38 Comments

1. Joe:

I probably shouldn’t be proud of this, but I spent the whole McCain speech hoping he would start talking about Palin again.

Sep 5, 2008 - 7:42 am 2. Mike Shuster:

‘the demise of the convention?” Really? When both conventions pulled record TV audiences this year? When the internet makes them more effective as buzz-spreading events than ever before? Seems unlikely to me. Though I wouldn’t mind.

Sep 5, 2008 - 8:13 am 3. Charlie (Colorado):

When is the last time you recall David Frum being right about anything?

Sep 5, 2008 - 8:18 am 4. Lem:

Meanwhile, Palin apparently tops McCain and Obama in the polls. If that lasts, we’re in for fascinating times.

As the queen mother Oprah is finding out

“Half of her staff really wants Sarah Palin on,” an insider explains. “Oprah’s website is getting tons of requests to put her on, but Oprah and a couple of her top people are adamantly against it because of Obama.”

http://tinyurl.com/6h4apw

Sep 5, 2008 - 9:26 am 5. Bob Wang:

http://sarahpalinforpresident.blogspot.com/

‘Nuff said.

Bob

Sep 5, 2008 - 9:29 am 6. srlucado:

I doubt that conventions will go away, but I can see them cutting down to a couple of days.

And really, that would be enough, don’t you think?

Have a safe trip home, everyone.

Scott

Sep 5, 2008 - 10:11 am 7. Teplost:

I’m voting for Sarah Palin, and that white-haired guy standing next to her.

Sep 5, 2008 - 10:17 am 8. Neo:

Don Corleone was “community organizer”

Sep 5, 2008 - 10:30 am 9. Neo:

I want to see Sarah Palin take on the nimrods on “The View”

Sep 5, 2008 - 10:32 am 10. Neo:

The McCain campaign should make it clear to Oprah that they will only send Sarah Palin.

This way Oprah is blocked from having Obama on again without risk of an illegal “corporate contribution” (AKA a media appearance) to the Obama campaign.

Sep 5, 2008 - 10:35 am 11. Crusader:

McCain who? I’m voting for President Palin.

Sep 5, 2008 - 10:56 am 12. Lem:

If Palin wins I’m moving to DC

Sep 5, 2008 - 11:30 am 13. tim maguire:

I loved Drudge earlier. They posted Oprah’s statement that she is not hosting Palin until after the election because her show is not political and will not be used to further anybody’s political career right above a picture of Oprah on sitting on her studio couch alongside Obama.

Sep 5, 2008 - 11:42 am 14. Erwin:

America loves Sarah! She is the most popular politician in America according to Rassmussen. Obama who? He is as intersting as a piece of stale pudding.

Sep 5, 2008 - 11:47 am 15. Lem:

Cindy ha a good line last night.

..the difference btwg the concern about what people in other countries think of us and thinking about what our forefathers would think of us.

Understated and yet it packed a wallop. I was really impressed with her.
A first lady I would be proud of

Sep 5, 2008 - 11:58 am 16. David Thomson:

Oprah has been placed in an awkward no-win situation. The Republicans come out ahead regardless whether Sarah Palin appears on the show. She is damned if she does—and damned if she doesn’t. Also, Oprah will never again be as popular as she was in the past. She has burned her bridges with many of her most loyal audience members.

Sep 5, 2008 - 12:04 pm 17. Godzilla:

Roger, there are so many URLs that are returned from an internet search using the keyword “McCain” that it takes several minutes of dedicated effort to actually get to McCain’s official campaign site. A search on “John McCain” gets you there quicker, but there are still many bogus sites clustered around it, and less motivated people will not take the time to wade through and get to the right one. If you and other McCain supporters can put up links on your blogs, that would be great.

Sep 5, 2008 - 12:15 pm 18. Pinkie Ann LeBrainne:

It’s a constant wonder to me why folks get so riled up over who’s a great speaker and who isn’t. The liberals excoriated Reagan for being a good speaker, derided GWH Bush because he was merely lackluster. Clinton is great with the teleprompter, but downright dangerous speaking “off-the-cuff,” and nearly gave his aids nervous breakdowns. Gore was stultifying with or without help. Bush is terrible with written and teleprompted speeches, but is amazing in intimate settings. Of course the MSM rarely televises meetings with heads of state, so obviously, Bush is an idiot based on what NBC says.

So now we have McCain and Palin. Obama and Biden. In case you haven’t figured it out, here’s how it will go down: Obama=Brilliant, Palin=Staged and Over-Rehearsed, McCain=Doofus, and Biden=Loose and Charming.

