Simply put, it was one of the greatest speeches I've ever seen. The little engine that could has just crested the hill and is sprinting towards the finish line with an energized and united party behind him. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the candidate we've been waiting for.

It wasn't a home run, it was a grand slam.

That speech was nuts. It was like taking the best parts of 5 different types of speeches and combining them up in a blender. It was wonky at times. It went on the offense against John McCain without going nuclear and negative. It talked about his history in a way that I hadn't heard before. And it had all the great lofty Obama rhetoric that we've come to know and love. And the fact that it was done in front of 84,000 people in a swing state??? That sound you hear is the RNC shitting their pants.

But perhaps my favorite aspect of his speech is that, for once, a Democrat is shaping the dialogue. Far too often, a Republican shapes the argument and the Democrats play defense for much of the campaign. I suspect the Republicans are going to spend much of their convention answering the questions the Democrats raised this week.

It was a great speech and a great convention. The whole week kind of built on top of itself. I suspect that the party's more unified now than it has been for quite some time.

And you know, this election is "close" right now. All the polls show a tight race. But I kind of just smiled as I walked past the UT Democrats' Obama table as I trekked across campus yesterday. The students are back. People are paying attention. I may be way off base here, but the ground game we saw during the primaries is just the beginning. We can taste it now. You aint seen nothing yet.

- Matthew