Quick Thoughts on McCain’s Speech
Thank God these are all over. I can’t tolerate staying up until 11:30 anymore and then functioning properly the next morning.
I liked McCain’s speech. I didn’t like his policy proposals all that much, and I’m not going to vote for him, but he did a lot towards restoring his old mantle of a reformist Republican who wants to simplify and correct what’s wrong in Washington. The biographical bit near the end was compelling, and although he took a few potshots at Obama, he didn’t stand there in a shrill, sarcastic, presumptuous way and point fingers at Obama and his supporters like Ms. Barracuda did the night before.
When McCain says what he says about America and his beliefs, you know he’s being honest. The fact that his speech was very light on culture warfare crap (which Ms. Barracuda will be handling, TYVM), was refreshing. He had to try and shake off the stench of the utter failure of a Bush administration, and he took some babysteps towards doing that last night. When’s the last time you heard a nominee bitchsmack his own party during a nomination acceptance speech?
Anyhow, it was a throwback to the McCain I remember seeing 8 years ago. Unfortunately, it’s way too little, way too late, and it doesn’t really undo the whining that his camp has been engaging in regarding the vetting of Palin.
Let the debates begin.
Howard Goldman Says:September 5th, 2008 at 7:01 am
Double standard?
“..shrill, sarcastic, presumptuous way and point fingers at Obama ”
VS
“…the vetting of Palin”
Byron Says:September 5th, 2008 at 7:09 am
Another post complaining that BP isn’t “balanced” or whatever. Good Lord.
The Humanist Says:September 5th, 2008 at 7:36 am
The double standard is the GOP standard bearer asking all America to get involved, to volunteer in our communities the night after his running mate and Rudy “9/11″ Giuliani denigrated and insulted community organizers for the sake of a cheap political point.
“Change”…uh, huh.
Jim Ostrowski Says:September 5th, 2008 at 7:49 am
The main point. He acknowledged the obvious failure of the 1994 Republicans to cut government. Smart move. He failed, however, to explain why he would do better.
Jim Ostrowski Says:September 5th, 2008 at 7:51 am
When Republicans decry “community organizers,” they don’t mean volunteers.
Buffalo is crawling with paid “community organizers.” How are we doing?
Byron Says:September 5th, 2008 at 7:59 am
“But as my friend Jay Smooth points out, community organizers aren’t just those rabble-rousers who help keep people from getting evicted or protest police brutality — they’re basically the ordinary people across the political spectrum who to try hold government accountable to its citizens. Mocking that really shows how much contempt the party has for ordinary people. Republicans look down their noses at alleged “elites” while directing their anger at community organizers, who actually live and work among the people politicians only pay attention to when they’re looking for votes. But it’s not surprising that a party that has spent the last eight years running government into the ground would be irritated by an active citizenry demanding that government actually do its job, rather than simply letting incompetent pols go about their business. If there’s any takeaway from this theme, it’s that the right would rather Americans shut up and fall in line.”
Adam Serwer, quoted here.
John Says:September 5th, 2008 at 9:10 am
So, now that he’s flipped again and is against partisan rancor, who’s going to be his new running mate?
Byron Says:September 5th, 2008 at 9:23 am
So apparently (not confirmed yet) McCain intended to use a picture of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center as a background image during part of his speech, and someone screwed up and they instead had a picture of the “Walter Reed Middle School” in North Hollywood California.
Classic.
Jaquandor Says:September 5th, 2008 at 9:28 am
For McCain to act the non-partisan reformer after having let his people supervise an intensely partisan convention, including the writing of the very red-meat speech that Palin read last night, is pretty rich. He gets no credit from me.
mike hudson Says:September 5th, 2008 at 9:31 am
cbs tracking poll shows the race tied again this morning boys and girls. that was the one everybody here cited for having obama up by 9 a few days ago. a second poll, rasmussen?, shows obama up by 2, within the statistical margin of error. i guess palin/mccain didn’t do as badly in their convention as many have reported here, huh?
buffalomom Says:September 5th, 2008 at 9:32 am
He really sold it hard and did a great job at it. It was still all bs.
You can’t have it both ways. You can’t say you want to be the candidate of change and of the middle when you team up with the most polarizing Veep candidate possible. You can’t pander to the right and pander to the middle at the same time. It’s one or the other. You simply can’t satisfy the extreme right (Palinites) and be an independent at the same time.
