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The Obama Speech

I'm sick and up way past my bedtime, so I'll leave a more detailed analysis to less feverish observers. But three quick thoughts:

1) Does Barack Obama read TNR? I have no idea, but it's hard to imagine him hewing more closely to the advice offered (repeatedly) by Joe Trippi in Noam's interview today: Portray Hillary Clinton as the representative of the status quo; don't let her present herself as (another) "change" candidate.

2) The woman (white, blonde, probably in her 40s) who was over Barack Obama's left shoulder when he delivered the speech will likely garner him more votes than half of his vastly more high-profile surrogates--laughing, clapping, tearing up, obviously smitten (in the good way), she embodied the Obama phenomenon perfectly. (And, yes, I'm immensely irritated that Britt Hume made this point before I was able to.)

3) If anyone deserves my Roger Federer award (it's here, at the end), it's Obama. Really, no contest.

--Christopher Orr