We might not quite say that San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro made himself an instant star with his keynote speech Tuesday night. It wandered in a couple of spots, and while the ideas soared, a lot of the rhetoric did not. But we can certainly say that he towered over that pulpy blowhard Chris Christie, and he did what a modern keynoter is supposed to do—he sounded the themes, he attached the themes to the candidate, and he lit hard into the other guys.

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We’re only one day into the Democratic convention but this much is already clear: So far, the Democrats are better at this.That’s not an ideological or moral observation. It’s a professional one. Team Romney let their keynoter go 15 minutes before mentioning their candidate’s name.

Victor J. Blue / Bloomberg via Getty Images

'I'm Hopeful Because of You' 'I never said this journey would be easy,' the president told Americans Thursday, 'and I won't promise that now.' But his faith, his hope, that drove him into office in 2008 remains, he said; he believes in Americans' ability to 'pull each other up' and travel the hard road to economic recovery together.

Jae C. Hong / AP Photo

Mobama came. She spoke. She kicked some political booty.Oh, sure, she did the job subtly—and leavened with many heart-tugging stories about both her own family and the other remarkable American families she gets to meet as first lady.

Harry E. Walker / MCT via Getty Images

“Our first lady is spectacular,” tweeted designer Diane Von Furstenberg. And indeed, she was.When Michelle Obama took the stage on Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention, she tore the house down with a speech that underscored her husband’s strengths and her role as “mom-in-chief.

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Michelle Obama roused the Democratic convention on Tuesday night with a soft-spoken address that tied her modest upbringing and that of her husband to the values that have guided him as president.In a well-paced, well-packaged opening night that avoided any Clint Eastwood moments, the first lady made a low-key but effective pitch that included this crowd-pleasing line: “Women are more than capable of making our own choices about our bodies and health care.

Set your browser to The Daily Beast during the Democratic National Convention, as Beast TV offers LIVE pre-game coverage of the week’s main events, streamed on our homepage from 12 to 2 p.m. and 5 to 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday and Thursday.

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It was one of the more touching events—and certainly the most unexpected—I’ve run across here in Charlotte. On Tuesday afternoon, Democrats from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints convened the first-ever national gathering of their LDS Democrats Caucus in a second-floor meeting room of the Holiday Inn in downtown Charlotte.

Justin Sullivan

Don’t try to tell the LGBT caucus at this week’s convention that there’s a lack of enthusiasm surrounding this election. These folks are pumped.Today’s afternoon caucus meeting was jam packed. It was standing room only inside the ballroom, with people lining up out in the hall to enter as others drifted out.

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The Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., is mainly about reelecting Barack Obama. But Obama’s party also is defending 23 Senate seats this November (compared to the GOP’s mere 10), and there’s a fair chance that next January, even if he wins, President Obama would be bedeviled by a Republican-run Senate far less inclined to cooperate than it was during the past four years.

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As Barack Obama prepares to look ahead to the next four years here in Charlotte, the media are looking back.They are, perhaps inevitably, measuring the president by the promise and excitement of 2008. And the verdict, not surprisingly, is that he fell way short.

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While the Democratic convention this week celebrates the party’s new coalition, Bill Clinton will no doubt try to recapture the white middle class that’s largely deserted the Democrats since his presidency ended. But it’s likely his efforts will be a case of too little, too late for Barack Obama—who will have to look elsewhere for his electoral majority.

Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP Photo

It’s conventional wisdom that Barack Obama and the Democrats have to use their convention to persuade swing voters. OK, but how? That’s the big question. It doesn’t seem at first blush that the famous Reagan question that’s resurfaced—“Are you better off than you were four years ago?”—will work to Obama’s benefit.

From left: Michael Reynolds, EPA / Landov; Charlie Riedel / AP Photo; Alex Wong / Getty Images

Back in 2008, Barack Obama boasted the support of more than 40 prominent Republicans and conservatives, including Colin Powell, Bush press secretary Scott McClellan, and Reagan solicitor general Charles Fried. These “ObamaCons” were offered as a barometer of Obama’s crossover appeal, evidence of his ability to unite the nation.