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McCain and Able
Sep. 5th, 2008 12:10 amWatched McCain's speech. He doesn't have the orator's voice or touch, we knew that, but he did as well as his abilities let him do. The last 60 seconds of his speech was one of finest examples of television speaking I have ever seen. He ignored the thousands of cheering delegates, and delivered the finale knowing the TV sound mixers would keep his voice well above the crowds, and he didn't stop orating until he came to the end of the script. The effect was astounding.
I think what amazed me most is through two conventions, nobody else figured out that if you're playing to the millions of TV viewers, you don't need to -- or want to -- stop for the local audience to quiet down.
He was interrupted by hecklers a few times, and it was clear that the delegates had been coached on what to do, because they launched into a chant to drown out each heckler, but it also drowned out McCain, and he didn't appear to appreciate that at all. He caught on quickly, though, that it was useless to try to gesture them to stop. He managed to get an ad-lib dig at both sides - saying America doesn't want the two sides yelling at each other.
McCain also got the clue that if he tries to ride W's coat tails into the White House, he'll find out the hard way that W isn't wearing a coat. His speech drove the mother of all wedges between his campaign and the Bush administration. He promised to have a tri-partisan administration (Independents as well as Dems and GOP) and said he would reverse a lot of the policies the entrenched politicians have put in place. He blamed both parties for the pork barrel politics of the past 8 years.
There were some deep digs at Obama, the ones about platform items were, most of them, bogus party rhetoric, but he hit home for me with one remark where he basically said Obama was in it for this own ego, McCain was in it for America.
And of course there were some things McCain said he is for which I am against, but he made a strong case that his election would not mean four more years of failed Bush policies. The plot thickens.
During the speech, he mentioned his wife's work with land mine and special needs children's programs, and it dawned on me that if Obama is elected, once again we will have two lawyers in the White House and one in Blair House. If McCain is elected, there will be no lawyers among the top two executives and their spouses.
I think what amazed me most is through two conventions, nobody else figured out that if you're playing to the millions of TV viewers, you don't need to -- or want to -- stop for the local audience to quiet down.
He was interrupted by hecklers a few times, and it was clear that the delegates had been coached on what to do, because they launched into a chant to drown out each heckler, but it also drowned out McCain, and he didn't appear to appreciate that at all. He caught on quickly, though, that it was useless to try to gesture them to stop. He managed to get an ad-lib dig at both sides - saying America doesn't want the two sides yelling at each other.
McCain also got the clue that if he tries to ride W's coat tails into the White House, he'll find out the hard way that W isn't wearing a coat. His speech drove the mother of all wedges between his campaign and the Bush administration. He promised to have a tri-partisan administration (Independents as well as Dems and GOP) and said he would reverse a lot of the policies the entrenched politicians have put in place. He blamed both parties for the pork barrel politics of the past 8 years.
There were some deep digs at Obama, the ones about platform items were, most of them, bogus party rhetoric, but he hit home for me with one remark where he basically said Obama was in it for this own ego, McCain was in it for America.
And of course there were some things McCain said he is for which I am against, but he made a strong case that his election would not mean four more years of failed Bush policies. The plot thickens.
During the speech, he mentioned his wife's work with land mine and special needs children's programs, and it dawned on me that if Obama is elected, once again we will have two lawyers in the White House and one in Blair House. If McCain is elected, there will be no lawyers among the top two executives and their spouses.
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