Since no one seems to pay much attention to the 8-9 time slot, I'm going to ignore it as well and just focus on the key speeches in the 9-11 timeslot.

Michael Steele: He gave a short, enthusiastic, serviceable "B-" speech that may have helped shore up a few conservatives who were soft on McCain by emphasizing that like him or not, if you're putting your country first, you vote McCain. Still, Steele is a monster talent who's capable of turning in a better performance.

So, do you want to put your country first? Then let's change the way we educate our kids. Let's empower those whose minds are shackled by a poor education with real choices in where they go to school. So, do you want to put your country first? Then let's change our tax code to confiscate less of our hard earned paychecks so more and more families may actually know what it's like to save for the future. So, do you want to put your country first? Then let's reduce our dependency on foreign sources of oil and promote oil and gas production at home. In other words, drill baby drill! And drill now! So, do you want to put your country first? Then let's make decisions about our security based on what keeps us safe and not on what's politically correct. So, do you want to put your country first? Then let's win the war on terrorism. So, do you want to put your country first? Then let's elect John McCain the next president of the United States!

Mitt Romney: Romney's speech was a surprise for three reasons: it was earlier than I thought it would be, it was shorter than I thought it would be, and it was a muddled "C" speech. I've never been the biggest Romney fan, but I will admit that when he puts the effort in, he's a strong speaker. Given the quality of the speech, which did very little for the ticket, I am glad he was on early.

Mike Huckabee: Now we're starting to get into the part of the program where people are really paying attention and the silver tongued Huckabee got his turn at the podium. It wasn't Huck-a-duck at his absolute best, but he did bust out the folksy charm while he was making his case for John McCain and the Republican Party. All in all, it was a "B+" speech for a guy capable of turning in an "A" performance every time he steps on the stage. Not bad.

"I'm not a Republican because I grew up rich, but because I didn't want to spend the rest of my life poor, waiting for the government to rescue me." -- Mike Huckabee

Gov. Linda Lingle (Hawaii): She just didn't impress me as a very good speaker. Her speech, which had decent content, was a resume builder for Palin, but it was dullsville. A "C-" speech that would have been a "B" in the hands of someone with better delivery. Given the weakness of her performance, they should have had someone else in that crucial spot between Huckabee and Rudy.

"I find it especially amusing that the other party says Governor Palin lacks experience when their own candidates for president and vice president...have NO executive experience... ZERO!"

Rudy Giuliani: Rudy's mission was to hit Obama and he did his job with gusto. He relentlessly -- and effectively -- mocked Obama with a wickedly funny and sarcastic speech. It was a solid "A" speech that the crowd loved. Say what you want about Rudy; the man does deliver when it's crunch time.

"Change is not a destination, just as hope is not a strategy." -- Rudy Giuliani

As far as I'm concerned, the first day she was mayor, she had more experience as an executive than Obama and Biden combined. Then she became Governor..." -- Rudy Giuliani

"How dare they question whether Sarah Palin has enough time to spend with her children and be Vice-President. How dare they do that. When do they ever ask a man that question? When?" -- Rudy Giuliani

Sarah Palin: If the only thing you knew about Sarah Palin was what you heard from the Obama campaign's surrogates AKA the mainstream press, you'd think she was a poor little cupcake, in over her head, who'd probably stammer and cry at the podium and then run off stage to give up the vice-presidency.

Instead, after receiving a standing ovation from an adoring crowd, she walked out and delivered an A+ speech that was better than anything Barack Obama has done in the last two years, if not ever. Palin tried to do 3 things with the speech: build up her own resume, push John McCain, and hammer the hell out of Obama. To say she hit a home run at those three tasks is an understatement. Palin delivered a called shot, with the bases loaded, that went out of the park, across the street, crashed through the window of the Obama campaign headquarters, and rolled right up to the empty suit running the operation.

In fact, they don't even need to hold a convention tomorrow night if they don't want to. They can just take Fred Thompson's speech, Rudy Giuliani's speech, and Sarah Palin's speech and just replay each of them twice each between 8-11 and it would be hard to top it.

"I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities. I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening." -- Sarah Palin

"But here's a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion - I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this country. Americans expect us to go to Washington for the right reasons, and not just to mingle with the right people." -- Sarah Palin

This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word "victory" except when he's talking about his own campaign. But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed ... when the roar of the crowd fades away ... when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot - what exactly is our opponent's plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to make government bigger ... take more of your money ... give you more orders from Washington ... and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world. America needs more energy ... our opponent is against producing it.

Victory in Iraq is finally in sight ... he wants to forfeit. Terrorist states are seeking new-clear weapons without delay ... he wants to meet them without preconditions. Al Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America ... he's worried that someone won't read them their rights? Government is too big ... he wants to grow it. Congress spends too much ... he promises more. Taxes are too high ... he wants to raise them. His tax increases are the fine print in his economic plan, and let me be specific. The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes ... raise payroll taxes ... raise investment income taxes ... raise the death tax ... raise business taxes ... and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars.

Summary: It was another strong night for the GOP. After pumping up McCain/Palin on Night 2, they tore Obama down to the ground on Night 3. Although there were a few weak performances in there, the big 3 speeches of the night, Huckabee, Rudy Giuliani, and most importantly Palin -- all delivered. So, I'd give the night an "A-" and, yes, after people have a little time to digest it, this is going to give the ticket a bump.