It's tough to beat the charisma of the Kennedys, even when you're Michelle Obama and your husband is your party's presumptive presidential nominee who wants to use this week's convention to introduce himself to America.Typically, in American politics, the national conventions are the events in which the general election campaigns are launched. Each party's activists, of course, are familiar with the presumptive nominees — and the Democrats' pursuit of this year's nomination went on much longer than usual so rank-and-file Democrats have already heard Obama's campaign themes.
But not everyone pays close attention to the primaries, so the conventions are opportunities for nominees to connect with voters who haven't heard their messages.
Michelle Obama was supposed to begin that process with her speech last night. And it's a vital process in a close race.
She was hardly slighted by the delegates' response. But she was clearly upstaged by Sen. Edward Kennedy, who made an unscheduled appearance less than three months after his brain surgery and received a more enthusiastic welcome.
Kennedy did his best to promote Obama's candidacy, telling the delegates, "I come here tonight to stand with you to change America ... to elect Barack Obama president of the United States."
But the delegates could hardly be blamed if they were more aware of Kennedy's medical condition — and, considering what the senator has been through this year, more inspired by his call for affordable health care.
"For me, this is a season of hope," he said. "New hope ... that we will break the old gridlock and guarantee that every American ... will have decent, quality, affordable health care as a fundamental right and not a privilege."
There are few prominent Americans who are in a more credible position to argue for affordable health care than Ted Kennedy.
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