REPUBLICAN CONVENTION DAY 2 - WHO IS JOHN MCCAIN ?
After a slow beginning and rightly so because of the onslaught of Hurricane Gustav, the Republican National Convention started in full swing last night. Monday was to be the big kick off but because of Gustav only necessary votes for the adoption of an final shaping of the platform took place. Republicans instead raised money for Gulf Coast residents and put together more than 80, 000 care packages to send to fellow Americans affected by the Hurricane.
Day two had a myriad of speakers who followed one basic theme telling the world about John McCain. President Bush spoke via satellite form The White House where he was working with State and local officials in the aftermath of Gustav. The President stressed the experience and hard headidness of John McCain.
Next on the podium in St. Paul was former Senator and Presidential candidate Fred Thompson. My first thoughts about his rousing speech was, "where was this Fred Thompson during the primaries ?" Thompson not only roused the crowd in St. Paul but did so with humor, emotion and a fire that was not seen during his bid for the GOP nomination.
Thompson's moving description of McCain's ordeal as a POW at the Hanoi Hilton in Vietnam brought details about his captivity that many may not have known and stressed, as Thompson stated, that though being a POW was not a qualification for the Presidency it was a statement of the character of John McCain.
Thompson also came out strong in his support for Governor Sarah Palin stating, "I say, give me a tough Alaskan Governor who's taken on the political establishment in the largest state in the Union over the Beltway business-as-usual crowd any day of the week."
Then adding a little of the famous Thompson humor in reference to her being a hunter, "She has run a Municipality, and she has run a State. And I can say without fear of contradiction that she is the only nominee in the history of either party who knows how to properly field-dress a moose," Thompson said. "With the possible exception of Teddy Roosevelt."
One of Thompson's best lines of the veneing dealt with Obama dn the Democrat Congress, "Democrats present a history making nominee for President. History making in that he is the most liberal, most inexperienced nominee to ever run for President.."
About the Congress he added, "Apparently they believe that he would match up well with the history making, Democrat controlled Congress. History making because it's the least accomplished and most unpopular Congress in our nation's history."
The evening ended with the keynote address delivered by Senator Joe Lieberman, though an Independent , Lieberman is a Democrat from Connecticut and Al Gore's running mate in the 2000 election. Lieberman is a staunch McCain supporter who stated , "Whether you are an Independent, a Reagan Democrat, a Clinton Democrat or just a plain old Democrat, this year, when you vote for President, vote for the person you believe is best for our country, not for the party you happen to belong to."
Though Lieberman's speech hit a cord that will cause some who are in the indecision column to consider supporting McCain he did emphasise some of the very legislation that has had McCain at odds with the conservative base in the GOP, which may have had some in the party nervous for a few moments during Lieberman's keynote.
Though the evening was all about McCain, there was an underlying current because of the attacks that have been prevalent against McCain's VP pick Governor Sarah Palin. Many pundits both Republican and Democrat have expressed anger at the direction that the attacks have taken especially in using her daughter as means of attacking the candidate.
Tonight the anticipation and the spotlight will be focused on Palin as she delivers her acceptance speech with an expected television crowd that many believe with compare with that of the acceptance speech of Barack Obama at the spectacle in Invesco Field on that last night of the DNC Convention.
Being a new comer on the national scene has caused a great deal of expected scrutiny of Palin but many wonder whether the viciousness of the attacks can be attributed to her being a conservative women who stands against most of the platform of the women's movement. Additional the way the media has used her family as a means of attacking her is considered unprecedented by pundits on both sides of the political spectrum and angered many on both sides.
The backlash that will follow remains to be seen but suffice it to say that all eyes will be on St Paul tonight and the acceptance speech of GOP Vice Presidential nominee Governor Sarah Palin.
Ken Taylor
Day two had a myriad of speakers who followed one basic theme telling the world about John McCain. President Bush spoke via satellite form The White House where he was working with State and local officials in the aftermath of Gustav. The President stressed the experience and hard headidness of John McCain.
Next on the podium in St. Paul was former Senator and Presidential candidate Fred Thompson. My first thoughts about his rousing speech was, "where was this Fred Thompson during the primaries ?" Thompson not only roused the crowd in St. Paul but did so with humor, emotion and a fire that was not seen during his bid for the GOP nomination.
Thompson's moving description of McCain's ordeal as a POW at the Hanoi Hilton in Vietnam brought details about his captivity that many may not have known and stressed, as Thompson stated, that though being a POW was not a qualification for the Presidency it was a statement of the character of John McCain.
Thompson also came out strong in his support for Governor Sarah Palin stating, "I say, give me a tough Alaskan Governor who's taken on the political establishment in the largest state in the Union over the Beltway business-as-usual crowd any day of the week."
Then adding a little of the famous Thompson humor in reference to her being a hunter, "She has run a Municipality, and she has run a State. And I can say without fear of contradiction that she is the only nominee in the history of either party who knows how to properly field-dress a moose," Thompson said. "With the possible exception of Teddy Roosevelt."
One of Thompson's best lines of the veneing dealt with Obama dn the Democrat Congress, "Democrats present a history making nominee for President. History making in that he is the most liberal, most inexperienced nominee to ever run for President.."
About the Congress he added, "Apparently they believe that he would match up well with the history making, Democrat controlled Congress. History making because it's the least accomplished and most unpopular Congress in our nation's history."
