I watched a few more minutes of the convention last night than the night before. You’d think that with all backlash Democrats are getting for the lack of substance at this convention, there would be some effort within the party to make things more interesting. I know that the whole point is to provide an infomercial for the party and the candidate, but if no one is watching because it’s so uninteresting, can it be that effective an infomercial? This is especially true in a year when everyone agrees that the critical task for both Democrats and Republicans is to grab the attention of swing voters. But I can promise you that swing voters are NOT watching this. They might watch if they knew they’d see something worthwhile.

Last night was certainly a picture of the past and the future of the party. Ted Kennedy, of course, represents the past. While not the Senate’s only functional alcoholic but perhaps its most prominent, Kennedy unleashed one of the most absurd statements of his long career of absurdity:

The only thing we have to fear is four more years of George W. Bush.

Really? That’s all we have to fear? Seriously? Do you and your party really believe that Americans should have no other legitimate fears besides George Bush? Tell that to the families of the victims of 9/11. Tell that to the innocent citizens throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia, and the Middle East who have all suffered greatly at the hands of radical, fundamentalist Islamist terrorists who would like nothing better than to turn every large American city into a ground zero. How can the Democrats be serious about fighting a war on terrorism and then give Ted Kennedy the chance to say things like this?

On the flip side, Barak Obama gave a great speech with his first appearance on the national stage. I don’t think it was the grand slam that everyone is touting today. It was good, and he certainly has a lot of appeal — he’s young, he’s attractive, he’s black, he’s eloquent. These are all things Ted Kennedy is not.

What bothered me about Obama’s speech is that his theme of “one America” seems to contradict John Edwards’ theme of “two Americas”. I don’t know how a party can say out of one side of its mouth that America is one people, and say out of the other side that American is really all about the poor vs. the rich. The speech was solid, and I think Obama will be this party’s nominee in the near future. But I think he’s a little ahead of his time.

Regardless of the outcome of this year’s election, Obama has joined John Edwards and Baltimore’s Martin O’Malley as the young lions of the party.