act 1 ends (sort of)

Finally. And yet it's really just the beginning. Wisely or unwisely, I stayed up to watch the speeches last night live - it felt kind of an historic moment which would not quite the same the next morning - (like watching football highlights a day later...) The consensus? First of all, I thought McCain speech seemed pretty dull and he just grinned funnily after saying serious sentences in a soft voice - a bit unnerving actually - claiming that his change (not Obama's) was change to believe in. I still haven't figured out his strategy about whether he's going to distance himself completely from Bush or not and how it will affect his support. I know it wasn't that significant a day for him, but I didn't think he portrayed himself as 'a leader to believe in' as it said behind him. But, for some reason, I still think he could win.

Clinton's speech was hotly anticipated (and hadn't been leaked before it like the other two) - and as one commentator said, she's moving through the stages of grief-- between denial (that it's actually over) to bargaining (for vp maybe?). No concession yet - so much for unity. At times it seemed like she thought she had actually still won. Obama's speech - more of the same soaring rhetoric on a historically important day (even if not a lot of 'meat' on the bones of his policies/calls for change) and seemed far more inspiring after watching McCain earlier - but is it just rhetoric? All in all, an interesting night which the pundits will tease out as the rest of the week unfolds (and as they waiting for Clinton's next move).

I have no idea why I'm following this race so closely - but given the amount of coverage in the media here, I'm probably not the only one.