Republican convention, night four: Some guy to speak, denying us a double dip of Palinmania; Update: Or will he?
posted at 7:32 pm on September 4, 2008 by Allahpundit
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The line-up’s noticeably weaker than last night’s, consisting mainly of the host governor plus McCain’s inner circle/cronies: Mel Martinez and Pawlenty in the eight o’clock hour, Grahamnesty and Ridge at nine, then Maverick at 10. Totally disinterested after last night’s blowout? Don’t be. Remember, something like 70 percent of the public says the VP choice is irrelevant. If there are votes to be swung, tonight’s speech may well do more to swing them than Palin’s did.
If you missed Ed’s post about the contrast with Obama’s speech that they’re trying to draw through the staging, here it is. “There will be no negativity,” says Mark Salter, apparently not taking Limbaugh’s advice to have McCain come out and say, “I’m looking forward to working with Democrats in November — those that are left, anyway.” (Follow the link for video of that during his appearance on Neil Cavuto today.) Instead, they’re going to emphasize … change. Exit quotation from Spengler’s cynical optimism about McCain’s chances:
Obama will spend the rest of his life wondering why he rejected the obvious road to victory, that is, choosing Hillary Clinton as his vice presidential nominee. However reluctantly, Clinton would have had to accept. McCain’s choice of vice presidential candidate made obvious after the fact what the party professionals felt in their fingertips at the stadium extravaganza yesterday: rejecting Clinton in favor of the colorless, unpopular, tangle-tongued Washington perennial Joe Biden was a statement of weakness. McCain’s selection was a statement of strength. America’s voters will forgive many things in a politician, including sexual misconduct, but they will not forgive weakness.
That is why McCain will win in November, and by a landslide, barring some unforeseen event. Obama is the most talented and persuasive politician of his generation, the intellectual superior of all his competitors, but a fatally insecure personality. American voters are not intellectual, but they are shrewd, like animals. They can smell insecurity, and the convention stank of it. Obama’s prospective defeat is entirely of its own making.
Update (Ed): We may indeed get a second dose of Palinmania, although indirectly. Word is that the GOP will play the bio video that got scratched last night when Rudy Giuliani’s speech ran too long.
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+1
sulla on September 4, 2008 at 11:55 PM
The only famous Canadians I’ve heard of are Red Green, the Mckenzie Brothers, oh…and I always think of the “Lumberjack Song” when someone mentions Canada.
Deanna on September 4, 2008 at 11:55 PM
Is Heart a Canadian band or an American band?
The fate of the free world hangs on the answer.
sulla on September 4, 2008 at 11:51 PM
I don’t know where they’re all from, but I DO know that Bristol Palin is actually the love-child of Ann Wilson and Robin Zander.
Bishop on September 4, 2008 at 11:55 PM
Of course, our classy friends on the Left call her a drug addict.
rockmom on September 4, 2008 at 11:56 PM
Copy that!
We might not beat last night’s thread, but no reason to cut the party short tonight!
Maquis on September 4, 2008 at 11:56 PM
McCain will be McCain I guess and that’s what we got. But boy … look if the main points of your speech are: 1) things are bad, 2) Republicans have made a lot of mistakes and 3) Obama is a good and honorable man; well, don’t be surprised if voters can come to a conclusion that they don’t need to vote for you. I sure would have like to see more compare and contrast with Obama. It wouldn’t have to pit-bull style, but you can say a lot of informative things that will sway voters into seeing why they should vote for you over the alternative.
That being said, this is McCain’s worst venue and intimate settings like Town Halls and debates are his best. With Obama it’s just the opposite.
PackerBronco on September 4, 2008 at 11:56 PM
Your house must be very interesting. My wife is the daughter of two teachers from Chicago, but I’ve done pretty well in bringing her over to my side on most issues.
I like your take on the speech too. He laid the groundwork for the next two months.
BadgerHawk on September 4, 2008 at 11:56 PM
Pat Buchanan is going off on PMS NBC….Rachel Maddow said that McCain’s speech was boring……
HornetSting on September 4, 2008 at 11:56 PM
the only famous Canadians I’ve heard of are Red Green, the Mckenzie Brothers, oh…and I always think of the “Lumberjack Song” when someone mentions Canada.
Deanna on September 4, 2008 at 11:55 PM
Wayne Gretzky? And you call yourself the world’s greatest hockey fan? Get out!
