McCain's Nomination Speech

I watched McCain's nomination speech lastnight; all of it.  It was long and mostly boring.  There were a few moments during the speech, but it was mainly preaching to the audience he had there.   He could've easily cut the speech in half and been just as affective.

The first half of the speech seemed mostly the kind of rhetoric that all politicians say.  Vote for me and I'll do these things.  It's what conservatives wanted to hear.  They cheered.  However, they didn't cheer when he pointed the fingers at corruption, and sometimes regarding those in the Republican party.  They didn't really cheer for that.

The audience didn't cheer when he said that they need to put party politics aside and not worry about who gets the credit for fixing something; and just work together and share the credit.

McCain put country above party.  That was good.  There was a clear distinction and a record to support that notion.  There's nothing like that from Obama, and so in that respect, I have more confidence that he will do what he thinks is right for the country, versus trying to do things as a strict conservative Republican would expect them to be done.  He said several times that he wouldn't play party politics and I believe him.

I thought it was good that he said that he'd have democrats and independents in his cabinet.  There weren't many cheers from the audience on that one; and this morning, conservative talk radio were blasting the man for that portion of the speech.

They have a point on one side; Obama would never have a republican on his cabinet.  They aren't likely to reach across the aisle for anything.  Every time I've seen a democrat talk about putting party aside, they always expect the republican to vote with the democrats.

So I see their point.  However, this position of President of the United States isn't about party.  It's about getting things done and about working for the people of the country, not for the party and not for special interests.  So what McCain is saying makes more sense to achieve those goals than in making talk radio conservatives happy.

McCain's speech wasn't nearly as inspiring as Obama's, but McCain isn't as eloquent a speaker.  He admits that.  Palin was much more interesting to listen to.  However, the guts of what McCain was saying, was inspiring, and it's what Americans want to hear.  And he has the history to prove that he's not just saying it; but that he lives it.

I'll be interested to see how the debates go.