Freedom of Press is limited to those who own one - H.L. Mencken

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Before we get started, I like John McCain, despite his personal failings.  I’ve been disappointed with the direction his campaign has taken recently, but I still respect him and think he’ll make a decent President.

What I hope I hear tonight is a rebuke of the last eight years—an acknowledgement of the out of control spending and excesses in the War on Terror and a commitment to return to the Goldwater-Reagan conservative principles.  And I hope he will strike a much more respectful tone toward Obama.

10:07 PM ET: Ah, the video.  It’s actually quite effective.  But I’m hoping this is the last we hear of his POW days.

10:15: I’ll say this.  Palin has energized the GOP.  This reception is far more energetic than I expected as recently as last night. (Incidentally, she drew almost as many TV viewers as Obama did).

10:22: Acknowledging Obama right away is a good first step.

10:23: Someone disrupts the speech.  Liberals.  All class.  McCain handled it well.

10:25: Palin gets the biggest applause so far.  And given the way the floor is responding to McCain right now, probably the night.

10:28: Listening to both speeches, I like this gem from Dave Barry:

The Republicans are also feeling good about their message, which is that Washington is bad and whoever is in charge there needs to be run out of town on a rail. Interestingly, this is also the Democrats’ message. We are now in our fourth consecutive decade in which both of our major political parties are just totally FED UP with Washington. I frankly don’t see how Washington can survive this onslaught much longer.

Time for some actual, you know, proposals.

10:30: The earmark veto promise is likely to be well-remembered.  If he doesn’t deliver, it will be the “No New Taxes” of 2012.

10:32: The Surge is to his credit.  But a nice touch would be to acknowledge that it was more than just troops.  It was sometimes working with our former enemies.

10:33: The Republicans do this sob story stuff worse than the Democrats.  It’s not their forte’. But the parents of the fallen soldiers got to me.  Their grief is so genuine, I had to see it mentioned on a political stage.

10:35: He’s hitting his own party now to a near silence.  “Washington changed us” is a great line and absolutely true.

10:37: Cover your ears.  It’s the immigration issue!

10:39: Cutting corporate taxes is vaguey.  Just reform the fucking system.

10:41: While he isn’t making a lot of policy proposals, I’m liking the way he’s challenging the GOP.  This is a dangerous speech.

10:42: School choice. Love it.  This would make a great wedge issues for the Republicans.

10:45: Oil drilling gets more applause than Palin.  Maybe it’s a Freudian thing.  “Drill!  Palin!” “Drill! Palin!” “Drill Palin!”

10:46: Notice he slipped in the global warming reference ever so quickly.

10:50: “I hate war” is another great line.  This is a much better speech than I expected.

10:52: Partisan ranchor is a symptom, not a cause.  Agreed.  But I disagree on the disease.  The problem is that Washington is too powerful and too entrenched in our lives.

10:55: The POW thing again?

11:02: Call to service. Check.  When did this become the Dr. Phil show?

11:04: This was a much better speech than I expected.  His hitting of Obama was minimal and respectful.  He made few policy proposals, but I liked what he did say.  What struck me most was the tone.  He challenged his own party, he said some things that didn’t go over well with this crowd, he basically beat both parties with a stick.  I like it.

Of course, now the question becomes—can he deliver?

I think this is going to be a very interesting two months.  McCain really wrenched the GOP back onto a better path tonight.  Whether they will continue to follow it is an open question.  But Obama’s victory became a lot less inevitable tonight.  Obama is leading the polls by 6-8 points.  I predict by Monday, they’re tied.  It’s going to come down to the debates, friends.

10:14: If I’m Team Obama, I don’t go after McCain too hard.  He really did well tonight and he’s very likable.  What I would say is, “We like John McCain.  We look forward to working with him as a Senator.  We would even consider including him in our administration.  But you gave these guys eight years.  Why don’t you give us four?  If we disappoint you, you can toss us out.”

That’s the meme that worked for the GOP in 1994.  If Obama is smart, that’s the meme he’ll use now.

If I’m Team McCain, I stick to tonight’s message.  “McCain and Palin are outsiders who have challenged their own party.  We know the GOP has screwed up.  But the answer is not to turn back to liberalism.  It’s to put in true conservatives.”

I don’t know that either of these memes are true.  It’s just what I’d do.