Bishop on September 4, 2008 at 11:57 PM
Once again. The undecided (uninformed) will choose the President. American-idol style.
RBMN on September 4, 2008 at 11:58 PM
+1
rockmom on September 4, 2008 at 11:58 PM
Maddow said that in the debates that the election will be about character (McCain, I guess) versus ideas (Obama, I guess).
S**t, I’ll take character. Ideas? That sounds like cotton candy.
BuckeyeSam on September 4, 2008 at 11:59 PM
Packer:
Did you even listen to the speech? What was he supposed to say? That Obama is the antiChrist?
All he said was that Republicans can and should do better. I have heard that same sentiment touted on almost every right wing blog out there for years now.
Terrye on September 4, 2008 at 11:59 PM
My left of center boyfriend added HA to his favorites list last week and checks it every day now, thanks to my incessant linking over the past 10 months, HEH…
SMELLS LIKE PROGRESS!
surrounded on September 5, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Once again. The undecided (uninformed) will choose the President. American-idol style.
RBMN on September 4, 2008 at 11:58 PM
I’m writing-in Justin Guarini…he is running this year, right?
If you snicker over the fact that I know his name, I will find you and hurt you.
Bishop on September 5, 2008 at 12:01 AM
Did we get to see the Palin video?
matthew26 on September 5, 2008 at 12:01 AM
I smell victory.
HornetSting on September 5, 2008 at 12:01 AM
Is she talking about today’s Obama ideas, or tomorrow’s Obama ideas? Or tomorrow afternoon’s Obama ideas?
RBMN on September 5, 2008 at 12:01 AM
I think this mornings…when he was against, for, oh uh, against it. Above my paygrade.
HornetSting on September 5, 2008 at 12:02 AM
Your house must be very interesting. My wife is the daughter of two teachers from Chicago, but I’ve done pretty well in bringing her over to my side on most issues.
I like your take on the speech too. He laid the groundwork for the next two months.
BadgerHawk on September 4, 2008 at 11:56 PM
rockmom on September 5, 2008 at 12:02 AM
I watched a lot of the convention on C-Span, I did watch Fox some, but I only listen to about five minutes of commentary after the speech. Then I get sick of listening to the talking heads chatter. Most of them are full of it anyway. time for bed. I have to get up for work bright and early.
Terrye on September 5, 2008 at 12:02 AM
Agreed. A person of character can attract those with good ideas.
If you have ideas but no character, you’re perfectly suited to be a network primetime content coordinator. Not President.
sulla on September 5, 2008 at 12:02 AM
Goober and Tingles are discussing….the speech…they are stuck on Washington changed us….guess that will be something they will beat like a dead horse.
HornetSting on September 5, 2008 at 12:03 AM
Terrye on September 4, 2008 at 11:59 PM
Yeppers, and by doing so he canceled-out the whiny “its all their fault” meme which constituted Baracky’s speech.
Bishop on September 5, 2008 at 12:03 AM
So true. Matthews is making a huge deal about 340 point drop in the market.
BuckeyeSam on September 5, 2008 at 12:03 AM
matthews is out of his mind tonight. is anyone watching this spectacle?
anna on September 5, 2008 at 12:04 AM
Is Bush running for president????
HornetSting on September 5, 2008 at 12:04 AM
Rush Limbaugh is on with Greta!
jencab on September 5, 2008 at 12:04 AM
This just in from the Obama Campaign:
“Bush! Rove! Eight is enough! Yellowcake lies! Surge epic fail! Dammit, where’s my Wikipedia?”
sulla on September 5, 2008 at 12:04 AM
Matthews actually said that McCain divorcing himself from Bush might actually win the election.
yo on September 5, 2008 at 12:05 AM
Better than the welfare bill for stupid house buyers.
HornetSting on September 5, 2008 at 12:05 AM
olby and matthews about to make out.
anna on September 5, 2008 at 12:05 AM
So true. Matthews is making a huge deal about 340 point drop in the market.
BuckeyeSam on September 5, 2008 at 12:03 AM
Probably because he doesn’t understand how free markets work, then again, how many liberals do?
Bishop on September 5, 2008 at 12:05 AM
Wait a minute….
I thought Obama was running against George Bush!?!
Tony Soprano on September 5, 2008 at 12:05 AM
Dammit! I missed Rush for those boobs>>>!>!>!>!
HornetSting on September 5, 2008 at 12:05 AM
Thank you, Soprano. You would think.
