Jefferson Jackson Dinner: Dodd...and Clinton and Obama

I did not take very good notes on Dodd. This is not Dodd's fault, particularly. It is because -- and I am ashamed that my notes do not reflect this -- this may be the least interesting campaign event I have attended... well, ever. Nancy Pelosi has been as stiff and awkward an emcee as, uhm, everyone thought she would be and it started 40 minutes late before it became ALSO an hour over time. And then there's the actual speeches. They're fine. But they seem to have been studiously stripped of original or news-making content.

Pelosi sort of captured the dismal spirit of the thing just now -- where, in real time -- she re-introduced the candidates and then, still on mic, asked someone, "Did I get them all?"

So, in the interest of not torturing you all in the same fashion that I have been, I'll briefly run through the final two speakers as well.

Clinton:

The most remarkable thing about it was that whatever she's taking for that cold, it seems to have lowered her voice and octave and slowed her speech by half. She sounded vaguely high. The next most remarkable thing was the official introduction of her new theme -- visible on those yellow pieces of swag all weekend -- "Turn up the heat. Turn the country around." It's been noted by reporters that these phrases are not actually related in any logical fashion. Content-wise, she sounded familiar themes -- invisible people are bad, health care is good, and, by the way, she's the frontrunner: "I'm not interested in attacking my opponents, I'm interested in attacking problems."

Obama:

The excerpts give a flavor of what he delivered, but I have to say, given the low energy of the room, his performance was especially striking. Again, the applause at his introduction was thundering. He also drew the longest, loudest responses throughout his speech: hooting, hollering and he was the only candidate to draw an enthusiastic chant. He also was the only candidate that seemed, for lack of a better word, to be working it. He gave that speech as if he was trying to convince people, not just solidifying the support he already had. It was a positive speech, but not without a few subtle swipes at Clinton -- mostly in the pitch that only dogs and political reporters can hear, most notably, lines like, "I am not in this race to fulfill some long held ambition or because I feel it is owed to me."

I just finished typing that sentence when a little birdie -- as the Politico's Mike Allen puts it -- contacted me to point out the times that Obama has talked about a long held ambition to be president. Specifically, he wrote about wanting to be president in kindergarten. When I was in kindergarten, I wanted to be a princess. (Next: Little birdies crow that Edwards' kindergarten haircuts were overpriced!)