Finally...

Mitt's gone. But with a very good speech that modeled Reagan's goodbye in 1976. McCain wins the nomination. For the Dems, Clinton and Obama are locked into a deathspiral that will last under April, maybe May and June.

Great for me. Because there will be more opportunities for speeches.

Starting with Mitt. I'll talk about that and the parallels with Reagan in the next podcast (hopefully) sometime this weekend.

Meanwhile, Time's Joe Klein has an article that talks a little about the inspiration vs. substance debate on the Democratic side.

"We are the ones we've been waiting for," Barack Obama said in yet another memorable election-night speech on Super-Confusing Tuesday. "We are the change that we seek." Waiting to hear what Obama has to say — win, lose or tie — has become the most anticipated event of any given primary night. The man's use of pronouns (never I), of inspirational language and of poetic meter — "WE are the CHANGE that we SEEK" — is unprecedented in recent memory. Yes, Ronald Reagan could give great set-piece speeches on grand occasions, and so could John F. Kennedy, but Obama's ability to toss one off, different each week, is simply breathtaking. His New Hampshire concession speech, with the refrain "Yes, We Can," was turned into a brilliant music video featuring an array of young, hip, talented and beautiful celebrities. The video, stark in black-and-white, raised an existential question for Democrats: How can you not be moved by this? How can you vote against the future?