My other favorite part was sitting there realizing both McCain and Palin are hypocrites on family values. You have the train wreck of a family called the Palins and John McCain committed adultery and dumped his first wife for the rich chick. Those holier than thous are really good at forgiving themselves. The problem is all us liberals of loose morals trying to undermine marriage. Do as we say, not as we do. God is on our side and forgives us, no one else!
The Humanist Says:September 5th, 2008 at 9:43 am
McCain’s tale of his days as a POW was, as always compelling. When he looked into the camera and said that his captors broke him and the shame and humliation he felt was a powerful moment and moved me.
Right up until the point I remembered that, this past February, he voted against a bill banning the CIA from using torture, specifically including waterboarding. And when the bill passed, he urged President Bush to veto it - basically supporting the CIA’s use of “stress positions, hypothermia, threats to the detainee and his family, severe sleep deprivation, and severe sensory deprivation.”
But John McCain loves his country, so it’s all good.
link to vote: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=2&vote=00022
buffalomom Says:September 5th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Did anyone catch the McCain Votes Against Vets sign in the cheap seats?
I wonder if security is still beating the crap out of the two protesters I saw. I’d sure like to contribute to their legal fees.
@ Humanist - Yes, moving all the POW stuff. And sickening that it’s still okay in his book to do it. (Who would Jesus waterboard I wonder?)
The Humanist Says:September 5th, 2008 at 10:02 am
@buffalomom - it seemed the Iraq Vets Against the War protestors were allowed to stay in the cheap seats for a while….they even unveiled the banner “YOU CAN’T WIN AN OCCUPATION”
They must have had a better fate than the Code Pink lady who was manhandled on her way out of the XCel Center. I bet the GOP thugs got a chubby at the prospect of beating up a woman.
buffalomom Says:September 5th, 2008 at 10:11 am
@ Hum - thank you! I saw a pink clad woman being hauled away but had no idea. Code Pink. Great. I have got to hop over to their site and see what they say about it.
I also loved the part about drilling for more oil. Yup. He wants more CO2 emmissions and in the next breath said something about healing mother earth. Uhhhhh, CO2 is bad for the earth you JERK! Somehow being a steward of God’s earth is unpatriotic. How do they package and sell this shit!?
Prodigal-Son Says:September 5th, 2008 at 10:16 am
It was good to see the old McCain back.
And thank you, Alan, for being even handed about last night. Its nice to have the old BuffaloPundit back.
Now, if only your readers could follow your lead in the “fair shake” department.
Buffalopundit Says:September 5th, 2008 at 10:19 am
Prodigal - thanks, but I always call them as I see them. Always.
buffalomom Says:September 5th, 2008 at 10:22 am
@ Huminist - If this is any indication from the night before, Code Pink did it two nights in a row. I had no idea they interupted Palin as well. I’m sure the goons were really po’d they got punk’d two nights in a row.
From the two protesters the night before:
The arrest was rough: security clapped hands over their mouths and ‘’slapped my face,” said Benjamin.
Though they threatened to lock them up for hours, insisting they had committed a crime, she said there was simply no grounds for the charge.
”We had legitimate credentials. Other people had homemade signs: ours were just different. And we just yelled something different.”
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=14&entry_id=29807
The Humanist Says:September 5th, 2008 at 10:32 am
@Prodigal Son - is it a “fair shake” to ignore the fact that McCain voted against banning the use of torture by the CIA and then has the gall to offer up his POW story for the umpteenth time as proof of his sincerety and his patriotism?
is it a “fair shake” to ignore the hypocrisy of his call to volunteerism and citizen involvement in communities when compared to the vitrol and spite offered by his running mate and Giuliani the night before?
is it a “fair shake” to ignore the goof the RNC made when they tried to show a picture of Walter Reed Army Medical Center behind McCain and instead showed a picture of Walter Reed Middle School in North Hollywood that reminded a lot of folks of McCain’s mansions?
is it a “fair shake” to ignore his ridiculous claim that it’s Obama who’s a giant shill for the oil companies? WTF?
is it a “fair shake” to ignore the RNC’s use of footage of one of the planes hitting the WTC and not feel embarrassed in the slightest?
Gawd forbid we apply any critical thinking to McCain’s speech because, as you know, NO ONE criticized Obama’s speech. Are you coming out with a “Leave John McCain Alone” video sometime soon?
hank Says:September 5th, 2008 at 10:37 am
buffalo mom needs to go back to ecology class.
Without carbon dioxide, every green plant on the planet would die, you ignorant twit.
Green Plants respire by ingesting CO2, and in the process generate the oxygen you need to survive.
I knew several weeks ago when you magically appeared that if you have a brain cell, it’s very lonely. You didn’t have to prove it.
buffalomom Says:September 5th, 2008 at 10:45 am
@ Hank - Photosynthesis. Yeah, I heard about that in the 3rd grade.
Let me introduce you to a concept most of us have heard of: global warming. There is too much CO2 which is causing global warming.
Ha. I’m a twit. That’s rich.
The Humanist Says:September 5th, 2008 at 10:54 am
This is too funny: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/213806.php
Was anyone wondering about the big building that appeared behind McCain during his speech? It’s a picture of Walter Reed Middle School in North Hollywood CA. Now, some are theorizing that someone at the RNC was trying to get a picture of Walter Reed Army Medical Center, but pulled up the middle school instead and said, “Hey, that looks close enough”.
Gotta love the competence on display at the RNC.
Haterade aka John Burke Says:September 5th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Buffalomom : “train wreck” of a family ? Why - because of a teen pregnancy ? There are a whole lot of “train wrecks” out there then ! I would love to see what you & your cats … ooops - “kids” have got going on. If you ever come out from behind your wall of anonimity maybe we can get that chance.
Humorist : “I bet the GOP thugs got a chubby at the prospect of beating up a woman.”
WTF is wrong with you ? Do you really believe that bullshit ? Gee … I can only imagine if it was a BLACK woman … they would have LOVED to “kill 2 birds with 1 stone”, because after all they are racist, sexist jackbooted thugs ! Get a fucking clue.
Queen Carlotta Says:September 5th, 2008 at 11:47 am
The thoughtful and interesting BP has re-entered the building.
mike hudson Says:September 5th, 2008 at 11:52 am
pretty comical.
the cbs news poll shows a drop of 8 points for obama, resulting in a tie.
the rasmussen poll shows that palin is more popular than either obama or mccain.
neilson has reported that more people watched mccain on tv than watched obama.
and buffalomom, humanist and the other cheerleaders continue to harp on how awful sarah palin is and how badly john mccain is doing. sounds like faith-based thinking to me.
buffalomom Says:September 5th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
It will be interesting to see how these move post RNC convention.
Average of Gallup (9/2-9/4), Rasm (9/2-9/4), CBS (9/1-9/3), Hotlilne (8/29-8/31), CNN (8/29-8/31) is Obama +3.2.
9/3/08 Average of Poll of Polls, Survey USA, Rasmussen, Quinnipiac,
Research, Zogby
Obama 44.6%
McCain 41.9%
9/3/08
http://www.pollster.com/polls/us/08-us-pres-ge-mvo.php
Obama 49.1%
McCain 43.5%
Byron Says:September 5th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
buffalomom: True Democrats only cite polls that favor Republicans - didn’t you know that?
The Humanist Says:September 5th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
@Haterade - uh, yeah I really believe it because I saw it with my own two eyes last night. Some thug in a suit manhandled a Code Pink protester while he was carrying her out of the hall during McCain’s speech.
Medea Benjamin claims she was punched in the face the night before.
Such a charming bunch
steve Says:September 5th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
@jaquandor — “… having let his people supervise an intensely partisan convention.” OMG, the RNC conducted a partisan convention???
I’m shocked and dismayed.
Snarky Snarkmore McSnarkamaphone Says:September 5th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Hudson et al:
Since elections aren’t won or lost by the popular vote, I suggest you check out how those percentages map onto electoral college votes. If you bother to, you’ll find that Obama is all over McCain’s shit. At least one website shows Obama ahead by 80, with only about 100 in contention. Here’s one, evidently more conservative (estimates, not politics), showing Obama 297 to McCain’s 241.
