Knowing how to set the table

The Democrats blew it in the staging and arrangement of the first night of their convention.

I've organized my share of conferences, conventions, retreats and church services in my day--and you can set them up for emotional impact, leaving everyone with a memorable experience and asking for more. Or you can just hodgepodge it call together, "take it as they come" and everyone will be shuffling their feet and looking at their watches.

Particularly, when it is televised, you want the best parts in prime time on the air.

The early part of the day one Democratic agenda was the predictable droll speechifying, dragging out every superlative in the book. Sort of as one of the ancient sages like Aristotle remarked "how many angels can you get on the head of a pin?"

But then they honored Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy, with a well done video and speech by his niece, Caroline Kennedy. The predictable crescendo erupted when brain cancer-stricken Ted himself made it to the podium, and limited himself to just 7 minutes of trademark Kennedy bombast.

The table was set, as they say, and that was the moment to bring on Michelle Obama and crown the evening. Or in a church, service, the moment when you receive the offering. Or when the chairman moves immediately to a vote, while his side has things rolling his way.

Instead, the Democrats then trotted out former Iowa Republican Rep. Jim Leach, chairman of the Republicans for Obama. He always was a lousy speaker, and after running weaker and weaker, election after election, was finally defeated for re-election by Iowa voters. Leach droned on and on, settling old political scores and doing little to advance Obama's cause, as few--if any--Republicans and Independents were watching.

This drove the emotional climate into the floor, and the time in the East past 11 p.m. by the time they finally brought on Michelle Obama. Rare is the speaker who can wake the dead, much less resurrect the spirit that has gone flat. Michelle certainly is not one of them, and particularly when she has been instructed to take her happy pills, in order to douse her public image as a sniveling, angry black woman.

In prime time, when everyone was on fire from the Kennedy contretemps, Michelle could have been kind of endearing, warm and fuzzy--and done a lot of good to buff the Obama family image.

Everyone was yawning and looking at their watches by the time she got through, and chatted with Barack and the girls through the miracles of modern technology--even if Dad wasn't sure which city he was in.

As a McCain fan, I thought it was great. If I was a Democrat, I'd be reaching for the panic button.