The evening ended with the keynote address delivered by Senator Joe Lieberman, though an Independent , Lieberman is a Democrat from Connecticut and Al Gore's running mate in the 2000 election. Lieberman is a staunch McCain supporter who stated , "Whether you are an Independent, a Reagan Democrat, a Clinton Democrat or just a plain old Democrat, this year, when you vote for President, vote for the person you believe is best for our country, not for the party you happen to belong to."
Though Lieberman's speech hit a cord that will cause some who are in the indecision column to consider supporting McCain he did emphasise some of the very legislation that has had McCain at odds with the conservative base in the GOP, which may have had some in the party nervous for a few moments during Lieberman's keynote.
Though the evening was all about McCain, there was an underlying current because of the attacks that have been prevalent against McCain's VP pick Governor Sarah Palin. Many pundits both Republican and Democrat have expressed anger at the direction that the attacks have taken especially in using her daughter as means of attacking the candidate.
Tonight the anticipation and the spotlight will be focused on Palin as she delivers her acceptance speech with an expected television crowd that many believe with compare with that of the acceptance speech of Barack Obama at the spectacle in Invesco Field on that last night of the DNC Convention.
Being a new comer on the national scene has caused a great deal of expected scrutiny of Palin but many wonder whether the viciousness of the attacks can be attributed to her being a conservative women who stands against most of the platform of the women's movement. Additional the way the media has used her family as a means of attacking her is considered unprecedented by pundits on both sides of the political spectrum and angered many on both sides.
The backlash that will follow remains to be seen but suffice it to say that all eyes will be on St Paul tonight and the acceptance speech of GOP Vice Presidential nominee Governor Sarah Palin.
Ken Taylor
posted by The Liberal Lie The Conservative Truth | 10:18 AM
8 Comments:
Dead on with most of your analysis Ken.
I thought Laura Bush looked a little flat and did a poor job of reading off the teleprompter. It was also clear that the RNC wanted to reduce Bush's role to a 7-minute cameo.
However, Fred Thompson gave a great speech that was well received by the delegates. His only problem was that he had to keep clearing his throat.
The choice of LIEberman was an odd one. I know he is McCain's buddy and his real philosophical soulmate, but his speech was not an energizing speech for the RNC convention. It was mostly polite applause and probably some muttering about his references to McCain's views on things like global warming, campaign finance refore, and comprehensive immigration reform.
What should have happened is the theme for the night should have focused on McCain and "red meat." They should have slotted Rudy to give his normal Obama bashing/pro-McCain schtick. Then the delegates would have been properly energized.
Now Rudy is going to speak tonight and if Palin is flat, he may outshine her. I'm looking forward to seeing Palin speak. I expect her to do well, these are scripted speeches. Where she will prove her mettle will be in the dogged questioning and endless campaign events she will have to deal with in coming weeks.
Rob,
Personally I think that Palin is never flat. She really shines.
We'll see. We haven't seen her do anything yet. This isn't a town hall meeting in Wasilla or an address to 100,000 Alaskans on TV. This is the big leagues.
I expect her to do fine today, but like I said, the question will be how she handles the scrutiny as a national candidate over the next few weeks.
The McCain campaign has pretty much locked her away to try to let things settle out, but every day there is something new. With the hundreds of reporters digging around Alaska right now, it is almost a sure bet that next week will hear all kinds of things about Sarah and the Palin family.
This is exactly what happens to an unknown candidate - male or female.
She really shined when McCain first introduced her. Like so many other Republicans have said, the Democrats are really digging because they feel threatened by her.
Rob, agreed that an unknown onthe National stage does have a large amount of, "stuff, " that comes out because of the inkown factor. My problem with the,"revelations," are how petty most have been and the angry almost arrogant how dare she style additude by many who have leveled the accusations.
Like you and Lista, I beleive Palin will shine tonight and I also see Rudy at the hired gun so to speak to go after Obama. He has the additude and that New York hutzbah to give him the job.
The issue about Bristol's privacy is one thing. The fact that her mother would like to legislate not providing contraceptive education to young people across the country is quite another.
Palin's daughters pregnancy is not a victory or a cause for celebration. We ought to be asking what could have been done in order to prevent the 17 year old from becoming pregnant in the first place. Not having sex is one obvious thing. Having safe sex is another.
Social conservatives praise Palin as a loving and understanding mother that Bristol could come to in times of crisis. Great, but what about when Bristol was considering having sex, why didn't she go to her mother and ask for her advice about birth control and contraception.
The fact is that abstinence only education is a threat to teens. Those who are not educated have more unprotected sex and more unwanted pregnancies and STD's.
Remember there is a big difference between promoting teen sex and educating young people about their bodies and their sexuality. Knowledge has never made people less virtuous or less safe.
Palin did indeed shine last night, Ken! She made us proud. Whoever may have doubted she could hold her own against Biden or anyone else can now put those fears to rest. Of course the left wont like it, but we would be crazy to expect otherwise. :)
Gayle,
Amen!! I agree whole heartedly.
Ellen Fridland,
I'm not entirely opposed to some information about controceptives and "Safe Sex", yet too often Abstinence is down played and teens are lead to believe that "Safe Sex" is "Safe", but it is not and they are also spoken to in a way that makes them believe that we expect them to fail and well, when we don't believe in people, we often do get just exactly what we expect.
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