Charlie_Brennan's Blog

From the floor of the Pepsi Center directly in front of the stage, I could stand and look to the back of the hall to see the clock by the teleprompter that showed each speaker the countdown to when they were out of time.

That’s how I knew President Bill Clinton was running over. Way over. I don’t think anyone minded, nor was anyone surprised.

When the Big Dog came out and quickly found his rhythm, just about every other speaker in the Democratic National Convention’s first three days quickly became fuzzy memories. With the exceptions of both his wife and Teddy Kennedy, most notably.

As I followed Clinton’s oratory from his assurance that Hillary Clinton “is going to do everything she can to elect Barack Obama – that makes two of us,” to “Barack Obama is ready to lead America,” and saw the digital clock tick down past zero and start into the red-zone, it was clear that while the former president could see the teleprompter but wasn’t too interested in the time-check and flashing red light.

The only people checking their own watches nervously were likely the DNC show producers who had a rock-solid commitment to have this thing over by 9 p.m., in order to start the break-down and move-out to Invesco Field something this side of immediately.

When the 42nd president of the United States wrapped up by inviting America to join he and his family in making Obama the next president of the United States, the teleprompter clock indicated he’s run over the scheduled time for his speech by 10:23.

He had also, I would wager, gone a long way to quickly making many Democrats ready to forgive every peevish mis-step he might have made in the marathon campaign fight to put his wife, and himself, back in the White House.

When Clinton made his way a short time later along the 200-level corridor right past our FOX 31 skybox, to the box he and Hillary had commandeered just two suites down the hall, the crush of humanity pressing in around him was sobering. It’s not just that Bubba still has it. He IS it.

And if Clinton knocked it out of the park, Vice Presidential nominee Sen. Joe Biden only lined one off the wall, working the themes of “change we need” and “John McCain was wrong. Barack Obama was right,” effectively to a crowd that was probably as excited to be reaching the finish line in one piece, as with many of the specifics Biden offered.

Of course, having a slugger like Obama to come off the bench in the bottom of the ninth, the evening’s final five minutes, to close the evening with a sniff of what was to come 23 hours later at Invesco Field, certainly did nothing to hurt Biden’s overall performance.

It’s dangerous to judge these things in a vacuum. Both Clintons, Biden and Obama are playing to a “home” crowd, in essence. Put another way, the other team is not on the field, so we’re left with the impression of watching victory lap after victory lap before the contest has fully been joined.

Nevertheless, Clinton reminded Democrats of their ability to win national elections, and had them feeling Wednesday night like the next win is little more than two months away. If enough of them start believing it, those watching at home around the country in particular, t hey just might make it happen.


Just as he said of Obama in praising his choice of a running mate, Clinton “hit it out of the park.”