Just as the pundits began to give up hope that the Democratic Convention would ever get on track and become Barack Obama’s convention, Clinton himself turned things around and fired up the delegates.  John Kerry “poured on the coal” (as they say outside Kerry’s privileged enclaves), and then Joe Biden showed America why he was selected for the role of Obama’s attack dog.  The audience’s reaction to their fiery rhetoric, though, was tepid compared to the welcome they gave their candidate, Barack Obama, when he made a surprise appearance at the conclusion of Biden’s speech.

Finally, on the third night of the convention, the delegates were roused from their apathy and fired up with enthusiasm for their candidate.

Before the evening began, Karl Rove assessed the situation and concluded that the Democrats had wasted three nights — that it was a huge mistake for the convention to focus on the Clintons for three nights.  His summary: “Barack was rolled.”  The day before, Dick Morris declared that the convention proved that “Obama can be pushed around.”

But the third night speeches revealed a carefully planned, unified and focused, very effective strategy: the candidates expressed admiration for John McCain’s heroism and courage, they claimed friendship, and then, they expressed deep regret that McCain has chosen a “wrong path.”

Nobody really expected that Bill Clinton would be able to swallow his anger about Hillary’s narrow defeat and deliver the speech that he had to give — one that would lay out the Democratic message, drive it forward and convince people that Barack Obama is the man to lead America into a brighter and better future.  Gloria Borger, political commentator for CNN, declared that, for the Democrats, the presidential torch had to be passed sometime and that was Bill Clinton’s job during his speech Wednesday night.  So, expectations were not very high, and nobody expected Bill Clinton to overcome his bitterness and rise to the challenge.

But, he did — or at least he gave a convincing performance.  John King, director of CNN’s political team, was convinced.  He said that Clinton had “passed the torch” and was ready to campaign enthusiastically and tirelessly for Obama. Wolf Blitzer, CNN’s news anchor enthusiastically praised Clinton’s speech: “The former president stepped up to the plate and hit the ball out of the park.”  Karl Rove, the genius behind President Bush’s election, declared, “Clinton’s obligations were fulfilled.”  He injected a bit of realism when he noted that Clinton’s basic message was that Obama would be successful if he followed Clinton’s model.

There were only a few signs that Clinton’s rhetoric wasn’t totally real.  The first one was that his cool pronouncement that his first goal was to support Barack Obama, which contrasted with the warmth and enthusiasm of his support for Joe Biden, “I love Joe Biden and America will, too.”  The former president has developed a new mannerism: he shifts his tongue over to his right cheek with a little head bob that seems to have replaced the habit of biting his bottom lip to indicate deep emotion.

As Exhibit #1 of CNN’s objective and unbiased coverage of the convention, David Gergen boldly stated, “Hillary, Bill and Obama are the three best orators in America.”  It would be difficult to improve upon Bill Clinton’s speech.  He made use of parallelism, building rhetorical strength and power through successively stronger phrases, excellent use of comparison and contrast, and numerous memorable sound bites.  He said, “Barack Obama will not allow the world’s problems to obscure its opportunities.”  He also said, “People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power.” 

Structurally, the speech smoothly developed a logical argument for electing Obama as president. The rhetorical flourishes of the speech strengthened the flow between the aspirational aspects of the speech and the specific itemization of reasons for electing Barack. The impact of the speech, though, went far beyond the strength of its various sections.  To put it bluntly, the speech was the tipping point of the convention, and Barack owes Bill Clinton a huge debt.  Clinton made “a” strong case for Obama, but it will be up to Obama to make “the” case.

The general consensus of the pundits is that John Kerry, “the forgotten Democrat,” might have won the presidency if he had shown in his own 2004 campaign as much passion, energy and power in his speaking as he did in his speech promoting Barack Obama.  It’s ironic that in Kerry’s convention in 2004, it was Barack Obama who stole the show with his keynote address. This time, Kerry was not going to be overshadowed.  He intended to dish out red meat with full-fledged demagoguery.

