Today David Schultz and I talk about the dramatic conclusion Barack Obama’s speech brought to the Democratic convention in Denver. All in all, he says, it capped a week in which all the major Democrats featured at DNC said and did the right things. “The Democrats did well,” says Schultz. “Obama may have recaptured the momentum he had lost in the last few weeks.

“Think about the tasks he had going into this speech. There was the criticism that he’s just another pretty face and there’s no substance there. I think he had to do three things: He had to bond with the American public–tell a story about his life and who he is that connects with middle class Americans. People want to believe that the president understands them. Second, he had to make the case against McCain and draw out the linkages to Bush. And third, he had to lay out his vision and add some details to what he means by change.

“I think clearly on the last two, he did an exceptionally good job. When he started defining what change meant, it was the first time he’s laid them out in detail. The only area I’m wondering if he could have done a better job of is bonding. I hate to use the old Bill Clinton ‘feel your pain’ line, I think the connection he made with the American public could have been better. I think that’s still a challenge at this point.”

The convention, says Schultz, “started off slow. But by the end, the theme of unity had come across, they projected the image of change, and they made themselves out to be the party of the working class. What will be interesting to see is, there was a 6-point [convention] bump in the polls before Obama’s speech. I want to see what the numbers are after. The second thing is, how many people actually viewed the speech? Because Wednesday night, the night of the Bill Clinton and [Biden] speeches, was actually the weakest [in viewership] of the first three nights. We all presume that more people tuned in last night, but how many people did watch?”

Listen: David Schultz on the Obama speech and the Dems’ good week in Denver (11:07)