Now, THAT was a party! The GOP is awake, refreshed, and ready to go to work.
I’m siting here this morning at my laptop while my roommates rest after the event’s of last night’s convention. I was awoken earlier by a phone call, and there’s no way I could get back to sleep. After the events of this week, especially last night, how could anyone sleep?
Because there wasn’t a long primary process, and our candidate was decided long ago, many in the GOP were somewhat ambivalent towards the McCain effort. But they are lackadaisical no more. With the choice of Sarah Palin, and an energetic performance by the nominee at the convention, the giant that is the GOP has been woken up refreshed with new energy and vigor.
John McCain has boldly set forth his qualifications and his vision, effectively making his case for why the American people should place him in the highest office in the land. And he makes his case well.
Only in our pre-packaged, fast-food, celebrity obsessed world Barack Obama be elevated to the same status of a man such as John McCain. The truth of the matter is that Obama is no more than a watery reflection as to what Americans envision their commander-in-chief should be.
In the arena of the legislative body he serves in, Obama has not distinguished himself as remarkable. Prior to his public service, he has not amassed the experiences that most Americans would identify with leading the planet’s final remaining super-power. In short, when compared to John McCain, Barack Obama just doesn’t measure up.
McCain distinguished himself in his service to our country through the military. He was brutally and repeatedly instructed in the price that many servicemen pay as prisoners of war. More so than any other candidate in the last decade, he understands the cost in human life when our servicemen are forced to be sent to foreign soil. And it is not a light cost.
If there’s any reason that he was not ready as a presidential candidate before now, it’s because as Senator, McCain has had a tendency to be recalcitrant. He has not been afraid to ignore the status quo, and sometimes, political mavericks aren’t exactly the most popular people within the structure of the party’s banner that they run under.
Yet, at this point in history, his party members have demonstrated that they are willing to take the maverick’s path. They are willing to believe that one man can change the culture and the practice of politics in Washington. They’re ready to take the path of integrity over the path of politics-as-usual. The Republican party has demonstrated that they’re ready for John McCain to carry the banner.
Now it is the job of the candidate to convince the voters of the country that they’re ready for John McCain as well.
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Comments
I’m looking forward to the first African American president!
Until McCain disassocites himself with Bush, he will never win this election.
“And I wouldn’t be an American worthy of the name if I didn’t honor Sen. Obama and his supporters for their achievement. ”
— John McCain, 4 Sept, 2008
Looks like PP either didn’t listen to the speech or chose to forget what his fearless leader really said in less than 12 hours. So it goes.
John’s was a great speech. I’m just wondering if his party can live up to it.
First I think there should be some speech writers looking for a new job this morning. There were some great speeches this week. Like Fred, Rudy, Sara, etc. John’s speech was bad except the last 60 seconds. I hope it’s the last time they put him in front of the prompter. It’s not him and it doesn’t work.
Next when did it become fashionable to tell the party faithful that their deeply held beliefs are wrong and that he has no obligation to promote the party values? I might as well vote for a Dem.
Examples the party is wrong:
Drilling in Alaska
Campaign Funding
Being Fiscal Conservative
It’s a slap in the face to people who put their heart and sole into building this party. Ron R. is spinning in his grave.
John -
If you read McCain’s “Plan for our future,” I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. I don’t know that there’s anything that a conservative would disagree with in there.
Pat, MPR reported yesterday that apprx 1% of the RNC delegates were black, 5% hispanic and 68% male. I don’t believe they gave numbers on how many were gay or agnostic.
Anooner the % gay is probably a secret. But I heard there was so much foot tapping in the men’s room, it sounded like a conga line. (…just kiddin’.)
Bill - I think what they meant was it is OK to be a closet gay. Pat, you didn’t confuse the custodial staff for delegates did you?
Hey, don’t make (REAL) homosexuals look bad by bringing up Larry Craig. Craig isn’t gay, he just likes gay sex. There is a difference.
i wasn’t there, pat, but i would agree with detroit that our party falls far short in appealing to minorities.
part of the problem is that the dems have been selling them a bill of goods for the past few decades. still, we republicans could do a better job.
i liked mccain saying that school choice is the next civil rights battle. he’s right.
Republicans are usually in front of freedoms, slavery, civil rights, womens right to vote and yes I agree freedom for people of all economic classes to use there public $ to choose the education they want, not what the teachers union think they deserve.
It becomes popular only after the republicans pave the way, then the dems step in and try to own it through adding another group to there list of dependent children to organize againt those horrible republicans.
