[Program Note: Below is our final piece from our guest reporter for the Democratic National Convention, Malcom Fox. Malcom is 17 years old and approached us "cold" (we had never met or had any contact with him previously) before the convention, with the proposal that we carry his blog postings on our site. We took a chance on him, purely on the strength of his writing abilities and political savviness (both of which are far beyond the abilities of your average high school student, we hasten to point out), and after publishing his "Inside The Mind Of Malcom" article series, we can honestly say we are glad we gave him this opportunity. Below is his final look back on the experience of attending the Democratic National Convention before he was even old enough to cast a vote in a presidential election. Malcom is interested in political science when he gets to college, and we sincerely wish him success in his future endeavors -- and we fully expect to see him on Capitol Hill in some capacity before too long. Please let him know in the comments what you thought of his reporting for the past few weeks. And one final note, to anyone out there wishing to write and get noticed: sometimes the only way such things actually happen is if you take a chance and put yourself out there.]

-- Chris Weigant

Closing Thoughts On The Democratic National Convention

Overall: not bad Dems, not bad. The Democratic National Convention, like anything else, had its highs and lows. However, the Democratic National Convention speakers at their best certainly outclassed the speakers from the Republican National Convention and the lows provided by Clint Eastwood were thankfully unmatched. The first night of the convention contained the best collection of speakers. Deval Patrick gave Democrats the adrenaline kick they needed and Julian Castro inspired a host of middle class Americans to chase their dreams. Michelle Obama gave an incredible speech that made the best case for Obama's re-election by identifying him as a middle class man who lived the American dream. Bill Clinton was obviously the highlight of the convention and his speaking abilities lit a liberal flame within anyone at the convention that shall not be quenched until the re-election of Barack Obama. The third night I felt to be a let down by Obama's lack of including physical policy in his speech. He spoke too much about hope without giving Americans evidence to support him.

That being said, the pride I feel having been in attendance of the spectacle that was the Democratic National Convention is truly ineffable. I have never been more inspired to be a liberal than after the first night of the convention. Politics was put into perspective for me. Before, government was more theoretical and I could speak in an idealist liberal voice without considering the actual implication of the next president. Up until now an election has never directly impacted my life, just my parents' lives (which subsequently affected me). The decisions Americans make in 2012 will affect my ability to get a job and afford college. So everything materialized for me, and as Sandra Fluke illustrated, two distinctly different futures are in front of us. One future in which millionaires and billionaires will get tax cuts and women don't have the right to control their bodies and their health care, or a future in which jobs continue to be created and women can earn just as much as men for doing the same amount of work.

The fear of a Romney presidency has charged me to become radically pro-Obama. Not to say I won't criticize the president, but at the end of the day he will always have my support. The damage of appointing a corporate robot would be equivalent to electing Bush for four more years. Romney is recycling the same old policies that Bush failed with. Mitt is smart enough to at least rename the policies like "trickle down," which refers to giving the upper class more money in the hopes the wealth will spread down to the middle and lower class.

My Democratic convictions have become increasingly entrenched as the conventions rolled on. I will not budge on any social issue that prevents equality of any kind and I will never support a law to control someone else's body. In addition, I am sure that government needs to play a supportive role in this country. I find it ridiculous that people claim the government to be an enemy of the people when its entire job is to protect and help the people. Small business benefits exponentially from government aid in forms of loans and subsidies. I believe without a little support from the government small businesses would collapse. Furthermore, the government needs to put money into industries like the auto industry which creates hundreds of thousands of jobs and continue the recovery. I am proud to say I support Obama in the upcoming election, I just wish I could vote for him.

-- Malcom Fox

Follow all of Malcom's convention reports: from his own blog.