Interesting speech by Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey. As governor of a traditional Democratic state, he had an interesting balancing act to carry out, giving red meat to the convention whilst not going too conservative for his own voters. It was impressive, and what struck me was that it was one of the few political speeches given in the current US election cycle which could be given, for the most part, by a Irish politician. I’m not saying that one ever would, because that would involve not pandering to everyone, but the values expressed would ring true with a section of the Irish electorate.

The one downside of the speech, I thought, was having the Romneys watching. His boisterous New Jersey-ness, along with his ample girth, contrasted sharply with their Stepford iciness. Mitt looked like he was badly suffering from constipation.

One final thing: the Democrats would be very dumb to keep hammering on about Gov. Christie’s weight. A lot of Americans see themselves in him.