McCain will just bore our enemies into unconsciousness.
Wow, that was the worst acceptance speech given by a nominee in my memory. People say it was the worst since Jimmy Carter in 1980. Well, I don’t remember that speech since I was only 4 years old. But I will go with that.
Here are some reactions:
Joe Klein: “More a valedictory than an acceptance speech — more the end of a career than the beginning of a presidency.”
Andrew Sullivan: “Quite a deflation after the drama of last night with the sportscaster-governor. It made me realize how much I am still fond of this guy. And also clearer about why this is not his moment. The specifics were very vague, and the entire presentation based on biography, nostalgia and a kind of strained, exhausted mildness. His performance at Saddleback was much, much better. He seemed very tired to me.”
Jonathan Martin: “McCain hit all his message targets, eschewing partisan red meat to cast himself as a man who will work across party lines to reform a broken capital. But his delivery, especially in the first portion when he was discussing policy issues, was uninspired and did little to captivate the audience.”
Michael Crowley: “…this is a very underwhelming speech. Familiar points explained in pedestrian terms. No overarching themes–right now it’s sounding like a State of the Union laundry list. Even the crowd in the hall isn’t jazzed. This is the sort of reception Tom Ridge got.”
David Corn: “He offered an unexciting mix of GOP orthodoxy and declarations of personal maverickness–which was capped by yet one more long and detailed recounting of his POW days of forty years ago. Enough already.”
John McCain was not specific in the least last night, a charge he often levels at Obama, who was specific about the details of the change he would bring to Washington in his speech last week. Thus, McCain’s embrace of the “change” mantle is hallow and false. And it was obvious for all to see. What change would he bring? It seems to me that McCain’s change would be reaching across the partisan divide to enact a radical right agenda. Uh, that is not change. We have done that for eight long years.
Indeed, Bush also promised to be a change agent. Bush promised to work across the aisle. He promised to be a uniter, and not a divider. And what did we get: the most right wing conservative Presidency in the history of the United States. Yes, even more conservative than Reagan’s.
And McCain is promising exactly the same thing, especially now that he has Sarah Fucking Palin as his running mate. Indeed, all McCain brings to the table is an empty vassal. A McCain presidency seems to be mostly about his character and his experience as a POW. The policy specifics will be filled in by a radical reich Vice President.
Jesus Christ, doesn’t that sound familiar?