i'm going to do basically the same post i did yesterday, where i link to a post at pandagon (where they are doing as good of a job as making convention coverage as interesting as they can) and then say i have shivers up my spine, inspired by a democrat. who cares. i never said i was original.

yup, pandagon boys:

"I'd laughed off the Obama phenomenon, chuckling at the Party's rush to embrace an honorable black candidate. But no more. He showed such a grasp of...inspiration tonight, such a rare ability to respect America while digging into its failings, that I'm left waiting for his Presidency. Jesse said he left a Clinton; I disagree. Tonight he left as Obama Barack, and showed us why Obama-esque will be the operative compliment years from now.

Am I gushing? Yeah. But I thought he was better than Clinton. I thought he mattered."

oh. my. god. read the speech yourself. i wish i'd seen it on tv. oh dear god. i'm just reading the transcript, and i want to jump up and down in my office and yell and do a convention dance party to terrible baby boomer music.

Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our nation not because of the height of our skyscrapers, or the power of our military, or the size of our economy; our pride is based on a very simple premise, summed up in a declaration made over two hundred years ago: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal...

... that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

That is the true genius of America, a faith...

... a faith in simple dreams, an insistence on small miracles; that we can tuck in our children at night and know that they are fed and clothed and safe from harm; that we can say what we think, write what we think, without hearing a sudden knock on the door; that we can have an idea and start our own business without paying a bribe; that we can participate in the political process without fear of retribution; and that our votes will be counted -- or at least, most of the time.

This year, in this election, we are called to reaffirm our values and our commitments, to hold them against a hard reality and see how we are measuring up, to the legacy of our forbearers and the promise of future generations...

i'm gushing, too. but i can't help feeling excited for the upcoming election. i'm not a betting woman (and i'm all for keeping super low expectations on anything that matters to me). but the past few days have made me feel so hopeful. i just want it to last for the next three months.

Scott is keeping a closer eye on all of this than I am, but two quick recommendations to satisfy your convention-blog needs (a subset of the larger "work-avoidance needs" category).

First: William Saletan is offering good analysis, although like many convention bloggers, he probably would have been just as well served sitting in his hotel room with the TV turned to C-SPAN. Still, I usually don't remember to read him, safely ensconced as he is between the detestable Mickey Kaus and the most-irresponsible-headline-writing-editors this side of the Weekly World News. But he's worth a visit.

Second, it's nice to be able to count on Neal Pollack to handle self-deprecation for the entire online world.