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Ezra Klein explains the plainspoken genius of Joe Biden's speech:
Joseph Biden's speech last night accepting the Democratic nomination for the vice presidency was not a great speech. The rhetoric did not take wing and soar, the assembled delegates did not leave the arena slack-jawed and astonished. It was a workmanlike address, a blunt object delivered, at times, with great force. In many ways, it was the opposite of Barack Obama's best speeches. This may be exactly what the Obama campaign needs.
And Harold Meyerson reports on how a fractured labor movement is coming together and dedicating all its resources to electing Barack Obama:
And when the rally ended and the cheering stopped, delegates from four AFL-CIO unions – the Steelworkers, the Communications Workers (CWA), the Auto Workers (UAW) and the far smaller International Federation of Professional and Technical Employees (the IFPTE, which represents, among others, aeronautical engineers at aerospace companies) – gathered for their own reception in a nearby hotel. Over the past few months, the four unions have quietly formed a political-action sub-group, which they call the Alliance, to wage their own political campaign this fall, which they are funding by withholding their payments into the AFL-CIO's political program. This week in Denver, they have been caucusing daily.
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