Here’s a thread for convention-watchers who want to make observations. I’m a little sad tonight because this really is going to be the last speech Obama has to give where his political career is riding on the outcome. We’ll probably see State of the Union addresses, and we’ll probably see him speak to the nation after some tragedy or another, but he’ll never again have to perform on this level with this amount of pressure. And it has always been a joy to watch Barack Obama perform as a politician. It’s the same kind of joy you get from watching a Gold Medal performance in the Olympics, or a successful Mars landing, or a really great rendition of a Beethoven symphony, or any other area where humans step up to the spotlights under pressure and just nail it. He’s been the Mohammed Ali of politics for five years. He’s had his bad fights; he’s underestimated an opponent or two. But he’s been magnificent.
Yes, we still have the debates. But Obama has never been better than adequate at debating. Tonight is his last real chance to show us what he can do.
He’s been setting things up for tonight for at least three years. He’s taken all the haymakers and all the slow, awkward punches. Now it is time for the counterattack.