HornetSting on September 5, 2008 at 12:06 AM
Buchanan:
yo on September 5, 2008 at 12:06 AM
Obama dropping Biden????? No, say it isn’t so.
HornetSting on September 5, 2008 at 12:07 AM
Olby just admitted that Palin is prettier in her glasses than he is in his glasses, though he had to snark by saying that his lipstick is imported from Italy.
Bishop on September 5, 2008 at 12:07 AM
fox replaying scenes of mccain’s family. his sons are tres hot.
anna on September 5, 2008 at 12:08 AM
I don’t think Olby likes girls.
HornetSting on September 5, 2008 at 12:08 AM
Wow… 12 pages. When I logged off to go watch speeches, it was about 3 pages.
My take:
1. I elect Cindy McCain for First Lady for life. What a refreshing change from the Martha-Stewart-makeover-I-hate America-and-Whitey. Cindy is the genuine article. They should have been trotting her out more this whole campaign. She is every ounce the hero that John is. Michelle is so blatantly fake now that she’s even more repulsive that her “proud” speech. At least when she was angry and hateful, she was real.
2. I am pleasantly surprise to see that folks here seem to have liked John’s speech as much as I did. I had figured it’s centrist tone would have turned folks off. He is the President that I have been waiting for for my entire life. He hit every issue just the right way IHMO.
3. All the players and the entire tone of the convention drew a sharp contrast to the DNC. The DNC was produced to within an inch of it’s life. The impressive part of the big speaker there was how they could lie so much and keep a straight face. It was a great visual spectacle design for the sole purpose of selling an image. RNC looked stripped down by comparison. It was poorly produced in contrast and there was no wonder to behold… except the people. There were some slouches, but the players were the genuine articles. Those are the people, without question, that any rational person would agree need to lead our country. There IS no other choice.
McCain has been President without the office for decades
Obama wants to play a President on TV
Damiano on September 5, 2008 at 12:08 AM
No he does, but they don’t think much of his performance, if certain blogs are to be believed.
Karl on September 5, 2008 at 12:10 AM
EW!
HornetSting on September 5, 2008 at 12:11 AM
Okay, here’s the tally from my Machine Shop….
Four guys, yellow dog democrats…
Two gonna’ vote foe McCain….
One says Ron Paul….
One Obama leaner. But he’s not happy about it.
That’s a wash…
Advantage McCain
Tony Soprano on September 5, 2008 at 12:11 AM
Hull, Richard, Orr, Howe….I’m old. LOL
Deanna on September 5, 2008 at 12:11 AM
I have never been a big McCain guy but we need him in these times.
I do love the talk about beating down the self serving interest in Washington.
I thought his talk was good and I can only hope there are enough voters to hear it and respond to it.
TheSitRep on September 5, 2008 at 12:12 AM
Here’s a link.
Karl on September 5, 2008 at 12:12 AM
Oft said: Quality humor has a grain of truth in it…
electric-rascal on September 5, 2008 at 12:13 AM
Amazing that the MSM has ignored the fact that we’ve had growth each quarter this year though. Better, that the revised numbers for the past two quarters show better growth than the initial projection.
New numbers come out tomorrow that I am going to bet are positive, but still not great. I am sure this will also be ignored, just like Anbar getting turned over.
Damiano on September 5, 2008 at 12:13 AM
omg 1st dude *swoon*
tehd on September 5, 2008 at 12:13 AM
Thanks, Karl. I will have nightmares for the rest of my life.
HornetSting on September 5, 2008 at 12:14 AM
That’s the one thing McCain realy missed in the speech. He had a golden opportunity to beat this “third Bush term” thing bloody. All he had to do was say something like, “my friends, our opponents are telling Americans that electing us will be a third term of George W. Bush. But it wasn’t John McCain who voted for George Bush’s energy bill that gave away billions in tax breaks to Big Oil and Big Ethanol. It was Barack Obama. And it wasn’t John McCain who voted for George Bush’s bloated farm bill that is helping to drive up the cost of food. It was Barack Obama. And on the last major piece of legislation we needed to give our government the tools it needs to track down terrorists, it was Barack Obama who supported giving President Bush the authority to tap the phones of Americans speaking to known and suspected terrorists.” So you tell me, who is the one who has REALLY supported President Bush” This would have driven the Left insane. He really should have mentioned the FISA vote, it’s the one thing the nutroots are still pissed at Obama about.
rockmom on September 5, 2008 at 12:14 AM
I guarantee he’ll go to Hollywood if this
“Leader Of The Free World” gig falls through.
