Clinton walked in. White suit, stiff hair, those oh-so-open eyes.
"ARE YOU SURPRISED TO SEE ME?? BECAUSE I LOOK SURPRISED TO BE HERE!!!"
She must've taken two minutes. One side of the stage then the other. Friends to point out and name-check.
HILL-AH-REE! HILL-AH-REE!
Can she really recognise any faces in the dazzle of all those spotlights? Can she really see her friends between all those flicking flags?
The flags.
So many. Every twenty minutes or so, minions in high-vizz vests go and hand out props to the delegates in their seats.
The prop budget is impressive. Much more so than the Republicans' last week.
A minion in a hallway is keeping one of every different hash-tag banner she hands out to the crowd.
#I'mWithHer
#YesSheCan
#Hillary
There's gentle pretty crying and ugly blubbing crying. With the pretty crying, a single tear rolls down a lady's cheek. The ugly crying is best. Aggressive sobbing. You couldn't argue that Bill doesn't look chuffed. Is that a twinkle in his eye, too?
Trump was shouty. Clinton will inevitably be described as "shrill". She's not. She's just not the speaker that her husband or Biden or either of the Obamas is. Her gesticulations are deliberate. She doesn't veer off script.
She is a perfect picture of pragmatism and power. That is the contrast.
HILL-AH-REE! HILL-AH-REE!
Her picture of America is much brighter than Trump's was last week. Terrorists aren't flooding across the border. No one is stealing your guns. You want a job? You get a job. Or you might soon, apparently.
Everyone is waiting for a zinger. They're practiced, but they're good. Take that, Trump!
She still has opponents here, though.
Bernie Sanders fans are dressed in bright colours and scattered through the room.
A handful walked out in protest. Where are their friends? I thought more said they would leave? Perhaps telling the grandkids you walked out on a President isn't such a great boast after all.
In 45 minutes, Hillary makes two, tiny, stumbles.
She's read the speech a dozen times. The arc is predictable. The lilt and tone are, too.
God bless the United States of America and the balloons fall to the floor. I bet that minion with the hash-tag collection will take one home, as well.
Does one warm to Hillary Clinton? Perhaps not. Does one accept Hillary Clinton? Perhaps so. Embrace her? Revere her? Vote for her?
Three and a half months.
Two dead and dozens injured after car drives into German Christmas market.