John the reformer
Thursday, September 4, 2008 at 10:38PM John McCain had two tough acts to follow -- Sarah Palin and Barack Obama -- and he managed as best he could.
Though he'll never be known for his soaring oratory or rhetorical flourishes, McCain accomplished his primary goal: to re-introduce John the Reformer to the American public.
Of all the speeches the past two weeks, it was the least partisan -- he barely mentioned Obama or even the Republicans -- and arguably the most forward looking. He was equally dismissive of both parties -- I guess you have to be that way when the President's approval ratings hover in the low 30s -- and time and again reminded voters of his maverick and bipartisan ways. Obama mentioned John McCain 87 times in his speech; McCain mentioned Obama just 8 times.
And at one point it was extremely moving in his retelling of his days in captivity -- perhaps the most poignant moment of the past two weeks.
This was not Republican pablum -- in fact it was far from it -- and it wouldn't have been possible but for Sarah Palin's rock star standing with the party's right wing. McCain selected Palin because he needed leeway with conservatives to become John the Reforming Maverick, and in that sense she delivered -- and so did he. There is no way he could have given that speech with Mitt Romney or Tom Ridge as his running mate, plain and simple.
This speech will not be remebered beyond this convention -- it wasn't that type of speech. But it will remind voters of what they like about him: the maverick, the reformer, the straight-talker, the public servant. He has a history of bipartisanship, and voters know that he's more practical than ideological. And instead of running on experience -- a mistake Hillary clung to until the end -- he tried to wrestle the change mantle from Obama, and may have succeeded on that front.
Thanks to Sarah Palin, John McCain has been liberated to run the campaign that he so desperately wants: as the outsider. You can see how this will play over the next nine weeks for the Republicans: Palin as bad cop to Mccain's good cop. She'll be throwing sharp elbows and serving conservative red meat while he's running as a reformer. It seemed implausible just a week ago, but there's a good chance he'll be leading in the polls come the weekend.
Reader Comments (4)
His strategy is now clearly set -- he's reinvigorated his maverick persona and Sarah Palin serves the great good of supporting that, in many ways, blowing it out of the park. Not a resounding, chest thumping speech but the last portion was incredibly powerful in terms of his service to this country, his young man hubris broken by captivity and his devotion to "her" -- the USA. I won't say brilliant speech but great segway from Sarah Palin's uproar last night.
He is definitely trying to bill himself as an outsider -- which for many years he ACTUALLY WAS in the Republican party. He seems to be positioning his campaign as almost the "anti- Republican" party -- which may, frankly, work for him.
His personal story aside, it was a flat, tired, speech. Appearance is everything, nobody remembers words. Kennedy v Nixon debate in Chicago comes to mind. His best moments were during the last 5-10 minutes. Otherwise, the speech was boring and stiff my friends.
Actually, I thought it was an effective if not overly exciting speech.
As an aside, am I the only one who felt it awkward when Sarah and John go out on the stage together with their spouses. It was like a weird wife swap thing. Todd Palin is a damn lucky guy... goes onstage with Sarah, and gets to leave with Cindy. Not a bad twosome, haha
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