John McCain accepts Republican Nomination

Now that I've had a day to let the John McCain nomination acceptance speech stew in my head.. I've made my decision. It was great. Not perfect.. but definitely as close as John McCain could have come.

McCain's speech, unlike Palin's, was geared almost 100% towards independents and moderates of both parties. The speech touched on a few subjects: the refuting of the current administration, the Maverick McCain, and reinvention of the Republican Party in his image. McCain talked about change in almost the same way he did in 2000 when he was talking about a change from the Clinton Administration. He managed to weave in his POW story in a artful way so that it added to the narrative instead of just coming across as boasting. John McCain also spoke almost admirably about Barack Obama, saying he respected him but said that their disagreements were clear and it was the job of the voter to choose the better person for the job.

McCain really pushed his theme of trying to make this election about the candidates themselves instead of the parties. His strategy is to say that if it came down to just two people and if you didn't know their party affiliations you'd pick McCain. He spoke to one of the most partisan audiences about the benefits of bipartisanship and going against the party when it served the country. The "Country First" perspective is being reinvented to appeal more to Independents who are sick of the deep partisan divide in Washington and the "do nothing Congress".

John McCain Acceptance Speech Grade: B+

The speech brought back the John McCain of 2000 and for many independents (myself included) that brought him back into competition for their votes. Thoroughly tired of partisanship and Day 3 of the RNC... the final speech was a breath of fresh air.

Let's talk about Day 3 for a moment.. it was disgusting. Absolutely abhorrent. ex-Gov. Mitt Romney attacked the "eastern elites" in his speech.. ARE YOU SERIOUS?! Mitt Romney need I remind you.. your father owned a big auto company and was a Governor himself of Michigan. You, his son, became governor of one of the most "eastern" style states and you are extremely wealthy... 300 Million Dollars is rich even by Cindy McCain standards! Next, they brought up some black guy to prove that they had a minority in their party too. Hmm... sorry guys, but the Republicans basically gave up on the minority vote this cycle - 93% of delgates were white. After that, came Rudy Guliani. Boy, Am I glad this guy did not have a chance! He ought to pursue a career in insult comedy. He got up to deliver a hundred punchlines in a sarcastic and bitter tone about Obama. Of course he mentioned 9/11 a thousand times, often followed by patting himself on the back. Then the insulter-in-chief acted as though there were basically no domestic problems due to the magic pefection of the Bush Administration. Any Independent or Reagan Democrat turned off their TVs at this point in disgust and decided they would never vote for this party. Sarah Palin of course was the highlight... and I have already covered that. All that Party energizing, playing to the base (and right-wingnuts), and scaring away independents and they had the audacity to name the night's theme "Peace"! What a joke... a sad, sick joke.

Day 3 Overall Grade: D-

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McCain's VP choice is...

UPDATE: It is official, Senator John McCain has indeed picked Sarah Palin to be his running mate


Well, just as an update, it does look more and more likely that it will be Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (which I had previously predicted would get the nod). According to CNN a private jet from Alaska arrived in Dayton, Ohio under cover of secrecy. Later today in Dayton the announcement will take place in from of 15,000 supporters.

John McCain's campaign and outside sources have already crossed Minn. Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Arkansas ex-Gov. Mike Huckabee and NYC ex-Mayor Rudy Guliani off that list. Still possible besides Gov. Palin are Florida Governor Crist, Mitt Romney, Tom Ridge, or Joe Liberman.


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McCain VP Pick This Week? Call it Bad Timing

Unless John McCain has the most groundbreaking, remarkable, out of this world Vice Presidential pick I would suggest he keep it under his hat. According to sources around the McCain campaign, Sen. McCain has reduced the options and is ready, as early as THIS WEEK, to announce his running mate.

Why would McCain do such a thing? Is it a terribly slow week in political news and he feels that and his running mate could dominate the airwaves for a few days? Is his communications director on leave and he wants to try his hand at a little PR fun? Is he completely insane? Is his running mate Karl Rove or a fictional super-hero brought to life?

Either John McCain has a very smart communications director.. or he has the absolute worst political team put together for a presidential race since... John Kerry. If John McCain's team is seriously thinking about announcing their VP pick against the torrent of photos, stories, exclusive TV interviews, and appearances by Sen. Barack Obama on his Iraq- Afghanistan- Israel- Palestine- Jordan- England- Germany- Mars trip then the entire team should be fired and replaced by mannequins. The VP pick would drown in the coverage of the Obama trip and wouldn't stand a chance against a month-long attack from Democrats until Obama reveals his shiny rockstar VP. If he's serious about this... WORST. TIMING. EVER.

If he is bluffing to build up some hype about possible picks in order to sort of use the media to vet his possibilities and see what people think of the options.. then he is a pretty smart guy. By the way, the option currently look like: Louisiana Governor, Rich Guy, Government Reform Specialist, and minority Bobby "Token" Jindal, Republican in a crazy Blue/Purple state - Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, former rival and Massachusetts ex-Governor Mitt "Mormon Olympics" Romney, America's Mayor and former rival Rudy "9/11 9/11 9/11" Guliani, Florida Governor and friend of the Hispanic voters Charlie "Swing State" C(h)rist. There are a few more.. but those were the big names mentioned and before I get a million email from Hucksters, I left Mike Huckabee off the list because he is a pretty long shot at this point.

The thing that really makes this election interesting is that both sides are so unique that they can really surprise you with their decisions and timing. John McCain is an independent spirit who knows how to get himself out of a political jam - his perseversance. Face it folks, John McCain should have logically quit in the middle of July 2007 with his staff in taters and his finances dwindling into sub-Ron Paul territory, he was SIXTH out of a possible seven or eight big names! He persevered and pulled out win after win with his style of straight talk and direct voter involvement - holding Q&A sessions and open Town Halls at a rate only previously registered by George W Bush's greatest nightmares. Then there is Obama, who is trying out his whole "post-partisan" politics things by driving every political pundit and veteran off the wall. Well.. It is going to be fun! I'll have a full review of the Obama trip later this week.


Link: Story about VP picks with Analysis - CNN

UPDATE 7/23/08 12:00PM Bobby Jindal has ruled himself out of the running for a position serving as John McCain's Vice President, saying that he "has the job I want" as Louisiana's Governor. John McCain is still meeting with him at a privately this week, followed by a meeting with potential picks, Gov. Charlie Crist and ex-Gov. Mitt Romney.