Senator Bob Casey from Pennsylvania got the crowd hyped with a “Four More Months” chant that’s still buzzing around the arena and- I bet- we’ll be hearing more of in the next couple days. He pushed hard on Biden as a native son of Pennsylvania- in case anybody needed a bit more convincing in the Keystone state.

He was followed by a true hero of the equality and labor movements, Lilly Ledbetter, speaking on Women’s Equality Day. She got huge cheers for her landmark discrimination case and big boos for big business. She kept with the importance of being responsible towards future generations, driving home how important it is that we “secure fair pay for our children and grandchildren” so that no one will have to go through what she has.

Mark Warner rocked the crowd as we expected he would, weaving all the week’s themes together. He spoke quite a bit about the power of collective effort and community as well as our responsibility to each other and our future. He spoke about education and energy and all the policy issues, but it all comes back to a fundamental defining mindset of Democrats. He lamented that Bush hadn’t “tapped into America’s greatest resource: the character and resolve of the American people,” and that Bush “failed to believe in what we can achieve as a nation.”

And that’s what it’s ultimately all about when drawing a line between Democrats and Republicans. Democrats not only think we have a moral obligation to stick by each other, but we know that it’s the smartest thing too. Warner noted that with the blessings of America “comes an obligation to our neighbors, to the common good.” And that’s the whole notion of not just democracy, but society in general.

That’s what we’re up against and why we’re Democrats. That speech made me homesick for Virginia just a little bit.

Update Governor Ted Strickland had a great line about Bush being born on third and thinking he hit a triple as opposed to making it to first and stealing second. The kids love it…I had no idea how much of a rock star Ted Strickland was. Good for him, good speech. Deval Patrick’s turn as the crowd starts getting into the mood.

The difference tonight between Bob Casey’s and Kathleen Sebelius’ speeches demonstrates just one thing: it’s not really about what you say–it’s about how you say it.

Sebelius’s speech was well-constructed and had a brilliant, memorable line in reference to John McCain:

There’s no place like home…or a home…or a home…or a home…or a home…

Senator Casey’s speech, by contrast, was formulaic and not destined for the archive of great speeches.  On paper, anyway.

But that doesn’t matter.  Because Kathleen’s stage presence and speaking style was so flat that just about no one will ever remember that Kathleen Sebelius ever took the stage.  

For the record, I’m a big supporter of Sebelius and I was strongly interested in her as a possible veep candidate for Barack Obama.  My biggest doubts came when Sebelius gave the Democratic response to the State of the Union address in a way that vaguely resembled a deer staring into the headlights, trying hard to deadpan a slow, monotone delivery.

At the time many of Sebelius’ supporters said that she was a much better speaker than that example gave her credit for.  However, there’s no question that the DNC speech revealed that lack of speaking charisma is a fairly permanent condition for the Kansas governor.  And I’m sorry to say it, but that’s a big deal when you’re on the national stage.  Sebelius may be a fantastic governor, but being a national candidate demands more fire and ability to move emotions.  Especially since this is the night for attacking McCain, tonight’s speakers needed to swell with passion, and Sebelius didn’t have it.  Being vice presidential candidate demands a similar attack dog ability; tonight’s speech made me glad that Biden was the choice for that task.

Bob Casey, on the other hand, provided the fire that was needed.  Though the best line of the speech was kind of lame (“That’s not a maverick, that’s a sidekick!”), Casey moved the crowd, got them clapping, and stirred up a chant of “Four More Months!  Four More Months!”  It was effective.

Personally, I prefer Sebelius as a politician to Bob Casey.  Casey’s pro-life position sticks in my craw, and he said some unfortunate things during the primary.  But when it comes to the national stage, I’ll take charisma over minor policy differences.  It makes a big difference.  Because ultimately, politics is about moving voters.

And it’s that same charisma being displayed by Mark Warner at this very moment that makes him our likeliest bet for the presidency in 2016 after eight years of the ultra-charismatic Barack Obama.

We would do well to remember that, imho, when considering which candidate to support for governor of California as well.

Over at CA Majority Report, former gubernatorial wannabe Steve Westly looks at what he calls the, “three key lessons from this year’s midterm election.” Setting aside the fact that you should never take advice from anyone who hired Garry South, the biggest problem is what Westly failed to learn.

The defining characteristic of this year’s campaigns was the wholesale rejection of the Democratic Leadership Council. Westly was DLC and lost to a candidate who asked the DLC to take his name off their list. In CA-11, the DLC route Steve Filson took resulted in him being stomped by 24% points.

That same day in Montana, Jon Tester scored a 26% point victory over a DLC candidate with far more money. Two months later, former DLC Chair Joe Lieberman lost his primary.

This is a trend, the biggest primary in 2008 is against former DLC Vice Chair Ellen Tauscher.

We are seeing the same dynamic in the 2008 presidential primary. The first two major candidates to pull out, Mark Warner and Evan Bayh, are both prominent DLC members and current Chair Tom Vilsack is expected to follow suit shortly. That will leave Hillary Clinton as the only remaining DLC candidate and her campaign is imploding.

This might be a painful lesson for Westly, but it is the lesson that should be drawn from the midterms. That, and never hire Garry South.