Michelle hits a homer

Is there anything Michelle could have done better last night, at the Democratic convention? Yes, her speech was carefully scripted. Sure, she pulled out every emotional stop. Of course it was hokey to have her beautiful daughters come on stage at the end and joke with their doting father. Gawd, I loved it all, and, like many of the delegates, had tears in my eyes! If some males felt inclined toward George W. in 2000 because he was a guy they'd like to go have a drink with, I feel attracted to the Obamas as a family I'd love having next door, folks to talk over the fence with.

As many of the analysts pointed out, following Michelle's speech, she did nothing to answer the doubts that they, and presumably many Americans, continue to have regarding Obama's political agenda. That's ok. To me, a major concern has been those voters -- the Appalachians, the union workers, the traditional rank and file Democrats (the Hillary voters, to use a shorthand) -- who fully agree with Obama's policies, but have just felt that Obama "isn't one of us." Not just because he's black, but because he seems too foreign, too educated, too exotic, too analytical and detached.

Michelle's speech, and the video presentation that preceded it, were major steps forward in showing that the Obamas are "one of us," that they share the same dreams and hopes for their family and their country as those felt by the average voter.

Compliments also to former Iowa Republican congressman Jim Leach, who told the Democrats in Denver why he is supporting Obama -- because today's Republican party has drifted far from its historic principles. His speech set forth basic beliefs with which both moderate Republicans and moderate Democrats should be able to agree. His speech reminds me that, while driving through Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire a week or so ago, I saw countless Obama bumper strips, yard signs, and campaign buttons, but just one McCain bumper strip. These states formed the traditional heart of the Republican party -- "New England Yankee" and "Republican" were once almost synonymous. Maine and Vermont were the only states to vote for the Republican nominee at the time of FDR's 1936 landslide.

Today's Republicans have kisssed off New England as unimportant and irrelevant, just as they have kissed off Jim Leach's brand of moderate Republicanism, and as they are in the process of kissing off their traditional suburban voters. George W. has limited the appeal of the Republican party to corporations and their lobbyists, and a majority of evangelical voters. It is becoming a regional party of the South and Midwest. Is that enough to win an election? Maybe the presidency, where personality can still trump issues. Not Congress, in my opinion