Edwards and co.

So I missed most of it. Being at work does not make for good convention watching. Edwards delivered a fine speech, and you can read all about it at Pandagon.

Edwards speech is, essentially, the American Dream is coming. The refrain "hope is on the way" is the subtle way of saying a better future is coming -- and that the current Administration is impeding its arrival. It's an attack wrapped in optimism; it relies on real problems, issues divorced from the beltway and separate from politician's characters. It's not an attack on Bush so much as a broadside against what's wrong with this country and a promise to change it.

He's laid out the Kerry Administration's agenda and the Bush Administration's failings in one package, and done so in an exclusively positive way. That's his genius, after all. The politics of optimism are often mistaken as benign, the politics of hope empty. Not so. Sometimes they form the most relevant and effective attack. People vote for a country more than a leader, Edwards articulated the deficiencies -- and case for change -- in both.

Read the speech yourself here. My favorite line? Early on when he said:

They are doing all they can to take this campaign for the highest office in the land down the lowest possible road.

oh, and I got a little chill at this:

And together, we will ensure that the image of America — the image all of us love — America this great shining light, this beacon of freedom, democracy, and human rights that the world looks up to — that that beacon is always lit.

The AP clearly jumped the gun with its headline "Edwards Slamming GOP in DNC Speech". I'm not sure from what I saw that Edwards was "slamming" the GOP at all. I'm not sure the AP read the whole of the speech, or maybe they just commented on what they were given. Either way, it seems the press wants this convention to feature attack messages, something by and large the Democrats have avoided.

The two that stood out (from what I could hear) were Kucinich and Sharpton. Both seemed to have a strong style, and Sharpton seemed to get the crowd going. Read about the two of them here. There was another speaker, one of the female Senators, but I can't remember which one.

I did write down that Terry McAllife told Bill O'Rielly he thought FOX news got their talking points straight from the GOP. That was a highlight for me.

Hopefully we won't be busy tomorrow night and I will have the opportunity to pay closer attention. Wish me luck.