Ronald Reagan

Who could have predicted that a Reagan chant would go up at a Democratic convention? Maybe you saw Republican operatives on TV claiming that Ron Reagan's appearance at the DNC was offset by Zell Miller's appearance at the RNC. Tonight proved them wrong. Zell Miller couldn't deliver a speech to equal Reagan's if his life depended on it, let alone outdo Reagan's subtle side-taking with crass partisanship.

Line of the night: "A few of these folks, needless to say, are grinding a political axe, and they should be ashamed of themselves." Reagan's clever injunction to "vote in favor of stem cell research, whatever you do in November" is coded language that's rather easy to decode.

UPDATE: Even better line: "We have a choice between true compassion and mere ideology."