Warner keynotes the Democratic convention

DENVER--The most telling line of Mark Warner's keynote address here at the Democratic Convention came near the end. It's "daunting," he said, "delivering the keynote speech four years after Barack Obama [and] speaking before Hillary Clinton."

Warner was right to feel daunted. Aiming to link his background as a successful tech businessman and wildly popular former Virginia governor with the theme of the night ("Renewing America's Promise") Warner may have hit the right notes tonight--but he did so with little authority, agility or verve. It was partly his reliance on halfhearted speechwriting devices that disappointed. Under Bush, he said, a "fair shot" has become a "long shot"; under the Dems, a "fair shot" could become a "shot in the arm."It was partly his overuse of threadbare cliches, from "you ain't seen nothing yet" to "it's not where you came from that counts, it's where you want to go."  It was partly his willingness to recite rote Democratic platitudes--"cover everyone," "restore America's leadership," "get off foreign oil," "recruit an army of new teachers"--without any memorable specifics. And it was partly the fact that Warner's own biography--start one business, start another, make hundreds of millions in the cellular industry--is neither a moving tale of triumph over adversity nor a he's-like-us homily. In the end, Warner made some good points--his story about bringing high-tech jobs to the small town of Lebanon, Va. was especially effective--but the speech as a whole fell totally flat. In the hall, the crowd muttered over his thin, reedy voice. The applause was sparse, and when it came, it felt dutiful rather than inspired. The fact is, Warner was an excellent governor--an admirable, able technocrat. But the moment--a moment of theater, after all--required either a spellbinder (like Obama) or a force of nature (like Clinton). Sandwiched between the two, Warner was dwarfed. "Atrocious," one journalist told me. Overhearing, another chimed in. "Not atrocious," he said. "Just boring."

For Dems, the most depressing part of the whole debacle must've been realizing, approximately 20 minutes after Warner finished his keynote address, that the right guy for the job had been there all along. The night--or at least the night B.C. (before Clinton)--belonged to Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer. A nonideological, plainspoken pragmatist who has come represent the rising Democratic tide out west, this former rancher and irrigation specialist delivered an old-school stemwinder that blended policy, politics and personality in the proper proportions. Like any good raconteur, Schweitzer relied on showing, not telling, to sell his story. "When I was elected governor, I chose a Republican to be my lieutenant governor simple with the simple proposition that we could get more done that way," he said. "Three-and-a-half years later, we've worked together and cut more taxes for more Montana ever before; we've raised energy production to new levels; we've invested more money in education than every before; and we've created largest budget surplus in history of Montana. That's the change that we brought to Montana and that's the change that Barack Obama is going to bring to America." Point taken. Schweitzer also harnessed the power of the telling detail, noting that while "there wasn't much in our house growing up," there was "a crucifix on our kitchen wall and framed picture of President Kennedy." He relished ragging on the Republicans, launching a call-and-response chant--"Can we afford four more years? (No!) Is it time for change? (Yes!) When do we need it? (Now!)"--and exhorting the party, amid rapturous applause and his own Tammany Hall gesticulations, to "stand up!" He even managed to sneak in an eloquent explanation, grounded in his Montana governorship, of why "we need new energy system that's clean and green and American-made." "We simply can't drill our way to energy independence" he said. "Even if you drilled in all of John McCain's backyards--including the ones he can't even remember." One idea, one hook. And he did all while wearing a bolo tie. As Schweitzer finished his remarks, the hall went crazy. "That's what's supposed to happen at the end of a keynote speech," said one of my fellow hacks. Seriously. It was like watching a waistcoat-wearing rabble-rouser circa 1934. It was, in other words, fun.

When I returned from the arena to the NEWSWEEK workspace--we're located in a tent across the street--I learned that the networks had shown Warner's speech but skipped Schweitzer's. It's too bad they got it backwards tonight--I mean, talk about good TV--but, really, it's understandable. After all, Obama and his fellow Dems made the exact same mistake.

UPDATE, Aug. 27: One reason Schweitzer didn't keynote--he wrote his final speech at the last minute. Politico's Mike Allen reports:

Originally, Schweitzer had a much blander script. But convention officials told him that he was going to be yanked from prime time and put in a much less desirable earlier spot if he didn’t go after McCain hammer and tongs. With hours to go, Schweitzer -- a farmer and rancher who held no elected office prior to being elected as the first Democratic Governor to serve Montana in 20 years -- decided to play ball, and now will get a bunch of profiles as a rising Dem.