The Delegates

8:19 PM: The point below about the double standard applied to black pols shouldn’t really be belabored, at least not in the context of Patrick’s speech. He’s really quite good, and Obama comparisons miss his appeal; Patrick is more like a likable and easygoing nerd who happens to be a good speaker, rather than a messianic speaker who happens to be a smart and nice guy.

8:16 PM: Deval Patrick opens by recapping up-from-the-working-class, just-like-you narrative delivered by Michelle last night. Ezra Klein and Adam Serwer’s point about the nasty barb concealed in the demand for “regular folks” language is an excellent observation, and worth quoting at legnth:

It is infuriating that this Harvard and Princeton grad is forced to, in some sense, apologize for achieving what every family wants, what all parents work for their children to have, merely because her blackness causes anxiety in the same people who have claimed for years that all black folks need to do is “work hard” to succeed. When women like Michelle Obama do succeed, they’re supposed to minimize their accomplishments so that certain people don’t feel insulted. The talking heads never ask why, because white anxiety about black self-determination is self-justifying, even in 2008.

8:07 PM: Fellow livebloger Katherine Seelye of the New York Times damns Warner by faint praise, saying “Mr. Warner is not exactly setting the place on fire, but he has a thankless task.” They also say they can see the speaker’s countdown clock, which indicates that Warner went over time by at least three minutes.

The podium schedule, off of which all the various media are working, is off in various confusing ways. Ted Strickland of Ohio is up now, and we’re supposed to get two more speakers before Montana governor Brian Schweitzer introduces Hillary’s video and speech.

8:01 PM: Warner’s speech is over. Meh. He’s no Obama 2004, or Richards 1988.

But who won in November after those keynotes? Is the function of a convention to throw meat to your ravenous base, or to stage a four-night infomercial that wins over skeptics?

7:57 PM: Really pretty light bipartisan talk coming from Warner, stuff that wouldn’t be out of place in an Obama speech, or for that matter a Hillary one. The worries of Greg Sargent of TPM, that it would “muddle the efforts to draw contrast with McCain”, seem unfounded.

7:48 PM: A novel critique of Bush: he “never drew upon the character of the American people.”

Ambinder has the full text of the speech, but we don’t.

7:46 PM: Warner starts up his keynote. Another echo of the new “change we need” slogan, as noticed by Politico earlier today.

7:41 PM: Current house band selection: A spirited version of “I’m So Excited.” The crowd seems to sincerely enjoy it. Has this song ever been performed as a dirge?

7:34 PM: Our first comment of the night, from my dad. He says “Go Dan!” Ayo mad love pop dukes (we talk street in my family. Just like Spencer Ackerman).

Belated fist-jab to our inaugural commenter, antipodean wallaby-hugger Johnny Mac, who offered me “mad props” for using the word “ouroboros” the other night. If you’re following us tonight, drop a line with your props or questions. Echoes from the void are comforting.