That was the assessment from Fox News Channel's Fred Barnes, who noted the contrast between the Clintons' two speeches.

"Every convention has one speaker with big ambition who comes out of a convention having given a big speech that leaves people talking about that person," said Barnes.

"It won't be Hillary Clinton," he predicted. "Her speech was forgettable."

"She wasn't her usual rock-star self," radio host Laura Ingraham told Fox.

On the other hand, said the Weekly Standard editor, Mr. Clinton's speech was "perhaps memorable."

"I thought it was very effective [and] short for him - no personal name-calling," observed Barnes.

Said Ingraham: "It just shows that no one in the Democratic Party connects with a crowd like Bill Clinton. ... He was firing on all cylinders."

Editor's note: