My overarching thought last night watching the convention was this: By the time Obama speaks on Thursday, people will have all but forgotten he is the candidate. Yes, Michelle had her moment on Monday (and she did a good job), but so did Teddy Kennedy. Now it is Clinton time. Last night, watching the Hillary video, even I almost teared up, which given my seriously mixed feelings about her, is saying something. The best she could do in her speech was to say, essentially, "Vote for Obama because he’s a Democrat," and the rest of the time it was all about her — her personal history, why she ran, what she has done for women, etc. And then there was the attendant soap opera — what Bill meant earlier in the day with his "hypothetical," his tears in the stands, Chelsea’s support of Mom, the Hillary supporters outside with their "18 million votes" placards.

Tonight, it will be worse, with Bill the Bloviator taking the stage. He fills up a stadium, he will be the only subject of the talking heads. If the Obama people had any sense, they would have offered to pay her debt with his many millions and cut a deal — put them both on Monday night, dispense with the roll-call vote, anything to relegate the Clintons to a smaller spotlight, as hard as that is. (McCain is fortunate that he does not have remotely the same problems — when Romney speaks, it will not end up being all about him to say the least.)

Hillary was saying, "This ain’t over, not by a long shot." She’s right. Last night, at least, I thought, "McCain can win this." I have never lived through a Democratic convention week when there was so much talk of the Republican candidate — and not just from the podium where he is the subject of attacks. McCain’s ads are breaking through, The Clintons are introducing him into the conversation. It is uncanny. On the second night of the Democratic Convention, a Gallup tracking poll had the Republican candidate two points ahead for the first time since Obama sealed the nomination in June. Obama is going to have to be the biggest guy in the room on Thursday, an effort made harder by his campaign’s now possibly dubious decision to have him speak not in a room at all, but in a huge open-air stadium. In the meantime, it is still the Clintons’ show.