I have friends who religously watch conventions — me I can’t stand them.  I’ll watch on the night of the candidate speech, but other than that there’s very little about political conventions I care to see.  It’s not as if I’ll hear anything new, anything I can’t read about the next day on a myriad of blogs.

Last night was an exception.  I wanted to see what Michelle Obama did in her first major speech before millions of people.  By God, she did a hell of a job.  It certainly won’t stop the right wing idiots from spewing their bullshit, but anyone who watched that speech last night and still believe Michelle Obama isn’t a citizen who loves her country they never will; moreover, nothing will ever change their mind so they’re a lost cause.  Mrs. Obama did well last night.

Well, it took her long enough but Senator Clinton finally spoke out against ads the McCain campaign has been using against Senator Obama.  Of course, too little too late comes to mind and, after all, she was the person who put them out there to begin with and gave Republicans the ammunition. I guess we should be thankful for anything the Clintons deign to give us.  I will give her credit.  Saying, “I’m Hillary Clinton and I did not apprive that message.” was a nice line to hear on all the news shows.

The Obama campaign needs to hire Frank Rich.  His op ed in the New York Times is full of good advice.

Now that Senator Obama has announced his running mate, which for the most part has been greeted positively, the pressure is on for Senator McCain to do the same thing.  A lot of talk seems to be centering on Mitt Romney, who I think (if I were a Republican) would be a bad choice.  Two rich white guys on the same ticket?  Not a good idea.

Another name floating about, and probably a smarter choice, is former Secretary of State Colin Powell.  It would balance out the ticket, bring some much needed celebrity, and give McCain a solid running mate who could hold his own against both Obama and Biden.  The big negative for Colin Powell is Iraq and his speech before the UN pushing for an invasion using what we now know, and what he probably knew at the time, was complete bullshit information.  That’s probably why Romney is getting more attention.  He doesn’t bring any of that Iraq baggage with him.

Choosing someone named Joe didn’t do much for Al Gore in 2000, but then he made a very bad choice in Joe Lieberman.  Senator Obama’s choice of Joe Biden I can’t really say much about.  I mean, he’s from Delaware so he’s certainly not a choice to bring a big state with a large number of electoral votes — they have 3.  On one hand, they have voted Democrat in presidential elections since 1992 and they currently “lean” Obama, so it’s not as if Biden was chosen to get a swing state.  On the other, from what I’ve read of the man so far he has a lot of experience that Obama lacks, but then some see that as Biden being just another Washington insider.  I don’t really know.  What I do know is I’ll be voting Obama-Biden in November.

Yes, Senator McCain, we know you were a POW and we all honor your sacrifice and courage in the face of that horrible experience.  However, being a POW is not, and should not, be the answer to every question you don’t like.

I guess I’m of two minds about how many houses John McCain owns.  On the one hand, it’s just stupid.  Who cares how many homes John McCain, or more accurately Cindy McCain, owns?  It’s not as if Barak Obama is middle class.  On the other, I have to agree with Paul Krugman: it is an issue that can be used against McCain, who is trying to paint himself as this everyman while Senator Obama is a puffed up elitist.

I’ve said this before but it bears saying again:  I really dislike, maybe even hate, the supporters of Hillary Clinton.  First, we have Big Mouth Bill falling all over himself to praise John McCain and now we Senator Clinton’s supporters — including her own brother! — are meeting with the McCain camp.  I just don’t understand these people.  What in hell do they see in McCain that comes even close to what their candidate stood for?  I’ll tell you what:  nothing! There is absolutely nothing that Hillary Clinton stands for that is supported by John McCain.

You know, I was a major Clinton supporter throughout Bill’s two terms in office.  I never gave a damn who was giving him blowjobs in the Oval Office.  He was a very good, if not great, president for that time in our history.  What I now find so disgusting is their pathetic and destructive need to be in power and to sabotage the party they supposedly support.  It all comes down to power.  Senator Obama is reshaping the Demcoratic party and it won’t revolve around the petty needs of the Clinton,s and they don’t seem to like that.  The fact that they are not controlling their people and allowing stories like this to get out show they are more than willing to ruin this election just so they have a chance in 2012.  Damn the country in the meantime if four years of McCain make us even worse off than we already are.

I’m not sure what to think of the asinine infanticide charges that certain Catholic groups will attempt to lay on Senator Obama.  On the one hand it’s pathetic and stupid; most Americans will realize that, not mention Catholics themselves.  On the other, this will find traction with Conservative religous groups.  The real problem here, I think, is the distraction it will cause.  It’s already forcing Obama to rebutt the charges.  This is something any Democratic candidate will have to deal with and so far think Obama is doing a good job.  The people who would buy this line of stupidity were never going to vote for Senator Obama.

There been a lot of talk lately about the Obama campaign’s unwillingness to fight back against McCain’s insane attacks.  I don’t know who’s advising Senator Obama these days, but someone needs to tell the Senator to grow a pair and start pushing back before it’s too late and we have a repeat of 2004.