behalf of crazy old man McCain's state; 40 for Obama, 27 for Hillary Clinton.

Arkansas is up now.

Bill Gwatney's widow is speaking on behalf of Arkansas

Arkansas casts 47 votes for Barack Obama.

Total current

1549.5-341.5 currently.

Halfway there!!!

By Purple Onyx from Eyes on Obama:

As Howard Kurtz pointed out in his column this morning, Hillary will never be a great speaker. But she gave the best speech she’s ever given last night. I expected her to do the usual self-serving, self-important speech she always gives. And she did, but then she took all that self-important, self-serving blather and turned it into the reason she supports Barack Obama. She married her interests to his in a way she’d never done before.

I know there are a lot of these so just think of it as a reference sheet more than a diary.  

Print this off and have reluctant Clinton supporters read it. The Democratic Party needs their votes.

This part 3 of Voting Record Comparison. I’ve added Hillary Clinton’s voting record on the important issues to Obama’s, Biden’s and McCain’s so that Clintonites and Hillraisers can judge whether or not they want to vote for Obama or McCain based on the issues not based on an emotional attachment to their disappointment.

While the example that I’m going to give is extreme, bordering on the ridiculous, it will illustrate the absurd nature of switching from Hillary Clinton to John McCain. If Mother Theresa, Mahatma Ghandi and Joseph Stalin were running and you couldn’t vote for Mother Theresa. Would it make sense to now vote for Joseph Stalin? A final word to Clinton supporters: Silence gives consent.

A lot of people have asked me, in media interviews and the like, what bloggers are covering in the convention that's different from what the traditional media is covering.  After 2 1/2 days, I figured out the difference.  Bloggers are, by and large, COVERING THE CONVENTION, whereas the traditional media is covering a fantasy world of their own making based on a group email written about a week ago signaling the storylines they are going to cover.  

Hillary Clinton delivered a strong, gracious, professional speech that made the definitive case that Democrats must unite for the good of the country and support Barack Obama.  It was incredibly received in the room and was an EXTENSION of the unity seen here in Denver.

John Dickerson, Slate.com's chief political correspondent, was less than thrilled with Hillary Clinton's DNC speech last night.  

Contrary to the long list of political and media pundits, Dickerson felt she left quite a bit off the plate.  What she served was a 5 course meal minus 4 courses.  

In the end, she may have not given enough reason for her supporters, whether they be delegates, fundraisers, or more to the point, her voters, to get behind Barack Obama in his campaign for the Presidency of the United States of America.  

More after the jump...

One of the great things about the existence of the state bloggers at the DNC this year is that in contrast to all the stupid traditional media narratives about disunity, we have reporting from people seated with the individual state delegations, giving their takes on the crowd response.

I was with the New Hampshire delegation last night, and I can say that there was not one sign of disunity there despite the primary having been so heated. The same people who were in tears as Hillary Clinton began speaking and roaring with applause constantly throughout her speech were enthusiastically waving Obama signs and chanting his name throughout the entire evening.

Here are some other reports from bloggers sitting in the middle of the crowd of delegates.

Calitics:

If there was any doubt that we would get a barnburner on unity tonight from Hillary Clinton, put that to bed. The California delegation went crazy for Clinton, waving Hillary signs that were distributed just ahead of Chelsea's introduction and even holding a few homemade signs like "18 million cracks". Obama/Hillary/Unity signs are spreading through now.

Goldy:

A stunning lack of disunity... that was my immediate reaction watching the crowd respond to Hillary Clinton’s speech tonight at the Democratic National Convention.  No doubt there are Clinton delegates who remain unconvinced, and no doubt many will cast their ballot for Clinton come roll call, but if folks were expecting any drama tonight, they’ll just have to make due with the uplifting kind.

Accustomed to watching conventions on TV I almost feel as if I’m missing the show sitting on the floor in person, so I’ve no idea how Clinton’s speech came off to the millions of Americans watching, but she was a hit here in the building.

Turn Maine Blue has pictures of the sign-waving crowd.