Politico and Yahoo News sponsored a breakfast panel in conjunction with the St. Paul Pioneer Press at the GOP convention this morning where Karl Rove addressed the question of the things McCain needs to emphasize tonight in the wake of Palin’s excellent performance. "Kitchen table" issues, he says and I think he nails it (even if I tire of that too often repeated descriptive). In addition to Karl, he should listen to the women around him. Cindy’s tone in defending the success of her parents (who scraped together 10K in order to build their fortune) and Sarah’s understanding of what it takes to build a business in America (i.e., not much burdensome interference from government know-it-alls, thank you very much) are exactly the sort of thing he needs to reflect in order to show that he "gets it."
The mantra from the Democrats now (just to show how cutting edge and "fresh" they really are) seems to be that Palin and the entire GOP convention ignored the question of the middle class; that we "don’t get" the middle class. Given the actual substance of Palin’s speech, and the elitist tone of most of Obama’s campaign, I find that charge almost as desperate as the attacks his supporters have leveled at her of a personal nature.
But McCain needn’t answer this with a defense of Palin or with an attack of his own. He may stand for the kind of honor that now does not permit him to salute the flag he fought for and loves so much. But he should remember there is another kind of honor to be saluted and that it is equal in its love for that flag and its great American character: the hard-working and innovative kind that permitted and supplied warriors like McCain so they might exhibit their noble courage. If he can do that he might get close to filling Sarah’s pumps. And really, that’s all he has to do.
He might get close to filling her pumps, but not the rest of her outfit, which estimates now indicate to have been worth 300 grand. I usually look only to people wearing half a million dollar outfits to teach me about the middle class. And I also tire of the 'oft-repeated' kitchen table issues. But I never tire of bringin' out "Old Glory" for some saluting.
After watching Ridge tonight, --------------- can everyone now concede that Ridge is well and truly, {despite his manly efforts otherwise} a stiff, who would have been an utter disaster had he been tapped.
And Lieberman the other night wasn't anything to write home about either. Huckabee, surprisingly for him, delivered something less than his best effort.
The McCain speech: I thought he couldn't possibly tell the Republican Party that they were inadequate and that he intended to transcend them, but he did. The Party cheered him when he said it. I must have missed something.
Did he also say that he would make smaller government that does more? And that somehow government will be all about "you", whoever that is. "You" are who he works for? I am baffled by this aspect of the speech. Why could he not say he would do what was best for the country as a whole?
Parts of the speech were inspirational, parts were on very welcome subjects, but I had a hard time parsing many parts of this speech. I look forward to reading here (and there) how wonderful it was and why.
I just listened to McCain's speech. McCain's own telling of his story was different from the telling by his surrogates. It was a story of his passion, so to speak: he told us not about his heroism but about his shame. "They broke me." He was ashamed, he told us, and recovered his, well, self through the help and love of his buddies. The crowd seemed to think he was contrasting himself with Obama. He was rather contrasting himself with the vain, arrogant, self-centered shithead named McCain who took off earlier that day from the aircraft carrier. I, an Obama supporter, would have to be morally dead or a partisan goon not to be moved.
Steve, yes, that part was inspirational. He explained the drive to public service and other things with that explanation of the inner narrative. I am glad it moved you, too.