Dear Commons Community,

The Democratic National Convention came to a close last night with a number of its luminaries doing their thing.

John Kerry, senator from Massachusetts, referring  to the Republican election refrain, “Are you better off now than four years ago?” had a zinger of a response:

“Ask Osama bin Laden if he is better off now than he was four years ago.”

Jill Biden introduced her husband and referred several times to her life as a teacher at a community college in northern Virginia.

“For me, being a teacher isn’t just what I do—it’s who I am.”

Joe Biden gave possibly the best speech of the evening.  His comment:

“Osama bin laden is dead and General Motors is alive”  put the audience in a frenzy.

Lastly, the man  of the evening was President Barack Obama.  He was very good but I did not see the spark that there was four years ago.  David Brooks summed it up:

“The next president has to do three big things, which are in tension with one another: increase growth, reduce debt and increase social equity. President Obama has the intelligence, the dexterity and the sense of balance to navigate these crosscutting challenges. But he apparently lacks the creativity to break out of the partisan categories, the trench warfare gridlock.

Thursday night’s speech showed the character and his potential. It didn’t show audacity and the fulfillment of that potential.”

Tony