Fineman made the following declaration at 12:03am [EDT] on the Monday, August 25 (to Tuesday morning August 26) coverage of the Democratic Convention:
HOWARD FINEMAN: I think Michelle Obama dug herself, beautifully and completely, out of the hole she put herself in, with the people paying attention, when she said her husband's success was the first time she was proud of her country. I think a lot of the speech that she gave, and it was a beautifully controlled speech here, Chris, in the hall, you could hear a pin drop. It was beautifully done because she didn't overdo it. She was classy all the way, she was humble. She told the story of her family in the way that left no doubt, in the minds of the people who watched and listened, that her story was indeed the story of the American dream. But it was a speech, in part, made necessary by some of the controversy that she generated earlier on with some of her comments. She overcame them beautifully.
