:59 SECOND POST-SPEECH VIEW: ANN ROMNEY, CHRIS CHRISTIE

ANN ROMNEY: SHE'S A NICE LADY, WHO DELIVERED A NICE SPEECH FILLED with bromides about women's struggles that she can only imagine, including catastrophic medical issues which have bankrupted and killed women prematurely who cannot afford the best medical care (dressage horses, servants etc.) that money can buy. So much for the "storybook" reality Ann Romney was trying to sell us.

But I was neutral until the very end, when Ann said, "YOU CAN TRUST MITT." That was LITERALLY chilling. Stepford wife chilling. There was something about how she said those words, a glint in the eye, followed by an almost Biblical blind faith in her husband, with her "solemn commitment" that "this man will not fail."

This goes to the TEMPERAMENT of the president. It's not about blind trust; it's about a comfort zone, a gut feeling. And it's also about openness and full disclosure, not secrecy. Incidentally, I'm with those who believe Mitt Romney is a sociopath. No kidding. The guy looked more than wooden; he was downright creepy. Or as Chris noted: He looked like Prince Charles in New Guinea.

CHRIS CHRISTIE: Chris Matthews is ALL WET about Christie: Rachel and the Rev were right (and Howard, too) and Chris was WRONG big-time. It's one of Chris's flaws; he's predisposed to like the combative bigger-than-life Jersey politician who looks as rotund as Churchill, so he calls it a Churchillian "barnburner."

NOPE. You're wrong, Chris, and Rachel, et al are right. Chris Christie bombed big-time. Here's another thing, though. While Chris was slobbering over the overreaction of some Cuban-born Lebanese over-the-hill political hack (John Sununu), no one remarked on the reaction of Mitt's fiercest advocate — his wife, Ann. She was sitting beside her inflated Mitt Conehead doll slowly clapping her hands, in a pantomine of the BRONX CHEER!

GIVE UP, CHRIS. MOVE ON FROM YOUR ABSURD "BARNBURNER." YOU LOSE. Angry fat guy; I can buy that, instead of the Churchillian thing.

On the substance of the speech, though, Christie was much more forthright than this crowd was clearly prepared to take. Christie also delivered lines for Democratic exploitation that got tepid, uncomfortable applause, as well as meaningless right wing slogans. For example:

"We're taking our country back." And I thought: from whom?

"Respect." And I thought: for whom? How about respect for the office of the president; for not demanding to see his papers because his father was African and because of the color of his skin? And HOW ABOUT RESPECT FOR THE LEADER WHO KILLED OSAMA BIN LADEN AND DECIMATED AL QAEDA?!

And then a moment of "truthtelling." Christie growled to a restive crowd: "It doesn't matter how we got here. There's enough blame to go around. What matters is what we do now."

(A) OH YES IT DOES MATTER HOW WE GOT HERE — AND THAT'S A WINNING ARGUMENT FOR DEMOCRATS. (B) Sure, there's enough blame to go around; yes, Democrats  supported the Bush tax cuts and voted to take us to war in Iraq; but the Republicans did it in lockstep; a lot of good Democrats, like Ted Kennedy and Robert Byrd (RIP) and Dennis Kucinich voted NO.

I like our team. Finally, (C) yes, it's TRUE: What matters is what we do now. Repeating and doubling down on the Bush-Cheney policies is the very definition of INSANITY. I like our chances, even with an electorate as ignorant and stupid as the American voter, misinformed by an utterly disgraceful media elite, exemplified by Massah Marbles Mouth and David Gregory, High Priest of the Idiot Punditocracy.

PARTING SHOT: One of my favorite exercises is playing spot the African American Republican in this really REALLY WEIRD crowd. But the lazy media didn't cooperate: They gave up early panning the crowd for the elusive black face in that pit of political iniquity.

Instead, they kept showing us close-ups of Condoleeza Rice, infamous among other things (Bush hand-holding Secretary of State) for being Moammar Ghaddafi's love interest. C'mon guys; Condi Rice is a big-time Repug celeb. That don't count!