Story highlights Paul Begala says first night of the RNC was dominated by rage and by questions that emerged later about plagiarized lines in Melania Trump's speech

He says it was a typical Trump production -- messy, undisciplined, angry

Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist and CNN political commentator, was a political consultant for Bill Clinton's presidential campaign in 1992 and was counselor to Clinton in the White House. He is a consultant to the pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC Priorities USA Action. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.

(CNN) Conventions are an extension of the candidates they nominate. Ronald Reagan insisted on sunny, upbeat gatherings. Bill Clinton introduced himself to America as "The Man From Hope," focusing on his humble childhood as the son of a widowed mother. And Barack Obama electrified the nation from Mile High Stadium, challenging us all to believe in "the audacity of hope."

The first night of Donald Trump's convention was as messy, undisciplined and undignified as Trump himself. If Donald Trump's hairdo held a convention it would look like this.

By far the night's best moment came from Mr. Trump's remarkable wife, Melania. But even her gracious speech was tainted with a very Trumpian controversy. A side-by-side comparison of one paragraph shows it was lifted from Michelle Obama's 2008 convention speech. Let me be clear: I do not blame Mrs. Trump for this. She is a political neophyte. But her husband and his team should have been especially sensitive after The New York Times reported on Trump Institute's plagiarism a few weeks ago.

The show began with a moment of chaos, as anti-Trump delegates briefly gummed up the works. Then, purporting to advance a theme of security, we heard from such heroes as one of the dudes from "Duck Dynasty," a washed-up bit player from "Happy Days" and some soap opera guy I never heard of.

It was so bad that Trump himself counterprogrammed his own convention, calling in to Bill O'Reilly's show on Fox to distract his base voters from the train wreck.