Tony Soprano on September 5, 2008 at 12:15 AM
Yes. Loathed and mindless.
From my time on this site, I’ve found that the i.q. levels are much more impressive than average message boards.
I therefore deduced that most would agree that group chanting is stupid and silly (which a couple did already).
I’m as much a patriot as anyone in here, but yelling something really loud repeatedly at a political rally to make a point doesn’t do anything but make you look boorish and stupid (see “O-BA-MA!! O-BA-MA!!” for reference).
The fact that they managed to time the chanting to step all over our candidate’s speech at the wrong times just illustrated that they weren’t listening. Hence, stoooopid.
Just my opinion.
Now I’m ..
OFF TO BED!! OFF TO BED!! OFF TO BED!!
cgoode777 on September 5, 2008 at 12:16 AM
If I hear one more pundit (like Wolfson) start demanding that Mccain doesn’t give any specifics about what he is gonig to do about the economy…
Have none of these dimwits ever taken a basic Econ course, or ever run a business?
Let’s see…McCain and Palin want to open up energy extraction and eneregy development on a widescale all across America.
Maybe, ya think, there might be a few jobs opening up to do that? And maybe a few service industries to cater to these new workers? And maybe a school or two as new neighborhoods are built to house the new workers? And then they have to fire teachers, and custodians, and coaches? And then after that, the transportation of these newly extracted resources has to get underway. And maybed they’ll need trucks and haulers? And these got to come from somewhere. Maybe somebody will build them. And that factorry will need workers. And those workers will need services. And their families will need homes…and schools, and fire departments and police and garbage collection…and they got to eat…so there is yet another area of expansion…and all the rest cascades in a torrent.
These guys are stupid to the nth degree.
We can build an entire economy around energy extraction, development and innovation. Solidify the dollar and then strengthen it. [Gold today sold at under $800 an ounce...so wew are getting there just on the suggestion of it all.]
But, I guess these dimwits prefer the Obama method.
Go down to the local community organizers office, pay them $100 right up front, then sign over half your wages for union dues and finders fees, pick up your government subsidized lunch and uniform.
On this issue…”no specifics”…I’m pissed. Not at McCain nor Palin, but the Obama worshipping idiots who actually believe that a president will personally create jobs for them. Idiots.
coldwarrior on September 5, 2008 at 12:17 AM
I dunno, I think it explains a lot of Olby’s anger issues.
Karl on September 5, 2008 at 12:17 AM
Code Pink. Grrrr…
hippie_chucker on September 5, 2008 at 12:18 AM
+1
rockmom on September 5, 2008 at 12:18 AM
fire teachers…should read hire teachers. Guess my animus toward the NEA is showing.
coldwarrior on September 5, 2008 at 12:18 AM
I feel that every time I’m forced to join “the wave” at a ball game.
sulla on September 5, 2008 at 12:19 AM
And how very ironic since many on those classy friends on the Left are actually the drug addict!
Texas Gal on September 5, 2008 at 12:20 AM
I’m in EST. CNN has a Glen Beck episode on–Obama 101. One WSJ guy is on and two NR guys: Jonah Goldberg and Fredresso, who wrote The Case Against Barak Obama.
I just stumbled on it. It looks good.
BuckeyeSam on September 5, 2008 at 12:20 AM
BuckeyeSam on September 5, 2008 at 12:20 AM –
Find a Karl post. Click on “Karl.” He has a wealth of good solid and damning Obama info. Sourced well.
coldwarrior on September 5, 2008 at 12:22 AM
rockmom on September 5, 2008 at 12:14 AM
I’m sure it’ll happen. Just give it time.
Ryan Gandy on September 5, 2008 at 12:22 AM
including “formerly” Barry
sven10077 on September 5, 2008 at 12:22 AM
Got tickets to the McCain/Palin rally Saturday in Colorado Springs, and do hope for the opportunity to do the secret Zer-O hand signal and obligatory chant…
Maquis on September 5, 2008 at 12:23 AM
Thanks. I have Fredresso’s book–in the pile of good intentions. This just looked like a good panel.
BuckeyeSam on September 5, 2008 at 12:29 AM
I do hope so!!