So, I think McCain’s got some work cut out for him.
mike hudson Says:September 5th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
the 9/3 polls were condluded before palin’s electrifying speech, buffalomom.
nice try.
the republicans were civil enough not to protest inside the democratic national convention, conventions being after all, private parties.
nice try humanist. (and fuck you code pink, whatever that is.)
the most recent poll (cbs) shows obama has lost 9 points and is tied with mccain following the gop convention.
“cite the old data, it looks better.”
“four legs good, two legs bad.”
Byron Says:September 5th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
This guy states that, with the exception of single statement by McCain - that he wears the bracelet of one of our Iraq war dead and that he intends to honor that one family’s sacrifice - none of the Republican speakers said one single thing about the U.S. soldiers who have been killed or wounded in Iraq. Giuliani, Thompson, Romney, etc. said nothing.
In contrast: “When Obama spoke last week in Denver, he talked movingly about being ‘. . . more compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep on our streets’ and spoke about how ‘in the faces of those young veterans who come back from Iraq and Afghanistan, I see my grandfather, who signed up after Pearl Harbor, marched in Patton’s Army, and was rewarded by a grateful nation with the chance to go to college on the GI Bill.’
He also talked, as he has many times in his U.S. Senate tenure, about how he will ‘give better care for our veterans’ and said that, in addition to so many children to protect, we have ’so many veterans to care for.’ “
Haterade aka John Burke Says:September 5th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
@ Humanist : I’m not saying they didn’t toss her out - It’s the “chubby” part and your inference that security somehow “gets off” on doing thier job. Don’t tase me bro ….
buffalomom Says:September 5th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Hudson - you are such an ASSHOLE. no kidding. i’m glad you can read the dates i included. too bad you missed the part where i said it will be interesting to see how these move post rnc convention.
you really are an abnoxious asshole. those were baseline numbers you stupid f - post means after the convention.
JESUS you are stupid.
I apologize for paying attention to the troll. He’s just so fucking stupid I, like John McCain, broke. Sorry. I’ll walk away from the computer now.
buffalomom Says:September 5th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Okay okay one more thing before I leave this post.
“Vanity Fair editors estimated that McCain’s fierce saffron shirt dress with the popped collar, diamond earrings, four-strand pearl necklace, white Chanel watch and strappy shoes totaled up to $313,100.”
Elitist? I really think McCain sold it in the speech. Really. But come on. I don’t think these people, the I can’t remember how many houses I have crowd, get the real world. They can talk about it and talk about until John McCain drops dead of a heart attack or just his old old age. But come on. $300,000+ for an outfit? And people are buying the they aren’t elitist establishment and are here to shake things up bs? Please, the status quo serves them just fine. BARF. (It was a beautiful outfit, but come on. Relate to the little people Cindy. Try Neiman Marcus or Nordies.)
Jaquandor Says:September 5th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Steve: Of course the RNC put together a partisan convention. I have no problem with a gathering of a political party being partisan. But for McCain to come out on the last night and pretend to rise above all that is sheer nonsense.
Byron Says:September 5th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
buffalomom, Paul Krugman wrote about that today:
“Can the super-rich former governor of Massachusetts — the son of a Fortune 500 C.E.O. who made a vast fortune in the leveraged-buyout business — really keep a straight face while denouncing “Eastern elites”?
Can the former mayor of New York City, a man who, as USA Today put it, “marched in gay pride parades, dressed up in drag and lived temporarily with a gay couple and their Shih Tzu” — that was between his second and third marriages — really get away with saying that Barack Obama doesn’t think small towns are sufficiently “cosmopolitan”?
Can the vice-presidential candidate of a party that has controlled the White House, Congress or both for 26 of the past 28 years, a party that, Borg-like, assimilated much of the D.C. lobbying industry into itself — until Congress changed hands, high-paying lobbying jobs were reserved for loyal Republicans — really portray herself as running against the “Washington elite”?
Yes, they can.”
And the good little Republican soldiers eat it up.
steve Says:September 5th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Jaquandor — I was just having a little snarky fun. I hope both candidates DO try to rise about the partisanship of their respective conventions because whichever one wins will represent all of us. Pollyannish of me? Probably, but one can hope, eh?
That said, I also hope you hold Obama to the same standard, ‘cuz his speech sure tried to convince us that he was above the fray while those around had a grand time thrashing anyone who can even spell “GOP.”
