Blog Buzz: Convention Speech Stars, McCain's Veep Choice, and His 'Prickly' 'Time' Interview

Our daily look at stories and topics that are lighting up the Internets:

Clinton and Biden Score, but Kerry's the Real Star

Both Bill Clinton's and Joe Biden's speeches last night at the convention earned solid marks from most liberal bloggers. They praise Biden's sincerity and ability to appeal to the problems of average Americans and Clinton's oratory skills and wholehearted support for Obama. At the Weekly Standard, bloggers think Biden made a better case for Obama than Clinton, who they think did not focus enough on Obama's past accomplishments. One Huffington Post blogger thinks that Clinton missed the chance to attack McCain on foreign policy, an issue that Biden addressed more effectively. Conservative bloggers eagerly point out a couple of mistakes Biden made in his speech. The real hit of the night among liberal bloggers, however, was John Kerry, who gave a "golden speech" and "delivered some of the night's most memorable lines."

Rove (Allegedly) Wants Lieberman Out

As the Republican National Convention approaches, John McCain veepwatch mania returns. Reports that Karl Rove called Joe Lieberman and asked him to take himself out of the running have bloggers wondering if Lieberman is in fact McCain's selection. (Liberal bloggers think that's too good to be true, though.) A recent poll says that pick could hurt his chances in Florida, though, and a New Republic blogger debates the consequences of a pro-choice VP like Lieberman for his pro-choice supporters. Eric Cantor's name is also being tossed around, one blogger wonders about Fred Thompson, and another wishes a woman could be on the ticket (just not Kay Bailey Hutchison). Rumors also swirl of Ridge and Romney and the timing of the announcement.

McCain Gets Snippy With Time

Time recently published an interview with John McCain, during which McCain got irritated when asked to define "honor" and also how his campaign tactics have changed. Liberal bloggers jumped on the remarks, saying he feels guilty about the way he's running his campaign and that he's become tight-lipped in the media since Karl Rove's team took over his campaign. At Swampland, a Time blog, one journalist writes about McCain's "crude and angry response to my colleagues." New York magazine bloggers are happy that "angry, awesome" John McCain is back.

—Gretchen Hannes