I really thought that was a genius movement at the RNC to counter the O marketing. I ROFLAMO when they raised the ZERO!
Texas Gal on September 5, 2008 at 12:30 AM
Then why didn’t you watch it?
jgapinoy on September 5, 2008 at 12:34 AM
I enjoy all of your contributions, but I think your suggestions about beating Bush and Obama bloody at once wouldn’t have worked. Independents classically hate negative campaigning, and Sarah! skewered him so skillfully last night anything else would come across as either overkill or not as well done, but, more than that, shouting “I’m not Bush!” would be a classic “I’m not a bimbo!” statement. All people would hear is “I’m Bush” – or, at greater length, lots of people are saying I’m Bush and I’m so worried about it that it’s made me feel like I have to shout them down. The point of this speech was to minimize Bush and Obama – turn them into footnotes in John McCain’s amazing life story.
CK MacLeod on September 5, 2008 at 12:35 AM
BuckeyeSam on September 5, 2008 at 12:29 AM –
If you think you can stomach it, go to the library and check out Obama’s two biographies. [For heaven's sake, don't buy them, not even in the Books-a-Million cheap pile.]
A lot of basic I was born, I lived here and there, I went to school, I became a lawyer, then a community organizer and then state senator and Senator stuff…but what is most telling is what is missing. A lot is missing. After reading these books you actually end up knowing nothing about Obama that you couldn’t have gotten from his campaign ads over the past 19 months. Seems even his public pronouncements are scripted to fit these books. Nothing extraneous. No current friends or recent friends mentioned either. Other than “Uncle Frank” not a whole lot of mention of any other influential people in his life, other than his wife and kids. Surreal.
coldwarrior on September 5, 2008 at 12:35 AM
(I meant of course, that Sarah! skewered Obama so skillfully that there was no point or purpose for McCain to go at it again.)
CK MacLeod on September 5, 2008 at 12:36 AM
Best of the night, Thurday
1. John McCain,American Maverick
2. “I fight for the family of Matthew Stanley of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. Matthew died serving our country in Iraq. I wear his bracelet and think of him every day. I intend to honor their sacrifice by making sure the country their son loved so well and never returned to remains safe from its enemies.” CBS moved to a shot of Matthew Stanley’s parents. His mother bowed her head and leaned toward her husband, and his father looked deeply in pain and comforted her. I teared up.
3. John McCain for the first time really telling the public his story about being a POW. Much was said in few words.
4. “We lost the trust of the American people when some Republicans gave in to the temptations of corruption.”
5. “Please don’t be diverted by the ground noise and the static.”
6. Cindy McCain. What gifts she has been given in life! And she is giving to the world even more. And then John saying that Cindy is more inspiration to him than he is to her.
7. The McCain family! (And the Palin family again!)
8. The balloons and confetti — conspicuously absent from Obama’s acceptance speech.
9. Barracuda!
10. McCain stays positive for the whole speech.
11. The Palin and McCain videos
12. Everybody who made it happen. This convention was a huge success.
indythinker on September 5, 2008 at 12:40 AM
The man sought to be a cypher, deliberately, registering as merely “present” so he himself could do the projecting of a false reality onto the blank screen of his empty ambition.
And no, I couldn’t stomach it, that’s why I hang here for words of wisdom and experience born of others suffering, thanks!
Maquis on September 5, 2008 at 12:41 AM
Apparently over 40 million viewers. Topped Obama’s acceptance speech ratings.
coldwarrior on September 5, 2008 at 12:42 AM
Maquis on September 5, 2008 at 12:41 AM –
Worked with a guy named Jerrold Post years ago, doing a few personality profiles on different world leaders and other foreign types. Been taking notes here and there on Obama since he became a rock star. Troubling.
More than a cypher. Trying to figure out why. What is behind the facade. His constant need for affirmation. People we know he has interacted with on a personal level, yet, apparently didn’t allow for a real personal interaction. That sort of stuff.
coldwarrior on September 5, 2008 at 12:46 AM
I believe McCain will lead the polls after this. The next few days are critical for keeping Obama knocked off his center of gravity. I suggest going to Chicago and highlighting the record murders and crime there, and the rundown neighborhoods that Obama supposedly organized and represented, and the many buildings that still have asbestos. Talk about what a complete failure the “Annenberg Challenge” was. Contrast John McCain’s accountability with Obama’s lack thereof.
