Liveblogging Time

9:58pm Will: Warner jut mentioned my favorite letter from Jefferson to Adams, but forgot the most important part. (Fifth quotation)

9:59pm Nicola: So we missed most of the keynote address. Will: "He has a bevy of attractive women."

10:01pm Will: 10-yr Tamdhu never tasted so good.

10:03pm Nicola: Can they stop repeating that it's the 88th anniversary of the 19th amendment? Women: we have the vote.

10:05pm Nicola: The CNN sound-meter is the stupidest thing I've ever seen.

10:06pm Nicola: Talking heads > Ted Strickland. At least according to the network heads. If I could find a network that actually showed Strickland, I might be able to tell.

10:08pm Will: Michelle Obama is giving a meta-speech about her speech on PBS. How long until our speeches include footnotes?

10:10pm Nicola: "Hillary Clinton has been nothing but supportive." -- Michelle Obama. Also, what is up with the woman's eyebrows?

10:12pm Will: "Barack is less concerned with tearing down his opponent." You think?

10:14pm Nicola: Michelle Obama appears to be running for National Den Mother.

10:15pm Nicola: Jim Lehrer informs us that they have not been airing Deval Patrick because there's an interview with Michelle instead. What's with the intro music?

10:16pm Will: Deval Patrick informs us that Deval Patrick is a victim!

10:17pm Nicola: Social mobility is an exclusively Democratic issue? ...oh. Well then.

10:18pm Will: This election was about middle-class anxiety from the very beginning (aren't all elections about middle-class anxiety?), and Patrick is addressing that brilliantly.

10:19pm Will: Bill Clinton has made his rock-star appearance.

10:20pm Nicola: David, our secret undercover agent at the DNC, writes: "They are passing out "McCain more of the same" and "Obama for change" signs. You can pick which to hold - everyone is picking the McCain one"

10:22pm Nicola: Patrick: "Democrats don't deserve to win just because Republicans deserve to lose." Deval for Barr?

10:24pm Will: Deval sez: "Government is the name we give to the things we choose to do together." Wow, creepy. Has the man not heard of friendly societies?

10:25pm Nicola: "Women were appealed to first and foremost as mothers." Oh, so unlike Michelle Obama's speech last night?

10:26pm Will: PBS's Margeret Warner is an extraordinarily snarky and condescending dinner companion. We may have to switch coverage on principle.

10:29pm Will: The commenting has devolved into a great, big LBJ/FDR love-fest. Time to change channels.

10:31pm Nicola: Delegate Dave sighted!

10:32pm Nicola: The only handmade signs in sight are in Bill Clinton's hands. Somehow fitting.

10:33pm Nicola: Bill Clinton's slack-jawed look of horror/confusion may actually be the highlight of the entire evening.

10:34pm Will: Particpatory hogwash, all of it. Also, I am officially naming Obama's energy plan the "Let's Break Windows to Make Jobs for Glaziers"-plan.

10:35pm Will: "Petro-dictator" is an awesome word, and it's been used about 15 times in the last 5 minutes.

10:37pm Nicola: Any bets on whether the video tribute to HRC will include scenes from the Goldwater campaign?

10:37pm Will: The constant instant-reaction close-up on Bill's face while they play the HRC video is really freakin' creepy. Also voyeuristic. Also wildly inappropriate.

10:39pm Nicola: I think I'm just allergic to video tributes.

10:41pm Will: Everything about this video tribute, from the music to the plot, is hyper-masculinized. Deliberate?

10:41pm Nicola: That 18 million cracks line was pretty good the first time I heard it, but I've heard it about a thousand times in the last hour.

10:42pm Nicola: ...orange? ORANGE?

10:43pm Will: I like the orange. It's very 50s-chic.

10:43pm Will: She's spent more time soaking up applause than a lot of people spent speaking. Might her ego be as big as Bill's?

10:44pm Nicola: Leave the fashion to me.

10:45pm Nicola: Signs read "unity." Biden gives her a standing ovation for the Obama line. Bill stands up a minute after, and he looks cranky about it.

10:48pm Will: She has such a wonderful uptight, midwestern, Episcopalian/Methodist, vibe to her. I love it!

10:48pm Will: Obama couldn't have asked for a better speech.

10:49pm Nicola: Nice nod to the crying. I hope I look that good when I'm her age. Maybe not the orange, though.

10:50pm Will: Wild swings between feel-good uplift and shallow pathos make me a cranky reactionary, not to mention a cranky epicurean.

10:51pm Will: Primary message: "I am a victim, you are a victim, we are all victims. Let's all be victims together! Ressentiment lo volt!"

10:52pm Nicola: "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuit" makes me want to repeal the 19th amendment.

10:55pm Nicola: What if I don't want an America that's marked by deep equality? Doesn't anyone see any problem with talking about equality and achieving your full potential in the same breath?

10:56pm Nicola: "Invisible Americans" make their first appearance. Oh, Mark Penn. Never change.

10:57pm Will: "Were you in it just for me?" She totally wishes the answer were 'Yes'.

10:58pm Nicola: CNN's chyron informs me that Hillary's name will be placed in nomination. I really hope it turns into a floorfight.

11:00pm Will: I prefer no-populism to populism. But even populism is better than this therapeutic, phony-populist, ego-massaging trash.

11:02pm Nicola: I can tell Bush and McCain apart. Bush has more hair.

11:05pm Nicola: Michelle Obama looks less than enthused about the 19th amendment.

11:06pm Nicola: America -- it's like the Energizer Bunny. I am filled with patriotic glee.

11:08pm Will: Speech is over, prepare for another 10 minutes of waving at the crowd and soaking up their enthusiasms. Gross.

11:09pm Nicola: CNN says this is the most important speech of Hillary's career. That's...pretty depressing.

11:09pm Nicola: "Much more consciously feminist than Hillary was at the beginning of the campaign." No, really?

11:10pm Will: Closing prayer? CNN commentary? No thank you. This is the end. We may be back tomorrow with the Clinton/Webb/Biden Trifecta of Angry White Men. Until then...