So far at the Republican convention, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is now considered to have flopped in his speech, Ann Romney delivered as expected and Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan hurled partisan red meat, sparked immediate controversy with the accuracy of his confidently-stated assertions, and tried to woo independent voters.

But if there is someone who is now being considered a full-fledged, real potential political star of the futur after speaking to the convention it is former Secretary of State Condoleezaa Rice. Yes, she was a partisan. But not a small-minded partisan: her speech seemed the kind of speech from an era when partisanship was an honorable thing — not a thing of flippant talk radio sound bytes, insulting emails, or party hack slogans that sound more like teasing than serious discussion. In a sense, her speech seemed oh, so 20th century in her desire to talk to and try and move minds, offer big-picture concerns and set the stage for serious debate — not merely hit emotional hot buttons.

View it here, and judge for yourself:

JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief

Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.

themoderatevoice.com/