After the shiny stagecraft of the Democratic National Convention last week, many people's minds turned to the question of how the Republicans would "top that" this week.

If Tuesday night was any indicator, the GOP won't best the Democrats in an apples-to-apples sense. The Democrats perhaps won hearts by pouring on the style. The Republicans look to win minds by hammering home substance.

Take Joe Lieberman. There's no confusing the Democrat-turned-independent Connecticut senator with a rock star. But he doesn't need flash. In his quiet, dignified way, Lieberman was devastating Tuesday night in undercutting the credentials of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama -- and underscoring the strong qualifications of Republican John McCain:

"Sen. Obama is a gifted and eloquent young man who can do great things for our country in the years ahead. But eloquence is no substitute for a record -- not in these tough times.

"In the Senate he has not reached across party lines to get anything significant done, nor has he been willing to take on powerful interest groups in the Democratic Party.

"Contrast that to John McCain's record, or the record of the last Democratic president, Bill Clinton, who stood up to some of those same Democratic interest groups and worked with Republicans to get important things done like welfare reform, free trade agreements and a balanced budget."

Lieberman was brilliant, and he showed why he, like McCain, is one of the last of the true American statesmen.

Given that, though, the speaker who should have switched the cleanup spot with Lieberman Tuesday night was former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson. What a great, emotional recitation from him of McCain's unspeakable sacrifices.

"Now, being a POW certainly doesn't qualify anyone to be president," Thompson said of McCain's years of captivity during the Vietnam War. "But it does reveal character.

"My friends, this is the kind of character that civilizations from the beginning of our history have sought in their leaders -- strength, courage, humility, wisdom, duty, honor," Thompson said. "It's pretty clear there are two questions we'll never have to ask ourselves: 'Who is this man?' and 'Can we trust this man with the presidency?' "

The Republican Party isn't out to impress you with special effects this week. They intend on making the commonsense case for John McCain. To that end, Tuesday night marked an impressive start.