WELL, THAT SURE LOOKED AS IF IT WORKED, BUT...

I had the same reaction I imagine most of you had to Bill Clinton's speech last night: that he made an amazingly strong case for Obama's reelection, that he effectively rebutted just about every argument against Obama, that he's still the most compelling speechmaker in America and was at the top of his form, and that, yeah, the speech sure did drag on after a while.

I'm not worried about the length -- many of Clinton's State of the Union addresses, especially in the latter part of his presidency, seemed similarly hyperextended, and I recall that they still polled extremely well.

I'm worried that while the message certainly conceded the point reluctant voters are making -- if you're dissatisfied with the status quo under Obama, I feel your pain, though here's why you should vote for Obama anyway -- the tone was just the opposite: celebratory, rhapsodic, giddy with possibility. In one way of looking at it, that's exactly how Clinton had to sound -- he had to say that the case for Obama's reelection is so strong it's almost overwhelming. But I wonder if persuadable voters would have responded to less enthusiasm rather than more, because it would match their feelings.

I know, I know -- we had a guy last night who wasn't apologizing for being a Democrat and I'm complaining? But I hope it caught the mood of swing voters, not just committed Democrats at home and in the hall.

And, yeah, I hope the speech didn't take the focus away from Obama. If it did, that would also be a sign that voters were paying more attention to the tone than the content. The pundit chatter leading up to the speech suggested that Clinton might offer a halfhearted endorsement of Obama, or (a la Chris Christie) barely an endorsement at all, or even might undermine Obama with a phrase or two. Nothing of the sort happened -- the words Clinton spoke couldn't possibly have been more pro-Obama. But if swing voters responded to the aura of the speech, the feel of it, the Clinton-ness of it, rather than to what he actually said, they could come away admiring Clinton but not coming around to Obama. Logically, this makes no sense -- didn't you people hear what he said? But it seems to me that it's possible. I just don't know. The polls will tell.

Meanwhile, a pretty good speaker is up tonight -- two, in fact. Biden will surprise you if you haven't seen him deliver a speech. And Obama's going to take the baton and, I think, run a hell of an anchor leg. That's what necessary to bring this home.