Highlight school choice as the remedy for ailing schools. There was just a big demonstration in the Chicago area about it. Find a big contrast with Obama over the weekend and draw it unmisakably clearly.
I think John and Sarah should campaign together for a while. People need to get used to the pair working together and being on the same ballot.
indythinker on September 5, 2008 at 12:47 AM
Yea, I was pretty PO’ed when I could not get a government job after the first Bush43 election.
Story: One of the Dems had claimed that “Republicans just want to take food out of the mouths of school children!” (back when a “reduction of the rate of increase” was proposed in school lunch funding), so I figured that would be a pretty easy government job for me; all I would have to do is just wait for the kid to put the sandwich in his mouth and grab it from their hand. Easy work, free lunches.
Sigh, none of those jobs ever opened up – Bush43 let me down, and it looks like McCain/Palin will leave job creation up to the private sector. Fooey!
I wonder what kind of job Obama might create for me? Can I get a job forcing the rich to pay their fair share of taxes? The top 50% of workers pay just a mere 97% of taxes, so there’s room for improvement, right?
/sarc off
electric-rascal on September 5, 2008 at 12:47 AM
John McCain. Big thoughts, big vision, and big plans.
And absolutely necessary.
indythinker on September 5, 2008 at 12:49 AM
Well, McCain pretty much said he’s going to spend the next four years trying to build bipartisan coalitions that we in the base are going to hate. But he gave us a potential conservative movement leader, too, and that’s a very nice bone to chew on for a few years while she gets some seasoning.
McCain came across better than I can remember him doing before. I don’t know if he persuaded any undecideds tonight, but he certainly conveyed the feeling that he’s very real, that he truly does love this country unconditionally, and that he has the best interests of the country at heart. That’s all good. He and Sarah definitely put Obama on the defensive for the first time this week.
aero on September 5, 2008 at 12:51 AM
indythinker on September 5, 2008 at 12:47 AM –
+100 on that idea. They may not sway a lot of Chicago Machine voters, but using Englewood as a backdrop…priceless.
coldwarrior on September 5, 2008 at 12:51 AM
Dave moved to another blog and is expounding his “rock” intelligence to the masses.
HornetSting on September 5, 2008 at 12:53 AM
I believe I heard that the plan was for them to campaign together through Monday. I’ve heard it said that an original plan was to have her spend 80% of her time fundraising, but that was before THE SPEECH and the surrounding melodrama. I don’t think the people will let them get away with hiding her. On the other hand, if they’re wise, they’ll keep us always wanting a little more.
People have to realize that, if we don’t put her in DC, she’s gonna be sent packing off to Alaska and we’ll hardly see her again for years. You don’t want to see several tens of millions of grown men and women cry do you? Do you?
CK MacLeod on September 5, 2008 at 12:53 AM
Good point, and I also think one must be forever careful about bashing a predecessor from one’s own party, no matter what their current approval ratings, or how rabidly the other party hates them. McCain hit some pretty good notes tonight, and balanced them with a respectful salute to Bush’s accomplishments at the outset. I think that came from the heart, because McCain has some personal and policy issues with Bush, but he also knows the man was a lonely voice of right and reason in a sea of defeatism and weakness, and I think he sincerely respects that.
I wouldn’t have minded a bit more pummeling of the do-nothing Democrat congress, but perhaps McCain was wise to leave his criticism of them implicit… plenty of time to remind everyone that Barry comes from the party of Pelosi in the days ahead. Let America chew on the list of problems McCain described in his speech, and inexorably see the faces of Pelosi and Reid plastered all over those problems.
I thought it was an amazing and costly blunder for Obama to start responding directly to Sarah Palin, and try to steal the limelight from McCain by doing O’Reilly tonight. What a classic neophyte mistake… it made him look so weak and frightened, and it pushed Biden from irrelevance to outright translucence. It wasn’t far removed from the antics of the Code Pink whack jobs rushing the stage – the political equivalent of trying to shout your opponent down, on the night he makes his case. Obama turned himself into the answer to a trivia question, becoming some guy doing the talk-show circuit while McCain delivered a solid speech and got a campaign under way.
