An impressive number. (But you must mean "more than the number of *Americans* who watched the Olympics opening ceremony"?)

Thank God for that because people definitely will not see any replays from last night today or for the next couple of days because of the Palin VP story.  Fortunately, I think that this lack of further emphasis on Obama's acceptance speech is the one and only upside for McCain in picking Palin as his VP and announcing it today.

"this lack of further emphasis on Obama's acceptance speech is the one and only upside for McCain"

I'm pretty sure this is precise the reason McCain chose to announce his pick today; the less time the MSM spends reporting on how well Obama did, or even just replaying any parts of last night's festivities, the better off the McCain campaign will be going into the convention.

At least, that is, until McCain n' 'em give their speeches and everyone starts to compare and contrast the various speeches.

"Fortunately, I think that this lack of further emphasis on Obama's acceptance speech is the one and only upside for McCain in picking Palin as his VP and announcing it today."

This is exactly right. Completely agreed.

And let me tell you... a few weeks ago my CRT TV died after ten years, and I got a 32" HDTV... the convention in general, and Obama's speech and the filled up stadium in particular, looked mighty fine on that high-def screen.

I think Obama last night reminded people of something very, very important. He is there because we put him there. This election is about us, more than it is about him. It's about grassroots volunteers who never volunteered before, about people getting involved after decades of detachment. It's about people making a shockingly different choice for their candidate.  It is only fitting that the stadium was picked, because it allowed all of his supporters symbolically a place at the speech. Also, the lack of a roof, open to the cloudless sky... no ceiling there, glass or otherwise.

And this plays into the difference between Obama and Palin:

Obama's inexperience says something about the judgment of the Democratic Party, perhaps. But Palin's inexperience reflects McCain's judgment. There's a big difference there. McCain is telling us that half the country is crazy and wrong. But when we talk about Palin's inexperience, there's only one person whose responsible for her being up there... McCain.

leertracy that is a very good point. When you are elected to appoint someone to a position of power you have a duty to play it a little safer than when you're just gambling on yourself, and ostensibly showing the public what you've got and asking them to make an informed gamble too.

And yeah they can vote against her, but people have to pick all or nothing in these things, and they are being offered a total mystery that even the pundits have to bone up on right now, and we all have to edumacate ourselves by November 4. Well, you guys, not me. I wouldn't vote for McCain if he'd picked Al Gore. Game over.