Sep 5, 2008 - 12:26 pm 19. Lightnin' Hopkins:

It’s the interminable length of the campaign that I would like to see cut back. I don’t care about convention length, or how much money is spent or donated. It just seems ridiculous to have to “run” for essentially two whole years before the election. It takes so long you’ve got supporters of The One claiming, with a straight face, that “managing” a campaign constitutes “executive experience.” Yeah, and viewing heart surgery from a balcony seat, in and of itself, makes you a surgeon.

Sep 5, 2008 - 12:42 pm 20. Lem:

Speaking of conventions

From now on call me a Palioconservative.

Pelea por Palin!

Sep 5, 2008 - 12:57 pm 21. Lem:

Oprah has been placed in an awkward no-win situation.

How about Gloria Steinem; at best telling another woman to sit down, and at worst, that Palin may not be a woman at all.

“Sarah Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Hillary Clinton.

http://tinyurl.com/6rsqep

This is so dissonant and strange, I don’t know if there is a word for it.

Sep 5, 2008 - 1:25 pm 22. Lem:

A battle of the titans is brewing.

I call it Internet vrs Powernet.

Oprah vrs Drudge

Drudge is confident, but has he bitten more than he can chew?

Is this a november glimpse?

Sep 5, 2008 - 3:58 pm 23. peter b:

as interested and surprised as i have been by you up to now, your reaction to sarah palin is mindboggling. many idealogues have galvanized crowds, especially crowds like the one you were a part of! her selection is the most cynical, political move in memory. she is dangerous!

Sep 5, 2008 - 4:02 pm 24. srlucado:

Pinkie: “So now we have McCain and Palin. Obama and Biden. In case you haven’t figured it out, here’s how it will go down: Obama=Brilliant, Palin=Staged and Over-Rehearsed, McCain=Doofus, and Biden=Loose and Charming.”

Typical media framing, really. For decades, every Democratic candidate has been showered with praise. The Kennedys always get a pass, no matter what, but beyond that – Carter, Clinton and Gore, geniuses; Kerry, war hero; Hillary – tough and brilliant. (They can’t even bring themselves to call Kucinich a lunatic, despite the overwhelming evidence.)

On the other hand, Republicans are always warmongering, lying idiots – Nixon, liar; Ford, stumble-bum Nixon stand-in; Reagan, bloodthirsty senile idiot; Bush I, wimp; Dole, senile blockhead; Bush II, theocratic “worst president ever”; Romney, polygamist religious cultist; McCain, wheezing warmonger.

I don’t hold the media’s biases against them. After all, I have plenty of my own. But I don’t claim neutrality, either.

Scott

Sep 5, 2008 - 4:26 pm 25. NRA Life Member:

This is for Lightnin’ Hopkins. I will certainly agree that the campaign is long enough to get sick of it early on, but in the case of the Messiah, it has taken the entire time he’s been running for the absolute nothingness of his message to be exposed and start to be perceived by the general voting public. In a quick campaign like say the one for Prime Minister of Great Britain, Obama would have sailed right through. So, painful as it is, I’m glad it does go this long.

Sep 5, 2008 - 4:50 pm 26. Arthur Beetson:

NRA member: Good point about the value of having a long, hard look at Obama. The time taken for him to wear thin was time well spent. But in the case of Great Britain, though they do indeed have short campaigns, the Prime Minister is chosen by and from the (already elected) MPs. MPs from the last Parliament choose a leader to lead them into an election, who becomes PM if they win. They have a very good knowledge of the person they choose, and a life-or-death incentive to get the decision right. A shooting star like The One has never become PM. It’s theoretically possible- run for Parliament for the first time, win your seat, be elected Party Leader and PM in a blaze of glory- but has never happened.
But your main point is spot on. Falling in and out of love takes time, especially for the first time.

Sep 5, 2008 - 5:24 pm 27. dap64:

I certainly don’t think the conventions will go away – maybe get shorter. There’s no need for several days of build-up. The first day is just twaddle – giving those who didn’t make the cut and those who’ve paid their party dues their moment. But the conventions are useful as the ‘coming out party’ for the candidates. For many people, this is the first unedited (by the media) glimpse of the candidates. The conventions mark the point at which the general public starts paying attention to the campaigns.

One point about Oprah, I can’t believe I’m defending her, but Obama appeared on her show before announcing his candidacy. Sure, it makes for a funny Drudge headline, but it’s not real. She hasn’t had candidates appear on her show since 2000 when she was accused of helping Bush win the election. He appeared on her show and everyone saw that he wasn’t the moron he was being portrayed as, and Al Gore also appeared and was as bland and stiff as he usually is. Rightly or wrongly, Bush’s appearance on Oprah was seen as a turning point in his campaign and Oprah’s not willing to let that happen again.