And, before I get accused of being a Bush Republican (or a republican bush), if the vote were right now I’d be in the booth looking for the “none of the above” lever. I guess it’s just that every time I think the level of rancor on this site can’t get any worse or more silly…well, it does.
hank Says:September 5th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Medea Benjamin claims she was punched in the face the night before.
Perhaps Medea Benjamin was LOOKING for a punch in the face, by showing up where she wasn’t wanted.
I’ve seen the Code Pink humans—I think they do what they do because the term “Moist” is something they haven’t had in so long they have nothing better to do.
Protesting soldiers being killed was acceptable in 1968, when young men were forced to serve against their will. This is 2008, where all military personnel are volunteers, knowing that a war has been going on since 2001–in case you forgot. That doesn’t make their deaths any less of a tragedy, but nobody on the front lines isn’t there because they were forced to be.
mike Says:September 5th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Well hank i must hand it you, McCain ate Obama’s lunch this week. Where was he 8 years ago? the country would be alot better off if we never had another bush in the white house, can we agree on that? But now at 72 he should be fishing with his grand kids and enjoying life, not being a stooge.
hank Says:September 6th, 2008 at 4:51 am
Mike–Republicans as a group have never responded to George W Bush with the messianic worship like the Obamamaniacs. For many many of us, he was just one hell of an alternative to Algore or Jean Francois Kerry.
I didn’t like the way Bush let government grow while the R’s had control of the Congress—I don’t believe in Democrat policy but the R’s lost control because they deserved to. They were power drunk assholes.
If you listened to McCain’s speech he admitted that the Republicans in Congress let their power get in the way of their programs. And Bush is equally responsible for not bringing out the veto pen.
If you spend the time to look, instead of swallowing whole the Democrat talking point about the %age that McCain voted “with Bush”, you will see that if you asked the President who the biggest pain in his ass was in his own party he would answer without hesitation, John McCain.
This “McCain is 4 more years of Bush” meme is merely a talking point. One I believe to make the mainstream Democrat voter forget about
Barry Obama’s lack of any kind of substantive executive experience.
And before you jump, an executive and commanding officer of a military aircraft squadron, where each plane costs more than every housing project that Barry “organized” put together, IS EXECUTIVE EXPERIENCE.
The meme of Change From Outside does not look great with a 32 year incumbent beltway insider on the ticket, who had more military draft deferments than Dick Cheney.
It made some sense to get a VP pick for Barry that had foreign policy experience, but Biden has been wrong on every position he’s taken. His experience adds up to despite all his years on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he was wrong headed consistently. BFD.
We have an energized Republican Base, Millions flowing in by the hour, and a VP candidate who I believe unequivocally will BE the President in her own stead within 12 years, when she will be 56 years old.
So all you libbies out there stand the fuck by.
The mainstream, union member, go to work every day and pay your taxes Democrat shouldn’t relish the thought of an inexperienced Chicago machine hack, the most liberal member of the Congress, rubbing his hands thinking about how much money he can take from the workers and give to the non-workers. That perhaps, just perhaps, government needs to be smaller if you want it off your back and out of your life.
farmer Says:September 6th, 2008 at 8:03 am
buffalomom?
How is CO2 bad for the earth? Do you know plants take in CO@ and give off O2? Just wondering how more O2 is a bad thing?
Jeff Says:September 6th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
I wonder how many Republicans are quietly thining BS! McCain selects this Palin newbie who’s got tons of baggage, not the least of which is her obvious lapse in family values. Whether they admit it or not, Palin’s daughter being unmarried, in her teens and pregnant—as well as the revelation that she even had a nanny for her kids when she only had 2 and wasn’t Governor, make it quite clear this is not a family-oriented mother.
I don’t care how you try to SPIN this, she is EXACTLY the kind of mother the repubs would crucify if she was a Dem.
Know it all Says:September 6th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
I agree with Jeff. I’m sure the elites of the republic party would feel the same way about all the pregnant teens in Buffalo. They all choose to keep their babies. Oh yeah, their moms aint a shrill, shrew running for VP.
mike hudson Says:September 7th, 2008 at 11:51 am
nothing the repugs like better than clueless liberals who claim to “know what they’re thinking.”