I blog this passage from my laptop at the Hotel Bolderado in Boulder, with a Stella and a glass of scotch in front of me as I wait for my turkey BLT to arrive. I feel so far removed from the world from which I just came, far from the hustle and bustle of Denver and the chaos that is the DNC. It is with this breath that I recollect.

It is a bit pedantic to tell you that the DNC is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, a veritable collage of the democratic process within a Pepsi Center filled with hope and the resonating words of the woman who could be the next First Lady of the United States of America.

Wander the convention floor, maneuvering your way past the various levels of security and down into the fray, and you’ll find something unique, beautiful and purposeful. Yeah, the end of Michelle Obama’s speech tight-roped the line between earnest and cheesy, as she looked into the crowd of delegates holding posts with her named emblazoned on them high into the air, as she told the crowd about a the hope Barack Obama had given a mother whose son had lost his life in Iraq. The lines seemed to take the wind away from the delegates’ sails, if only for a moment.

However, what could never be taken away from any of the 60,000+ people in the Pepsi Center tonight was the final moment when Barack Obama, by satellite, introduced an entire country that he and his family were very tangibly human.

It was a triumphant moment for perhaps the most understood presidential candidate in America’s history. For every right-wing nut job who has tried to paint the man as a Muslim terrorist, this was Barack Obama, the suitor, the romantic who had found the girl of his dreams and who had the tenacity to make her his wife. For every nay-sayer who questions his love of this country, there is a father who, within this presidential run for the White House, can’t hold back the slight creak in his voice when he hears his daughter Sasha grab the microphone and say hello to the Girado family who is hosting her father. For every Republican who questions this man’s ability to lead, is a leader, who has united a party in ways that transcend the ordinary.

Look, regardless of your political affiliation, or whoever you might pull the lever for in November, there is absolutely no denying that this man and his family are a part of the American fabric. They’re real people living an extraordinary life — together.

And none of this is even remotely close to Barack Obama’s greatest triumph tonight. What is truly astonishing about this night, the first in a four part series of political preening, is that Obama was able to influence this Convention from Missouri. Unlike the past two Democratic Conventions, throughout the entire evening it felt as if the Senator was present during the events at the Pepsi Center, and the audience seemed to be waiting for the man to come strolling out from behind the curtain as if he were there pulling the strings all along. Ad he did appear, via satellite of course, to make us laugh and remember, “Hell man, we’re all sort of riding in this slowly sinking ship together, aren’t we?” Win or lose, that’s what Barack brings to this year’s election — he makes you believe.

And I for one can’t wait for Thursday.