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If you've watched the DNC coverage on your favorite cable channel this week, you've probably noticed that it has been packed with exciting moments for Democrats.
And it's not by chance. Kudos must be given to the Obama team for creating magical, memorable moments...in some cases, out of nothing at all.
It all began with that text message last week. We all knew that Obama was going to need to announce his VP pick at some point. Many people even predicted that it would be Joe Biden. Biden was widely received as a good choice, though not necessarily surprising.
But you wouldn't have known that. The Obama campaign was able to create a Hollywood-style mega-event out of the Biden pick, by first announcing their announcement method. Paparazzi surrounded Biden's home while political pundits used the phrase "text message" more than they ever will in their careers - each time carefully enunciating "text message" as though it were a secret new technology that the Obama campaign had just invented.
And this led us to the convention...
Monday gave us two Oba-Magic moments. First, there was the appearance by Senator Ted Kennedy (a genuinely wonderful moment inside the Pepsi Center). Then, after Michelle Obama's speech, in came another tech-savvy surprise - Michelle's husband, live, via satellite. Barack asked his kids how they thought Mommy did, resulting in a made-for-tv cutefest.
Wednesday also proved to be a two-fer. The first may have been the most important highly crafted moment of the entire convention. The roll call, in which delegates announce who they are casting their votes for. Usually, all delegates are pre-released to the presumptive nominee as a sign of unity. But this is no ordinary year. This year needed extra super-sized unity. And so, when the roll call got to the great state of New York, Senator Hillary Clinton stopped everything, and pulled a nifty little trick out of her sleeve called "acclamation." In a blink of an eye, Barack Obama was the first African-American to lead a major political party in the general election campaign for President.
Cue "Love Train" and a spontaneous delegate dance party on the convention floor.
(The MSM response was fairly universal: "Historic." - This is marketing at its finest.)
But they weren't finished yet. As Joe Biden was accepting his party's nomination for Vice President, a certain motorcade was spotted passing by the MSNBC set at Union Station. Moments later, Blackberrys were buzzing: He was on his way.
Whispers began, and Obama-Biden signs were passed out to delegates, with the instruction not to hold them up until after Biden's speech.
Biden finished, and his wife told them there was a surprise visitor here to see him.
"Who?" replied Biden. (The response garnered a fairly big laugh in the hall, although I was told this morning by a top Obama campaign official that Biden actually was not told about the visit beforehand. They really do keep these things close to the vest.)
Barack Obama walked on stage at the Pepsi Center, and as you can imagine, it was Dems Gone Wild.
The convention moves to the larger INVESCO field tonight, for this, the final installment of the DNC, and the Obama acceptance speech.
Can we expect a final, parting surprise? Will the speech live up to expectations?
And what do you think about the Obama camp's stagecraft techniques?
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