Doctor Zero on September 5, 2008 at 12:54 AM
aero on September 5, 2008 at 12:51 AM –
Going to take two to make that bipartisan problem solving thing work. Here’s the genius of it all. McCain in January makes a verry public move towards bipartisanship. Reid and Pelosi and posse snub him. Takes it over their heads to all of America a la Reagan. Nullifies the Reid Pelosi stranglehold. Mid-term elections bring in more Palinesque Republicans. Move forward. McCain, if you understand him, is constantly on that OODA loop. It works. It started again tonite. He laid his intentions out there quite clearly. Now, Congress is going to have to put up or shut up, stay in office or get replaced.
coldwarrior on September 5, 2008 at 12:56 AM
The way McCain ended the speech was incredible. He kept calling on people to do more, never give up, give of yourselves, etc, and the crowd just kept cheering louder and louder. McCain is starting to get good at this teleprompter speaking business.
indythinker on September 5, 2008 at 12:58 AM
Kim Jong Il’s long lost half-relative of some sort or other?
That is spooky strange though, most unsettling. Did history’s favorite Communist revolutionaries display any such behaviors? Just curious, I know Stalin was twisted beyond belief, and it seems there were/are profoundly strange personalities in that group, but I’ve never dug into any of that in the sense of personality profiling or such. (My Cold War was spent working aircraft in the AF, knuckledraggers don’t get into intelligence much ;)
Maquis on September 5, 2008 at 12:59 AM
indythinker:
All your points are excellent. I would just add
13. Mrs McCain Sr saying “Momma’s boy!” made me laugh out loud.
Fortunata on September 5, 2008 at 1:03 AM
So, the factory worker who’s now working at Taco Bell will now get a separate pay check from the government? Hmm, so which bureaucracy would take on this task? The government’s job is not to pay the wages of citizens who’ve been laid off. Wages are between the worker and business. The government has no role in this matter. Let the market work.
So does this mean that I’ll get back my portion of the tax dollars that were meant for education? The government will pay me to homeschool my children? All for it, Senator.
Prayers, yes. Weapons, ammunition, equipment, yes. “Solidarity?” The Georgians are saying, “sure, whatever. You Americans have said that before to so many people. We’ll believe it when we see it.” (Charlie Wilson’s War comes to mind. If you promise action, then take action. If you act, then finish.)
Send_Me on September 5, 2008 at 1:06 AM
Maquis on September 5, 2008 at 12:59 AM –
Except for a few of the early Bolsheviks, most Soviet leaders actually had very public and available narratives, and plenty of people with whom they interacted. Gail Sheehy’s bio on Gorbachev, as a most recent example, is entirely based on speaking directly with Gorbachev’s friends from early school days ot his last days in office. Lenin was a shrewd leader of a party that was breaking up all around him. Gives a lot of good info on what sort of man Gobachev really was.
Stalin took the Oriental approach. Actually very predictable. Khrushchev was also very predictable. Brezhnev, likewise.
I did my work with Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il with Jerrold Post. I was in the field. Both of these guys were fairly easily laid out on the clinical table.
Obama…what isn’t being told, what isn’t available, his fast rise to where he is today. Yet, lack of those necessary details to see how he thinks, how he reacts or will act. Sure, one can deduce certain standard patterns, but what makes his heart go all a twitter and what makes him rise to rage…zip. You’d think in this internet age, and all the recored keeping, there’d be more. Which is why the Annenberg papers and the Ayers connection is so vital. Not that he has a friend who is an unrepetant terrorist, but what was that connection, and who else were the secondary and tertiary links in that relationship.
One friend of mine said that Obama might indeed be a Soros creation, out of whole cloth, paid for up front by payoff’s to media outlets and strongarm influence on liberal politics, and support all across the spectrum. I find that a bit extreme. But…still…Soros does have influence, a lot of influence, and he has stated many many times that he has a vision for a world government without borders and such.
Bottom line…after 19 months, and four years since his convention speech…who the hell is Barrack Obama?
coldwarrior on September 5, 2008 at 1:12 AM
It was indeed. I’ve been to 5 of them, going back to 1976, and watched all the others. This was one of the best by far. I am thrilled tonight with the image of my party and I know that the GOP will be back, even if we fall short this time.
A woman named Maria Cino was the CEO of the convention. I’ve known her for 25 years. She is an amazing woman who few have ever heard of, but she’s one of many women who have been the backbone of the Republican Party apparatus for years and years.
rockmom on September 5, 2008 at 1:22 AM
One man sleeper cell? ‘~’
I’ll be scratching my head over this ’til at least the election now! Thanks for sharing.
Maquis on September 5, 2008 at 1:22 AM
Do yourself a favor, go rent The Candidate.
