Super short Convention Reaction

Today's vacation schedule kicks off early, so very short reactions to the last day of the convention.

• I don't usually indulge in I told you so's (maybe because I am often wrong?) but what a deep bench the Democrats have.  Last night, HRC got another big surrogate--retired Marine General John Allen.  His endorsement was full throated---and that may be an understatement.  I don't love having recently retired military officers engaging in politics.  But the real threat to American civil-military relations is not HRC, but Trump.  So, this one time, sure.
• The Muslim family that lost one of their kids who fought for the US, with the father willing to lend Trump his copy of the constitution?  I have no words.  Just incredibly touched.  This is the America that was and is great. 
• The immigrant who lost much when we saved his combat buddies and earned the Medal of Honor?  Again, touching, moving, and amazing.  The Democrats have more visibly become the party of Patriotism, but I agree with others--the Dems have always been patriots.  Just now they embrace it more visibly at the convention.
• Speaking of which, yes, the Democratic Party is the party of national security.  But this is not as new as people think--people forget that the GOP lost its credibility on this issue when they bungled the aftermath of the Iraq invasion and also when no WMDs were found.
• Hillary Clinton's speech was the best I had seen of her stuff.  It was long, but it didn't feel long.  It touched all the bases, trolled Trump effectively, and made a good case for why she should be President.  Before this week, I was a "well, Clinton is Democrat in the race, so I will vote for her, especially against the very worst the GOP can throw at us" candidate.  Now, she is the "super-qualified and historically effective" candidate who might do some real good along with the pathbreaking first woman to become President.  I still get annoyed by the Clintonian bent for unforced errors (email stuff, Clinton Foundation crap, speaking at Goldman Sachs), but I cannot argue that Hillary will not be an effective President and a pretty progressive one at that.
• Oh, and one last thought--the two conventions demonstrated so very well the big gaps in the two campaigns--of organization, of competence, of tone and of substance.  

As always, don't believe the polls this week.  Wait a week or two, don't panic.  The fundamentals solidly favor HRC.  All Trump can and will do is demonstrate how awful he would be for the US and for the world.  It will be a long 100 days, but the state polls in a couple of weeks will start to tell the tale.