He accused, “Never in modern history has an administration squandered American power so recklessly.  Never has strategy been so replaced by ideology.  Never has extremism so crowded out common sense and fundamental American values.  Never has short-term partisan politics so depleted the strength of America’s bipartisan foreign policy.”

He also asserted, “How insulting to suggest that those who question the mission, question the troops.  How pathetic to suggest that those who question a failed policy doubt America itself.  How desperate to tell the son of a single mother who chose community service over money and privilege that he doesn’t put American first.”

And, he should be ashamed to have said, “This election is a chance for America to tell the merchants of fear and division: ‘You don’t decide who loves this country; you don’t decide who is a patriot; you don’t decide whose sacrifice counts and whose doesn’t ... the flag doesn’t belong to any ideology.  It doesn’t belong to any political party.  It is an enduring symbol of our nation, and it belongs to all the people.’  After all, patriotism is not love of power or some cheap trick to win votes; patriotism is love of country.”

We can all be grateful that John Kerry, who holds such extremist views, didn’t have the speaking skills in 2004 that might have put him in the White House.

While the cable television viewers saw all of Clinton’s speech and parts of Kerry’s, network viewers did not see either speech, so for them, Biden’s speech was the speech of the night.  Beau Biden, the Attorney General of Delaware, introduced his dad with a personal tribute that was deeply emotional and impressive.  Joe Biden came across as a wonderful family man whose life was dramatically changed when his young wife and daughter died in a car accident that left his two sons critically injured.  The picture-perfect family, including Biden’s mother, that gathered on the podium was most impressive. So, the stage was set for Joe Biden to be viewed as a person who embodies family values as well as extraordinary Congressional experience and foreign policy expertise.

Senator Biden introduced the campaign theme of America’s promise and how it is slipping away. He talked about the “common stories among middle-class people who worked hard and played by the rules on the promise that their tomorrows would be better than their yesterdays.  That promise is the bedrock of America.  It defines who we are as a people.  And it is now in jeopardy.  I know it.  You know it.  But John McCain doesn’t get it.”  He observed, “I’ve never seen a time when Washington has watched so many people get knocked down without doing anything to help them get back up.”

The red meat thrown out by Senator Biden contained some spoiled meat too bad to swallow.  He glossed over the realities of Senator Obama’s unusual upbringing.  Biden said that Barack made vulnerable people the work of his life.  “That is what you do when you’ve been raised by a single mom who worked, went to school and raised two kids on her own.”  Biden talked about Obama “hitting the ground running” when he became a Senator — though there is no legislation bearing his name.

Senator Biden gave a litany of perceived bad policy in what he called the “Bush/McCain” years and echoed each time the refrain, “That’s not change; that’s more of the same.”  He attacked Senator McCain with typical “attack dog” intensity.  He said that as the convention gathered that night,  “our country is less secure and more isolated than at any time in recent history.  The Bush/McCain foreign policy has dug us into a very deep hole with very few friends to help us climb out.”  He enumerated examples of policy decisions where McCain was supposedly wrong and Obama, right.  He repeated the accusation: “John McCain was wrong.  Barack Obama was right.”

Biden ended his speech with the declaration that this is Obama’s time.  After all, he had earlier said that the times required, “more than a good soldier; they require a wise leader.”  The band played, “We are Family.”

Biden showed us why he was chosen the Democratic vice-presidential candidate.  He cited chapter and verse how Bush policies have been an abysmal failure.  It was a stock Democratic political speech, but the intensity of the delivery that built on the momentum set by both Clinton and Kerry enabled the Democrats to reverse the momentum of the convention.  With these three speeches, the convention became Obama’s.  If he can build on the momentum of this night to make the case for himself on the 4th night of the convention, he will be a formidable candidate, and historians will point to this night as the turning point of the convention.

Janice Shaw Crouse is available for interviews during both the Democratic and Republican conventions. Janice Shaw Crouse, former speechwriter for the first President Bush, is an expert in presidential rhetoric and debate. She provides political commentary for the networks and cable channels as well as for the print media.  She is a columnist for UPI and Townhall. She is especially qualified to comment on the social, religious, women and children’s issues related to the 2008 presidential election.