There’s no there there. An empty suit waiting to be filled up…but by whom?
Here’s a man who has no family and no sort of “wingmen” who have been with him all his life or for even a large part of it. Who will have his back as President? Who will fill up his Administration? Who does he owe?
rockmom on September 5, 2008 at 1:26 AM
Maquis on September 5, 2008 at 1:22 AM –
Thanks for sharing? :-)
Don’t lose sleep over it. Do what I do. Self-medicate. Jack Daniels works fine.
coldwarrior on September 5, 2008 at 1:27 AM
rockmom on September 5, 2008 at 1:26 AM –
That’s the troubling aspect. Not so much as to who he might “owe” but more about what he may do. What are the triggers in his life?
“Here’s a man who has no family and no sort of “wingmen” who have been with him all his life or for even a large part of it.”
These are the sources for that answer. Yet…missing.
The thread from the old POW who didn’t want crazy Mac near the button is patently stupid. But, an unknown Obama overseeing everything…and no one knows him other than the public persona?
coldwarrior on September 5, 2008 at 1:30 AM
Obama in a nutshell: deeply insecure person who hides behind his intelligence and a mythology that he is hyper-intelligent and specially called by God. To feed his defense mechanism, he works to get other people to tell him he is smart and good.
Times in which Obama was abandoned when young: Obama born out of wedlock. Father left. Step-father left. Mother left for extended periods. Father dies carelessly, drunk driving. Mother dies young. These are Obama’s scars, but he can never talk about them.
Obama became a radical at a young age under the tutelage of his white grandfather, his mother, and Frank Marshall. His Indonesian years made him a multicultural liberal years before that became fashionable. He did drugs in high school.
He went to Occidental then transferred to Columbia, apparently having had excellent grades at Occidental. At Columbia he must have fallen in with the radical elements that dominate that campus. Quite possibly that was ACORN. He didn’t know what to do over a summer, so he checked in with them. They sent him to Chicago as a community organizer. He liked the city and he decided to move there after college. At some point he might have met up with a Black Muslim who put him in touch with Khalid Al-Mansour. After a period of time, he applied to law school. Al-Mansour had Percy Sutton write a recommendation to Harvard Law School for Obama.
Obama is extremely gullible. He believed in Jeremiah Wright. He believed in Louis Farrakhan. He believed in Frank Marshall. He currently believes Iran will just sit down and talk with him. Obama never learns from his mistakes. He must believe that he is godly or something and all these crazy people he meet are coming to him for some reason.
Obama acts like he believes in predetermination of everything, as Muslims do. He is utterly relaxed. He must have picked up this belief in Indonesia and forgot why he believes it.
Meanwhile, in order to get people to tell him he is smart and good, he presents himself as whatever his audience wants him to be. If he talks to a Black Muslim, he presents himself as one. If he talks to liberals, he presents himself as one. If he talks to Christians, he presents himself as one.
Obama as a chameleon is why there isn’t a fatwa or something calling him out for being a bad Muslim and abandoning the Islamic faith, like other apostates from Islam get.
Obama believes it is his holy mission to enact liberalism into law. At some point reality and myth will blur for him.
Connection between Biden and Obama: both have family losses connected to drunk driving. (Biden might not have, but believes strongly that it was drunk driving that killed his first wife. He probably couldn’t accept it otherwise.)
indythinker on September 5, 2008 at 1:33 AM
indythinker on September 5, 2008 at 1:33 AM –
Clinton, on the other hand is an adult child of an alcoholic…and it served him well in the political theater. He can sense the mood of a room instantly and sense the mood of a person sitting across from him equally fast. Clinton capitalized on this. This is just one Clinton trait that was environmentally imposed on him. There are others. All very public and confirmed through the years. Some very good, others less benign. But, beleive it or not, we pretty much knew who Clinton was before he even announced his first run for President.
But, Obama? Parts of your narrative are quite on target.
The rest is borne out in public record.
But, if someone got into it face to face with Obama, what would set him off?
What does he believe in? What would he die for? What would he have others die for? Whgat is he willing to lie for? What is he willing to go to the mat to defend?
I’m just not all that comfortable about having nearly half of the country so willing and ready to elect this guy based on nothing but what Obama told them.
coldwarrior on September 5, 2008 at 1:43 AM
If only I were that organized. No, it’s just natural brilliance.
Jim Treacher on September 5, 2008 at 1:56 AM
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