Of course the Democrats have suffered for decades from GOP attacks on their party as being “soft”on defense, and their collective decision to fight fire with fire by appropriating Republican issues, imagery and language has never been more apparent than at this week’s tightly controlled and carefully scripted convention…. I’d prefer to be a “nation at peace” again, like we were one (Democrat) president and a mere four years ago — when we had few enemies, engaged for the right reasons in a limited police actions like Kosovo, had a booming economy, were actually talking about eliminating the entire federal deficit — and the worst thing anyone worried about was Monica Freakin’ Lewinsky!… Bottom line (politics being, like detergent sales, nothing if not a bottom line business) this whole week-long sales effort, this new-improved-red-white-and-blue-flag-waving-allegiance-pledging-stronger-than-strong product launch, may have been a huge and very expensive mistake.

Despite the record-setting amounts of money both parties have already raised and spent, mostly on television and radio advertising, and despite the near-maniacal exercises in control being exerted by the Kerry camp here in Boston (and soon to be exerted by the Bush forces in Manhattan), nasty and rude “externalities” are about to intrude.

Last night, while the networks slept, the cynics wept and the future revealed itself. The occasion was the extraordinary keynote speech by Barack Obama, a formerly obscure Illinois State Senator who is poised to become the most important Democrat in America.

Rory O’Connor sees dead people — or at least the ghosts of Democratic Party past — nearly everywhere he turns in Boston, as the Democrats trot out some old favorites (and try to bury others) before their man Kerry gets his close up.