Tonight, the Republicans ended their convention with Senator John McCain’s Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech.
I have a few thoughts on the matter, but none better expressed than this excerpt from one of my favorite movies, O Brother, Where Art Thou.
Pappy O”Daniel: We need a shot in the arm. You hear me boys? In the goddamn arm! Election held tomorrow, that son of bitch Stokes would win it in a walk!
Junior O’Daniel: Well he’s the reform candidate, Daddy.
Pappy O”Daniel: Yeah.
Junior O’Daniel: A lot of people like that reform. Maybe we should get us some.
Pappy O”Daniel: I’ll reform you, you soft-headed son of a bitch. How we gonna run reform when we’re the damn incumbent? Is that the best idea you boys can come up with? Reform?! Weepin’ Jesus on the cross. That’s it! You may as well start drafting my concession speech right now.
Pappy’s Staff: Okay, Pappy.
Pappy O”Daniel: [Throws his hat at speech writer] I’m just making a point you stupid son of a bitch. Give me back that hat! Hurry up!
Pappy’s Staff: Pappy’s just makin’ a point.
Pappy O”Daniel: [Throws hat again] Shut up!
The speech was a success in that McCain let it be known that he is not George W. Bush (a point which the Obama campaign has been desperately trying to get the voters to buy). However, what he failed to do was explain any serious ways in which he diverges from the policies of the current administration.
This was a decent speech as far as rhetoric goes. He energized the crowd with blistering patriotism and his own remarkable biography. However, from a political standpoint, I thought it was very weak. He offered very little in the way of detailed outlines of any of his ideas. However, the ones he did talk about sound eerily like the (failed) promises of W, especially on the issues of the War in Iraq, Education, and the Economy. Bush’s ideas on those fronts have worked pretty well over the last 8 years, right?
Reform is good. There are a lot of things that need to be cleaned up in Washington. Corruption, special interests, and pork barrel legislation all lead to an inefficient government and should all be cleaned up. However, I don’t think those are top priorities in the minds of John Q. Publicson and Sally P. Voterberg. Reform only works if the parts of government that we need changed are changed.
And because I’m a huge fan of good public speaking, I have to mention how rough it was to listen to Senator McCain tonight. He warmed up by the end, but he did not look or sound at all comfortable at the podium this evening. It probably did not help that the crowd acted like the audience at a Jerry Springer taping. Every two or three sentences, they’d stand and chant, completely breaking his rhythm. Though it was great to see the enthusiasm on their part, McCain looked a bit flustered. Maybe the teleprompter operator was having a bad day.
I’ve already made my choice fairly clear, so you’ll forgive me if this post sounds biased. It is.
I very much look forward to the debates, because I think the stark differences between the candidates (and their running mates, for that matter) will really show.
On Edit: I tried to find a youtube video of the O Brother scene I mentioned. Well, I kind of found it. From about 2:45 – 3:30 of this clip. Hope you all brushed up on your Turkish.