Lex, I hear what your saying but let me put a different slant on it.
I see nothing in our platform, core principles, or actions as a party that is not appealing to like-minded minorities. And with few exceptions, our party and its leaders have done little that is not appealing to like-minded minorities.
The problem is that too few minorities (especially Black Americans) have a like-mind on certain transcending issues with the GOP. This difference is not racist or due to a lack of concern by the GOP. And this disagreement is not irrational from a Black American perspective.
Many abuses and shameful components of American life were not resolved by private actions of the citizenry but by direct and forceful government action. While public institutional racism has been virtually eliminated, the consequences of institutional racism and private acts of racism remain. I can understand an expectation in the Black community that government action is required to eliminate the racism that remains.
Our challenge to change the minds of Black Americans with regard to party allegiance is not to reach out in symbolic ways or to change core principles. There is nothing racist in our principles. It is to stand up in loud opposition as individuals and as a party to private acts of racism. And we should do so not as Republicans but as Americans. Because racism exists, Black Americans look to their government for solution. As racism recedes, there is less need to look to the government.
And in this regard, there is much that the GOP has done historically and today to be proud of in this regard. We have no reason to take a back seat to the Democrats. Also, we each have skeletons in our history and recent positions for which we should be ashamed.
America is changing for the better. Our generation’s attitudes on race are better than our parent’s. Our kids are even better than ours. As private racism and the institutional consequences of past racism decline, Black Americans will have less reason to look to the government for a solution. And ultimately, it will give them more reason to look to the party that promotes less governmental interference in society.
Because of a business relationship and my daughter’s, I’ve had had the pleasure of getting to know five black teenagers pretty well. Three of them I know are registered Republicans or intend to register as such. In some ways, because of their sensitivity to political issues, these teens are more informed than my daughter’s on the principle of less government and freedom.
I see from them a metamorphosis similar to what my Catholic family has done. Fifty years ago, “Catholic Republican” was an oxymoron. My grandfather was a rabid Democrat but as issues and America itself changed, most of his grandchildren have found a new political party more conducive to their views. This took two generations for the change among Catholics. And just like my grandfather didn’t understand my mother’s choice to be a Republican, these teen’s parents may not understand why their kids are Republicans (I only know one set of parents well enough to have discussed politics but I don’t hesitate to engage kids who come into my house. 
).
Although I don’t advocate Obama’s election, I do think that an Obama election will long-term lessen the allegiance of Blacks to the Dem party. If Americans prove by electing Obama that race is no longer a transcending issue in the body politic, many Blacks will no longer have a need to look to governmental action to correct what remains of racism and it will give them greater freedom to look more closely at the GOP.
PP is on a convention high and that is understandable, so we need to cut him some slack for his over-reaching enthusiasm.
The biggest problem McCain is going to have in this election is his inability to reach out to swing voters and independents after what this campaign has transformed him into.
He used to decry the politics of social issues division. He now openly embraces the politics of Dobson and Hagee. He’s even put one of the religious right on the ticket when before that segment of the party was primarily foot soldiers. He used to call for a civil campaign that was above personality and personal attacks. His campaign is now largely based on that. He used to be someone who actually believed in “reforming the politics of Washington”. But his campaign has been nothing but more of the same petty and polarizing politics.
If this election had been between Clinton and McCain, many of the swing and independent voters would have fallen McCain’s way because the Clintons are such a polarizing force. If this election wasn’t one where the Dems hold about an 8% generic advantage, McCain’s strategy of polarization might have worked like it did for Bush.
Firing up the base isn’t going to be enough for McCain in this election. Yet that is all he has offered.
I’m afraid the McCain campaign’s only hope is using race. I’m even more afraid that from the character he has shown us so far in this campaign that he isn’t afraid to go there.
Obama on the other hand, CAN win by firing up the base because of the generic advantage he has this year. But he has hardly embraced that strategy. He has stayed fairly true to his plan to bring “change” to the White House and run a purposeful campaign.
I have no doubt that the GOP is much more enthusiastic after their convention. It was bound to happen considering the state of things through the spring and summer.
But the Dems are much much more hungry after the last eight years. It’s been a disaster and even the truest in the GOP know it. People think the Dems were hungry in 92 after 12 years of Reagan/Bush 41. The hunger out there this year is nothing compared to 92.
We could go on and on about the hunger and its causes and why it is so much greater this time around.
