No one can say that saw the Democratic convention that it was not a spirit filled, upbeat event. There were several well liked headlining speech givers such as Ted Kennedy, Hilary Clinton, Bill Clinton, and even the wife of Obama, Michelle, gave a speech that was great by the standards of anyone. The Democratic convention appeared to go off without a hitch that was noticeable and it was said by many to be an overall success. Will this be an added advantage for the Democratic Party on Election Day in November? We will just have to wait and see if the event gives the results that it was intended to.

Unfortunately, the Republican convention does not seem to be getting along quite so well. It was put off by hurricane Gustav to begin with. The Republicans did try to play this up by saying that the hurricane crisis should take precedence over the convention and they definitely must be given credit for realizing this. Laura Bush and Cindy McCain did raise a million dollars for the victims of Gustav and they must be given credit for that.

The Republicans had bandied the idea of using the convention to also raise money for their campaign by holding a telethon. Some people did not think that this was a really good idea while others saw nothing wrong with it.

There were also thousands of anti war protesters that emerged on the outside of the convention site and some of them became violent throwing benches and damaging property and were arrested. While the majority was peaceful protesters and holding a sit in, there are always a few rough necks in every crowd who just can not seem to control themselves.

Then there is the subject of the vice presidential pick of John McCain. Many people do not know what to think about his choice who is the Governor of Alaska. Sarah Palin is relatively unknown to most of us on a nation wide scale and seems to have some baggage to be sorted through before a verdict can be reached as to her plus or minus status for the Republicans. It seems there is some investigation being done concerning the non firing of her brother in law from a police force. The latest news to develop concerning her is the fact that her teenage daughter was pregnant and has decided to keep and raise her child which is a good thing if it is really any of our business and does not have anything to do with Palin and her qualifications as a vice presidential candidate.