Three Up; Three Down

By The News Virginian Staff

Published: August 30, 2008

THREE UP
OK, so forget for a moment that Bill Clinton’s speech Wednesday at the Democratic National Convention distorted the truth in some instances and butchered fact in others. His performance was the convention’s strongest, besting even the upstart from Illinois, proving that while Clinton may have the morals of an alley cat, he can still talk a good game.
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The only other speaker at the DNC whose speech intrigued more than slightly was Hillary Clinton. While her husband’s endorsement of Barack Obama was ringing, Hillary’s was tepid. She performed her party duty but did nothing more, linking support of Obama to party principles. Hillary’s eyes, for those willing to look, were cast to 2012. Doubtless she expects to take on an incumbent president of Republican persuasion.
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Following an arid summer a year ago, near-drought conditions have settled in throughout much of Augusta County again this year. Tropical Storm Fay brought badly needed rains. The only question, is it enough to save crops already falling below yield thresholds?

THREE DOWN
A week that began with so much promise ended with disappointment for Barack Obama. He became the first black to win a major party nomination in American history. But neither that moment nor the Democratic National Convention provided him with badly needed poll bounce. Further, his speech Thursday, when he was expected to revive his flagging campaign, provided only mostly boilerplate Democratic policy rhetoric.
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Obama received little help from convention organizers. First, they provided Bill and Hillary Clinton the stage for two days rather than limiting them to one. Then, they set the bar extraordinarily high for Obama by moving the venue for his speech to Invesco Field, complete with Greek backdrop. Only the togas were missing.
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Former Gov. Mark Warner entered the convention as a rising star and left it and left it an afterthought. Warner was bounced from a prime-time speaking spot, according to some rumors, because his speech was not sufficiently negative toward John McCain. Whatever the case, Warner’s speech pushed snooze buttons all across America.