The mortgage crisis is a good place to start. I read today that 10% of American families are now either behind or in foreclosure on their mortgage. 1 in 10. The war in Iraq. Seems to be going better but poll after poll shows Americans by large margins are ready to come home. The state of the economy (skittish at best) coupled with stagnant wages have people worried. Gas prices. Health insurance was a major issue in 2000 but nothing has happened except it has become twice as expensive.
That is what has created this hunger for Dems. And independents are coming along with them this year.
This election isn’t going to be close. Obama will carry the coasts and traditional Dem strongholds along with places like Virginia, Montana, Colorado, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, and possibly even North Carolina. By expanding the playing field in this way, Obama can afford to lose one or even two of the “key swing states” like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio or Florida. I don’t see how this is going to be a close election. And we can say what we want about convention bounces and such, but national polls don’t tell us a whole lot about who is going to win even though Obama has CONSISTENTLY FOR MONTHS been up by 3-5 points. It’s the consistency in this poll that is important. And at the end of the day, the popular vote might well end up within the 3-5 point range. But after the last two elections, that is a landslide. And when you dig into the state polls, it seems like this election is going to be our first “landslide” in quite some time; the biggest electoral victory margin since 1988, maybe even since Reagan’s impressive showing in 1984.
oldhand,
I like the gloss over on oil prices and that people want us out of Iraq. The facts are oil prices raise the cost of everything. The oil prices almost doubled since the Democrats took control of the Legislative Branch. The troops aren’t all coming home but most of them are still alive and well!
As for the polls Obama/Biden are going to need at least a 10% lead in the polls to pull a close race. They are at 8% after the converntion(or Before Palin). The BIG thing though is there plan is no different than what the DNC offers now.
The Same Old Thing hasn’t worked before and now the change is comming from McCain/Palin. You are desperate at best.
The Kool-Aid at the convention apparently was spiked and PP is intoxicated. The hangover is going to hurt. And it’s going to last for two months.
Guy Smylie:
I’m not trying to gloss over the issues. I’m just sayin’ that the Dems are more in tune with the American public this time around. I don’t even know that Republicans and Bush are to blame for high oil, the war, etc. There is plenty of blame to go around. But when you look at where the American public is at on the issues and what Obama is offering, there seems to be a lot of parallels.
Barack has a hard time speaking(without a script), who’s telling you what he’s offering? It’s really hard to believe someone is sincere when they can’t even speak from their heart.
i agree with you, troy. but to detroit’s point: there weren’t many minorities in the crowd. there never are. something ain’t working.
maybe it starts with pols like mccain and palin and rice and thomas and huckabee going to where the minorities are, more often.
maybe it starts with easing off some of the rhetoric that used to scare black people, like “state’s rights.”
maybe we start cutting a little slack to people who lived through the heights of racism, when they say divisive and outlandish things like rev. wright did.
maybe, like mccain did, we start framing certain issues, such as school choice, around the broader issue of civil rights.
maybe it starts in one of the most segregated — though not racist — institutions in society: in the church, where white and black and hispanic people don’t worship together or vote together. yet, they agree on most social issues.
lots of things we should be doing better.
McCain has much more appeal to swing voters than Obama does. If that weren’t the case the election wouldn’t be so close. And for those who say McCain is another four years of the Bush administration, I say get off your crack pipes for a while. John McCain is the one who stepped up and asked for the surge, John McCain unlike Barak Obama has an actual record of reaching across the aisle. I respect Barak Obama for winning his parties nomination, but Hiliray Clinton said it best when she said in regard to experience that John McCain had over 22 years, she had 8 years and Barak Obama gave a speech and then jumped in the Presidential race. Heck, even Palen has more decision making and leadership experience than Barak Obama. This country has serious problems which have been caused by a do nothing attitude on both sides of the aisle. Now it’s time we look at which candidate for President will get something done, it’s clearly John McCain.
We all better say a little prayer that God won’t allow McCain/Palin to win this election. America will go to hell in a handbasket sewn by the very hands of Palin.
This in a way reminds me of the “Contract with America” that Newt so brilliantly assembled. One man/women can make a difference and Pallin woke us and allowed us to look closer at MCCain and he made us look closer at ourselves. This isnt about one person it’s about the greatest country ever built and it is country over self. The city on the hill is before us, as are our best days and it is easy to be prowd of America that a african american can climb as high as he has and a women can capture the vice-president nomination and motivate a new generation of women/men in knowing the only limitation on one is themself, but what a great country.