Palin's most sincere sounding attack was the "Scranton-San Francisco" bit. On the face, it was a withering critique. However, it was particularly hypocritical given her about face on the Ketchikan bridge.

According to Reuters (emphasis mine)...

"in 2006, Palin said she was insulted by the term "bridge to nowhere," according to Ketchikan Mayor Bob Weinstein, a Democrat, and Mike Elerding, a Republican who was Palin's campaign coordinator in the southeast Alaska city.

"People are learning that she pandered to us by saying, I'm for this' ... and then when she found it was politically advantageous for her nationally, abruptly she starts using the very term that she said was insulting," Weinstein said."

If that isn't "saying one thing in Ketchikan and another in St. Paul," I don't know what is.

What's worse? These are HER CONSTITUENTS that she used for political fodder. This fact, combined with the recent revelations of her crowing about pork IN HER OWN HANDWRITING are doubly damaging.

As far as I'm concerned, this self-described pit bull in lipstick, has played the victim card for the last time. She has had her "bring it on" moment. Please don't hesitate to confront her on every one of her distortions, lies and politically crafted attack lines.

Pretty please?

It's official... No more "presumptive." The Democratic party has nominated an African-American for the highest office in our nation. I moved to the office television, occupying myself with busywork as the nominating speeches began.

Clinton's nomination was introduced by Dolores Huerta, an activist great grandmother who worked with Cesar Chavez for worker's rights. She passionately spoke of her and Clinton's commitment to their shared causes. In a telling moment, she revealed one of those causes to be support for Obama as the next presidential nominee. It was a pleasant surprise and harbinger of better things to come.

Registered Republican and Iraq war Veteran Michael Wilson presented an emotional nomination speech for Obama to thunderous cheers. He spoke of generations of his family's military service and his upbringing in a small Tennessee town. He talked of struggling to save a group of Marines targeted by a suicide bomber in Northern Iraq. His heartfelt comments were tailor-made for a candidate who seeks a united America that reaches across partisan lines.

As the roll call proceeded, it was clear that despite posturing from the "millions" of PUMAs, there was not going to be any nail-biting about the results of the ballot. A slip up from the Arkansas delegation delivered a stunning symbolic gesture by announcing all 47 of their votes for Obama. The response was so overwhelming that they didn't bother to correct the record. In the end, Hillary Clinton, standing with a New York Delegation that included Governor David Patterson, moved that Obama be declared the nominee by acclamation.

I exhaled a sigh of relief as the impact of this historic moment settled on me. Now McCain was alone as a "presumptive" nominee. We have our candidate, and he will be the next President of the United States!

Passing this torch has been a long time coming, but Hillary Clinton showed her mettle and simultaneously dampened the faux furor about Democratic division.

Much has been made of the "millions" of "outraged" Clinton Democrats since the close of the primary season. However, recent revelations about falsified fund-raising estimates and pathetically anemic attendance at PUMA conventions have revealed these charlatans for what they are... GOP operatives vainly trying to sow dissent.

There were many strong passages in her speech last night, but for me, none so effective as when she challenged her voters to look beyond their support of HER in favor of the Democratic agenda. Hillary made the point that McCain is not going to champion the issues that defined her campaign. Her persistent refrain was that electing Obama was the only way to get the job done.

Some have said that she was less than enthusiastic in her praise. I disagree. Her speaking style has never been as compelling as Obama. She could not hope to match the earnest enthusiasm of Michelle's presentation. As always, she did things HER way, and it was great.

She has turned a corner and rallied behind her party. She has closed the door on the "division" media narrative. McCain won't find a quote from last night to run in future commercials and Obama has tons of material for counter-programming if they try. She deserves the praise she is receiving today.

P.S. To all the GOP PUMAs and Just Say No Dealers... Ron Paul supporters are REAL Republicans concerned with the abdication of conservative fiscal policy and America's new role as world police. We're not intimidated by your fakery, but you should be concerned about them. I'm just saying...

Michelle Obama is a lawyer. Last night, she made opening arguments in the most important case of her life. The client, Barack Obama. The jury, only the United States of America.

Barack has a GREAT defense attorney at home.

She looked impeccable. Consultants know that juries are all too human. They respond to attractiveness just like everyone else. Top to bottom, she was stunning. A+ on that score.

Then there's the speech... Seventeen minutes is a long time. But the speech was written and delivered well. Wisely, they chose to reinforce themes that have been weak spots for Obama.

Elite? Michelle's dad bravely soldiered through a debiliating physical ailment to provide for his family. Her parents scrimped and saved to provide an educational opportunity for their children that was denied them. Barack's single mother struggled in the same fashion, passing on rock-solid American values that the Obama's share with us all.

The speech also served double-duty to compare the picture perfect Obama marriage (19 years strong) with the competition. It was easy to miss in the glowing prose, but this passage "...that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you're going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect..." draws some stark contrasts with a candidate who ditched his injured wife during a series of affairs that culminated in him marrying into a young beer heiress' fortune (with a prenup, no less).

Whose story seems more laden with "American values" now?

