Vacation Convention Blogging

I am on the road, so only a few quick reactions to last night's DNC first night:

• Thanks to all of the speakers for proving my repeated point that Hillary Clinton has a far, far deeper bench than the GOP.  In one night, we got a whole series of speeches that were far better written and spoken than most, if not all, of what we heard last week.
• I get that folks want to blame trade for their troubles, so hence the anti-TPP stuff.  But NAFTA was mostly a net good for the US (and Canada and Mexico--why is illegal immigration down from Mexico? Hmmm).  And what has really harmed manufacturing in the US?  Automation.  How is killing TPP going to stop the robots?
• Franken might not have been as sharp as usual, but he hit heaps of good points.  Reminding everyone of the scam artist that Trump is and always has been was great.  Also, more humor in one speech than in all of last week.
• Sarah Silverman went off script, maybe re-energizing the Bernie fans a bit much, but she was a Bernie fan for quite some time and she made it clear that it is ridiculous to not support HRC now. 
• Cory Booker went on too long, but had enough good stuff in the speech. We can see why he was seriously considered to be VP and perhaps why he didn't get it.  
• Elizabeth Warren had a very tough job, following Michelle Obama, so she presented a very different style that works for the left part of the party.  
• Bernie went on too long, but he did his job--moving from his campaign to the Democrats' campaign, calling for stuff he never supported much before--HRC Presidency, Dems winning House and Senate.
• Much better celebrities.  Eva Longoria was terrific, reminding us why people keep on giving her TV shows and why Scott Biao is C or D list at best. 
• The disabled girl was terrific as was the victim of Trump U scam.
• I can understand why the DNC did not save the best for last, but I can: Michelle Obama was just terrific, as everyone has said.  When the incumbent President's wife is this popular and this powerful, the team is mighty deep indeed.  
• the key paragraph was moving from house that slaves built to her beautiful black girls playing with the dogs on the White House lawn (Bo and the other dog get mentioned!) to Malia and Sasha being able to expect women to become President thanks to Hillary Clinton.  
• I love that she ripped Trump apart without mentioning his name, just like, um, Ted Cruz.
• I love that she used parenting as the key line of attack, given how pretty and well spoken the Trumpkids were, where it is clear that their father had little role in it.  Indeed, we are reminded of Trump's repeated skeevy comments about how he'd like to date/fuck his daughters.
• "When they go low, we go high."

I probably will not see as much of the convention going forward, at least not live.  But what a great start.  Oh, and the boos that the press wants to make much of?  Whatever.  No delegations walked out, no governors/senators/party luminaries did their best to dodge, duck, dive, dip or dodge their way from appearing at the convention.  This is what unity looks like for the Democrats.  And the polls show that Bernie voters will vote for HRC.   But the press, even PBS's crew, must try to play up this stuff to make things closer than they are.

Oh, and let confirmation bias be your guide on the polls since they are all over the place.  Wait until mid-August before taking them super-seriously.