KEY POINTS:
Well, it has been a slow train coming, but the Democratic convention finally chugged into some momentum yesterday.
On the third day, and with nominee Barack Obama ready to wrap it all up this afternoon, the outline of a message to Americans began to be discernible. It was 'look back to the future' as former President Bill Clinton talked up his achievements and embraced Obama as his political son.
Clinton cleverly bolstered Obama's pitch to be President by roping the nominee to both experienced running mate Joe Biden and himself - saying that in 1992 he was also damned as "too young and inexperienced" and Obama would "lead us away from the division and fear of the last eight years back to unity and hope".
And just to underline that invisible tie to the author of The Audacity of Hope, Clinton finished with a riff on a familiar refrain: "If, like me, you still believe America must always be a place called Hope, then join Hillary, Chelsea and me in making Senator Barack Obama the next President of the United States."
Biden, the Senate foreign relations committee chairman, gave a glimpse of what's to come with a short but devastating dissection of John McCain's security expertise. As a CNN commentator observed, his speaking style is half steelworker, half statesman, adding a bull's roar to Clinton's intellectual heft.
But overall there has been a lot of flailing and too few blows landed for all that prime-time coverage. The Republicans next week are sure to be disciplined and on-message from the first blink of the cameras.
What did the Democratic Party hope to achieve this week? Show voters why it's safe to vote for Obama and why they shouldn't be seduced by McCain? Speak to voters' concerns about the economy, energy, health care, security? Show them how an Obama Administration would deal with those issues?
With the two parties too close to squeeze a knife between, you'd think the tightness of the election race would concentrate the minds in Denver. But the convention has largely been dominated by what ultimately matters little to the viewers beyond its walls.
Like having to watch a self-absorbed warring couple reliving every past slight, sign and sigh, onlookers have been soaked in a soap opera of the Clintons, party (dis)unity and whether the Democrats can actually get their act together in time to win in November.
Viewers have been tossed a few golden nuggets: Michelle Obama's speech, Hillary Clinton's rallying call to her sisterhood to fall in behind Obama. Really only former Virginia governor Mark Warner, Bill Clinton and Biden have provided the necessary meat.
Dealing with the Clintons and Hillary's fanatical followers has been a difficult dance for Obama - trying to make the most of Clintonian power and influence for the campaign while keeping them at arms' length from the Oval Office. Having spurned Hillary as VP, Obama still gets her support - and another heavyweight by his side instead.
After yesterday's shots, the impression is that Obama has wheeled his big guns into position. He will now be able to campaign with Biden and the Clintons as the Republicans shuffle their unpopular President and Vice-President away from the front lines.
