[Kristina]

Well I LITERALLY just got back from Boston and I have to say that the convention was AMAZING. I went up with no credentials to get in but amazingly I scored passes (I heard they were going for like $700 on Ebay) through random connections for two nights...which happened to be the best two nights.

Monday I got to hear Bill and Hilary, amongst others and then of course on Thursday was the grand finale with Kerry and company. It's hard to even describe how much energy and sense of unity there was in the Fleet Center. Bill was, as always, on the top of his game. I think he did a really good job of rallying the Democrats without completely taking the spotlight. As for Kerry, I've seen him speak a handful of times in person but this by far was the best speech I've ever heard him give. Before Thursday, I was skeptical because there was so much pressure for him to give the speech of his life, but he definitely met everyone's lofty expectations.

Now to address some of the things that people have brought up. Not to sound like the Democratic Party Spokeswoman, but there was a reason why Kerry didn't go into a lot of specifics. A convention is supposed to pump up the party loyalists so that they feel appreciated for all the hard work they've put in over the past months and years. It's also supposed to give them the boost they need to make it into the final haul and go out and spread the good word. For the general public, the convention is supposed to give people a general overview of the candidate. His upbrining, his family, his personality, his path leading up to public office, and the ideas he has to offer. This may be old news to a lot of us who have followed this for a while but a lot of people still don't know the basics.

Kerry's speech was already a good 50 minutes. I would have been happy to sit there for another few hours but I think we all know the attention span of the general public. It's a sad but true fact that he had to rush to finish his speech so primetime wouldn't cut him off. It's absolutely horrible that he would have to feel this way and all of the networks are catering to people who would rather watch some reality tv show than listen to a man give an indepth explanation of what he would do as the most powerful position in the world. That's the world we live in though and so that's what Kerry had to work with. His job was to inspire people to look up more about him and look his detailed specifics on his website, in the news, and at the debates. I think he did this and hopefully I'm right.