What was the most interesting speech of the first night of the Democratic National Convention in Denver?

Well, the short, heroic address of Senator Edward M. Kennedy was certainly the most emotional, eliciting an enthusiastic response from the crowd in the hall.

Michelle Obama, wife of the presumptive nominee, hit all the buttons she needed to hit in what has become a tiresome convention tradition in recent years: the spouse’s speech.

But to me, the most interesting of the evening’s addresses was that by Republican former Congressman Jim Leach. No, Leach doesn’t possess towering oratorical skills. But take away the endorsement of Barack Obama at the speech’s end and Leach’s thoughtful address will do as a bill of indictment against Democrats and Republicans for both moderates who have stuck with parties and moderates who have joined the ranks of independents. Leach expressed moderates’ disgust with decided immoderation that has, in recent decades, become all too prominent in both parties. He also pointed to historical precedent for the kind of consensus-building moderation that results in good and beneficial public policy.

With his thoughtful review of principled moderation and big tent partisanship, Leach applauded what has been good in both the Democratic and Republican parties, as being, not coincidentally, also good for the country.

While the sentiments Leach expressed may not land moderates, as they have landed him, in Obama’s camp in 2008, if the two parties cannot find a way to become inclusive coalitions bent more on governing than on winning slim electoral pluralities by bringing out their base, the whole country will lose out.

Leach may lack flash. But I sure wish we could clone him. Take a watch:

[I regularly–and irregularly–blog here.]

[UPDATE: I tried to define what a moderate is in my first post here at TMV.]