HunterByrd

The hours leading to President George W Bush's acceptance speech were filled with the buzz and chatter of reporters, producers, pundits, bloggers, party hacks, and conventioneers -- and that was inside Madison Square Garden. On the outside, protesters kept up their fevered paces, painted faces, and shrill criticism of ... everything.

Further away from 'Ground Zero', people who heard Zell Miller's speech the night before were talking about it. If they were like me, they referred to it enthusiastically. Other's tone of voice was more subdued, their rhetoric blunted for fear old Zell might be more right than wrong.

The President’s Acceptance Speech

This speech was long. It was so full, at times it was numbing. But it was Bush at his best. The quotes are legion. The imagery evoked from the language is beautiful. He was short on details. Complexities may have been glossed over. As always, too, campaign rhetoric bulges against cold hard reality. But that is what all good politicians do! W became emotional at times. Overall, the speech was excellent.

The President's speech capped off a week's worth of attack on Kerry's anti-war tendencies, and his foreign policy deficiencies. For who ever listened, the case for war has been made.

On the whole, the convention was clearly a success. There will be an immediate effect among those who watched it -- a relatively small number -- and a ripple effect as people discuss their impressions with friends, family members and co-workers. It will be at least a couple of weeks before polls reflect the impact of the convention. Jim Hinderaker of Power Line Blog