Sep 5, 2008 - 5:27 pm 28. Greg:

The public knows the press is not neutral. Refs are neutral. They don’t scream at one bench, high-five the home team and celebrate in the end-zone when it scores.

Sep 5, 2008 - 5:40 pm 29. Roy Lofquist:

Dear Sirs,

I have been watching these things since 1952. Give me the smoke filled rooms. Now we have MTV.

That said, I’d like to say something about the speeches.

Sarah Palin gave the most spectacular speech I have ever seen. From out of nowhere and subject to calumny from the media she came in and eviscerated them. The barracuda has entered the lagoon.

Barack Obama gives speeches like a Pentecostal preacher. I went to one of them once when I was quite young. I heard the talking in tongues and went down to the altar and gave my life to JESUS! The next day I thought “so that’s what temporary insanity is all about”.

I don’t think people realize how lastingly powerful was the speech of John McCain. Perhaps this will never be recognized – except in the election results.

I am tempted to compare it to the Lincoln – Douglas debates or the failures of William Jennings Bryan. Douglas and Bryan were famed orators. Lincoln, with a reportedly thin and reedy voice, is a giant of history. Lincoln spoke in simple words. He expressed eloquent ideas in the language that the people understood. Nobody reads the two hour speeches of Douglas. Everybody knows the Gettysburg Address.

McCain was low keyed. He was talking to each of us – not the crowd. No soaring rhetoric or rabble rousing. Sure there were memorable lines from Obama and Palin, though the lines from Obama have already slipped my mind. McCain sold us his story – of a born again, in the universal sense, humble person who is an extraordinary everyman.

People have compared Palin to Reagan. I think that is a superficial reading. McCain is much closer to “Ronnie” – the humble, amiable man who we trust.

Regards,
Roy

Sep 5, 2008 - 6:47 pm 30. Lightnin' Hopkins:

“She is dangerous!”

Evidently. Judging by the reaction of Dems I know personally, the Obama camp, and the media, she has set some knees knocking.

By the way, Democrats are never cynical or calculating, are they Peter? How about the Clintons, are you familiar with their work?

Sep 5, 2008 - 6:51 pm 31. Doug:

I would like to see the comeback of the modern equivalent of the fireside chat. I think McCain would excel at that.

Sep 5, 2008 - 7:37 pm 32. Lem:

I suspect many democrats who secretly never intended to vote for Obama, Palin is just the icing on the cake.

What Palin does is allow a viseral comparison btwg Obama and McCain that w/o Palin would be nearly impossible.

McCain is not only matching Obama’s offer, now he can say – I was the better candidate all along.

Sep 5, 2008 - 8:18 pm 33. Annabel:

Roy Lofquist, I could not agree with you more. It’s encouraging to hear someone else articulate my feelings so precisely. I hope and believe you speak for many.

Sep 5, 2008 - 8:32 pm 34. Barry Dauphin:

It’s not clear that conventions have a point, but this year’s convention coverage of both parties drew higher ratings than American Idol finale. So the big speeches have something to offer citizens. But for the most part conventions harken back to the days before primaries and more direct democracy. Conventions probably energize the die-hards who do a lot of work that few people notice.

Sep 5, 2008 - 9:04 pm 35. Roy Lofquist:

Dear Annabel,

I was there when Dwight David Eisenhower defeated the “intellectual” Adlai Stevenson. I can remember my father, a lifelong Democrat saying, when he saw that famous picture of the hole in Stevenson’s shoe: “This guy is as phony as a three dollar bill”.

The American people are wise beyond the comprehension of thee and me. I am enjoying the Hell out of this election.

Love,
Roy

Sep 5, 2008 - 11:07 pm 36. Lem:

The American people are wise beyond the comprehension of thee and me.

Bolstering aside, in the we hours of the morning, after reading and reading, I wish I could confidently say the same.

Sep 6, 2008 - 1:25 am 37. Roy Lofquist:

Dear Lem,

As Medved says: “The greatest country on God’s green earth”.

I can’t remember an election that wasn’t “The most important election in our history”.

Sit back, relax and enjoy the show. It’s going to be a doozy.

Regards,
Roy

Sep 6, 2008 - 5:22 am 38. AlanC:

Lem, you wrote “…comparison btwg Obama and McCain…”

Is btwg a typo or an ancronym? The only thing it reminds me of is “BTWG stands for Beyond the Walled Garden (social software blog)”

So, que pasa?

Sep 6, 2008 - 11:08 am

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