Overall, the speeches were very good. Chris Christie, coming after Ann Romney, presented a nice contrast, Mom talking about love and Dad talking about respect.

Chris Christie was very good, but he has been criticized a lot for talking about himself too much, which he did. He’s a politician. They can’t help themselves, right? I like him. He reminds me of Jackie Gleason.

Gold: Ann Romney, who was magnificent in accomplishing exactly what she wanted to do; that is, tell the heart-warming story of falling in love with a “boy she met at a dance,” and sticking with him through thick and thin for 43 years, addressing the concerns of women. I found myself nodding my head as she said “It’s the moms who always have to work a little harder, to make everything right …You’re the ones who always have to do a little more.” . As I watched her speak, I couldn’t help but rub my hands together with glee thinking about how the Romneys and their marvelous traditional American family enrage and disgust liberals. My two favorite excerpts of her speech:

We’re too smart to know there aren’t easy answers. But we’re not dumb enough to accept that there aren’t better answers.

And later:

Mitt doesn’t like to talk about how he has helped others because he sees it as a privilege, not a political talking point.

Silver: Artur Davis’ barn burner (watch some here), which was not only a terrific speech, but with extra credibility since he made a nominating speech for Barack Obama in 2008. I loved it when he mocked Obama’s styrofoam columns on the four-year anniversary of that ridiculous display of narcissism and cult of personality.

Bronze: Texas U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz.  I especially enjoyed his tribute to his  immigrant father, a man who fled Cuba

And, drawing on the inspiring story of his father’s journey from Cuba, he told how Rafael Cruz had been beaten and tortured in his homeland and came to his country with $100 sewn into his underwear.

“My father is here tonight,’’ Cruz said. “When he came to America, él no tenía nada, pero tenía corazón. He had nothing, but he had heart, a heart for freedom. Thank you, Dad.”

He also expressed gratitude that there weren’t any “helpful” federal bureaucrats around to cripple his father with a handout. He ended by rousing the crowd with a line borrowed from the One himself: “yes we can.”

Not that you would have seen Mr. Davis, Mr. Cruz or rising GOP star Mia Love if you were watching the 24/7 televised nuthouse, MS-NBC. After all, how is Chris Matthews going to keep accusing the GOP of racism if they show those speeches?