Michelle made entreaties to Hillary women. Early in her speech, Michelle alluded to the hopes and dreams for her daughters, Sasha and Malia. She later echoed the "18 million cracks" line that Clinton introduced in her concession speech to thunderous applause. Even better, she followed that statement with a compliment to Joe Biden. To my ears, that earned an even more vigorous response.

And those children... They're just precious. From the adorable big screen interplay with Daddy to their youthful exuberance to being on the big stage, they sure did look like a loving family. Fox's Juan Williams was in near tears commenting about the image of such a poised, beautiful Black woman and her positive, strong, WHOLE family on the national stage. Tonight, the Obamas became Cliff and Claire Huxtable MADE REAL.

Occasionally, Michelle seemed uncertain if an applause line would connect. But they DID connect and the overall presentation was brilliantly compelling. She is the type of wife any man would love to have at his side and it's clear that the Obamas share a genuine "Love... American Style."

Judging by the effusive praise, Michelle smashed a home run last night. When Brit Hume (BRIT HUME!) is praising her, it's a watershed moment in the campaign.

Now it's time to make the case against McCain.

Much has been written about the sexism and racism that was laid bare during this campaign.  There are loads of issues simmering in our national subconscious... and some incredibly dark things surfaced during this long season.

Still, in a time when the first female National Security Advisor cum Secretary of State precedes the first female Speaker of the House... when Germany elects its first female Chancellor and Benazir Bhutto inspired her nation before her tragic end, I think there are many achievements for women to celebrate too.  This is part of Hillary's legacy.  Without the needless spin of questionable statistics, she galvanized a huge part of the American electorate.  This is unquestionable.

During the best parts of her journey, she advanced causes like health care and brought the voices of the working poor to a national stage.  She also dragged the U.S. electorate into awareness of a fact that many other G8 nations already knew... a woman can compete and lead a major nation.

Some have mourned her loss in desperate terms, as though Clinton was the one chance to have a woman in the Oval office.  However, Kathleen Sebelius, Janet Napolitano, Christine Gregoire... there are many sterling examples of achievement across the leadership of our nation.  I'm not saying that this supersedes the presidency in importance, but certainly Hillary Clinton is not the ONLY American woman with a chance to lead our nation in the near future.

I am excited and heartened by the doors opened by the Democratic party this election cycle.  I am less heartened by the apparent willingness of some to abandon the party that opened those doors in favor of the club whose candidates consisted SOLELY of older white men.

Is that what Hillary's ground-breaking campaign represented?  Is that the way to honor her legacy?

REALLY?

Harriet Christian (and Geraldine Ferraro) posit that sexism has played a large role in Hillary's campaign troubles.  Christian went so far as to say that the only reason Barack is in this race is because Hillary is a white woman.

So here's the question.  If Hillary Clinton were a younger brother who had served in Bill's cabinet before pursuing a New York Senate seat, would "Hill" Clinton be the nominee?

Or would "he" be John Edwards, part deux?

Compared to a near pitch perfect performance by Gov. Blanchard, Bonior came off like an outclassed presenter at a high school debate... twitchy and unconvincing.  A 50/50 split was an ambitious position to begin with, but he offered NONE of the most compelling rationales for the "invalidation" of the MI vote.

To wit:
First, the agreed upon pledge read "campaign OR PARTICIPATE"-- a major distinction that escaped mention.  How can one claim she did not participate in an election where she was the only major candidate?  Clinton DID NOT COMPLY WITH HER OWN PLEDGE, all the while commenting that the votes would not count.

Second, there is ample precedent of Dem candidates removing their names from Michigan ballots.  In fact, Michigan has been forced to reset their primary date into compliance due to lack of candidates--a point which defuses the idea that Obama et al engaged in a "flawed strategy" by removing their names.

Third, he did not forcefully present the most obvious contradiction of the Clinton position... that "rules" should not disenfranchise voters.  What about the "rules" that disenfranchised the 30,000 voters who offered write-in votes but were denied because of Michigan's rules?

50/50 was an intellectually defensible argument, but rings hollow.  By endorsing a 73/55 split out the gate, Obama would have won on style points while preserving the idea that Michigan's votes counted for something.  Instead, 69/59 turns into a rallying cry for the convention and we are subjected to Ickes' bloviating speech about hijacking four measly delegates.

Obama won the day, but will have to do some MAJOR speechifying to defuse the animosity that Ickes ratcheted up.  Here's hoping Clinton will help as eagerly as Blanchard promised she would.

Clinton is now claiming that sleep-deprivation contributed to her quadruple mis-remembering of the Bosnia visit.  Which leads to the following, admittedly snarky, question...

If sleep deprivation causes such significant mental lapses, how in the hell can she make those crucial decisions at 3 a.m.?

As a "sermon footnote", does anybody think that Ohio's vote would have been closer if her own NAFTA foibles (promo meetings as First Lady AND her own Canada flap) had been revealed?

Does anybody think that Ohio would break as hard for her in the general now that those lies (or mis-rememberings) are in the open?