Harriet Tubman at the DNC

I was a tad nervous when Hillary Clinton started talking tonight.

Would she stand up there on a stage during a moment that is highly anticipated and throw her previously underwhelming support Obama's way? Would she stand there, still bitter from her tough loss, and speak her words with no energy, wishing it were Thursday night and she were the one accepting the party's nomination?

It turns out that she wouldn't. It turns out that she blew it up.

There were some not-great things about her speech.When she said "I ran for president, because..." I imagined the 18 million Hillary voters got all pissed off again, reminded that Clinton had run for president and had lost. And "to my sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits" was a bit gag-inducing, but the people -- Bill included -- quite enjoyed it.

Gag reflex aside, there was quite a lot that was great about it. This sound bite for sure: "No way. No how. No McCain." And the image of the Supreme Court being caught in a "right-wing headlock"
was also good. And this zinger had some rhythm: "With an agenda like that, it makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities. Because these days they're awfully hard to tell apart."

These were good for sure. But I've saved the best for last.

It was when she mentioned Harriet Tubman, a runaway slave who contributed to the success of the Underground Railroad. The crowd's applause grew louder and became more raucous at the end of each line. No doubt they, like I, responded to the imagery the following words produced (text from AP):

[sic]

Harriet Tubman