Put Angus First.

Tuesday night brought all of the heavy hitters, except that one commander-in-chief guy, to St. Paul. That's not to say he wasn't featured (he spoke via satellite), but when Joe Leibermann and Fred Thompson upstage the president, it's safe to say he's reached irrelevancy.

Strangest talking point of the night: "doesn't care what the polls say." Laura Bush, in reference to her husband, and Fred Thompson, in reference to JMac, uttered this sentiment. That logic seems a bit flawed when your sitting president has a 28% approval rating, and you have a foreign policy that, more or less, could follow in his footsteps. I'd have tossed that line if I were the elephants in the speech writing room.

That Huskie independent and thorn in the side of the Dems, Joe Leibermann, took headliner status. With a voice that could put a meth binge to sleep, the same guy that debated Dick Cheney just eight years ago strode to the podium. His calls for unity and general eloquence didn't quite receive the same applause as Fred's drawl. Joe walked a tightrope with comments like "we're living our worst nightmare." The applause was tepid.

Fred "Red Truck" Thompson delivered an impassioned homage to JMac and Reagan. For a party platform that isn't hip to two dudes getting hitched, Republican males have a creepy infatuation with Ronald Reagan. Nevertheless, the speech indicates that Thompson shines when he isn't running for president.

Note, speakers didn't mention Biden. This bodes well for the Dems. The GOP has a hard time attacking someone so experienced.

Ed Kilgore takes us behind the scenes and tells us what, through his lens, really transpired.

JMac canceled an interview with Larry King. It was part of a busy day of retaliation for supposed misspeaks and insensitiveness made against Gov. Palin.

Megan McArdle offers some nice perspective on the Palin pregnancy. If stories like this keep emerging from the woodwork, Joshua Green wonders if they could yank her. Orr says that Dems patronize Palin to their own detriment. WVPC's angle: when did being mayor become more noble than being senator? If you listened tonight, you'd think a senator is the least noble profession in America. I'm just curious; what again is the GOP nominee's profession?

Question of the day: Do speakers like Giuliani and Leibermann indicate that the GOP has a bigger tent than often given credit for? In an interview on MSNBC, Newt Gingrich answered yes. WVPC: Not really. The party has always contained mods, cons, and a few in-betweens. Rudy and Leibermann are just foreign policy hawks. The party has some doves, or at least cautionary isolationists, too. On that note, congrats to Ron Paul, 2008's real maverick. Some of Paul's rhetoric would have been a welcome addition to the slate of speakers.

See you tomorrow.