Night Two Closing Thoughts

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From Time’s Amy Sullivan

It was an emotional night in Clinton-land, with more than a few of her friends crying in the Clinton skybox. The former president tried to hold it together for most of Hillary’s speech, but by the end he was wiping away tears as well. After she concluded, he kept repeating, “She was great–she was really great” before letting out a deep breath and what looked like a very bittersweet “Whoa…” (thank you, REI binoculars!)

The distribution of Hillary signs throughout the hall actually made the Obama campaign’s goal of communicating unity easier because it was nearly impossible to visually separate blocs of Hillary supporters from Obama fans. The sea of Hillary signs just looked like this night’s equivalent of last night’s “Kennedy” and then “Michelle” placards.

And on a totally different topic, it strikes me that if the networks kept rolling for five more minutes at the end of each night, America would get an image of the Democratic Party that might shake up the stereotypes. When the benediction is given each night, the press area starts to clear pretty quickly, but a good 90% of delegates stand for the prayer and at least half of them bow their heads and give a hearty “Amen!” at the end. Not the kind of thing that merits television coverage, but it would go a long way toward vaporizing the idea that the Democratic Party is dominated by heathens.