Live Blogging Night 3 (We're Almost Done!)
9:41 pm: Loved that moose-laden video tribute to Sarah Palin. My favorite part of the Palin hagiography was the part where the narrator said that she ran for mayor because she "grew frustrated" with the town's "wasteful spending and high taxes." During her tenure, we're told, she "managed to increase funding for infrastructure while decreasing property taxes." The reality, of course, is that town spending increased by 33% during her tenure as mayor. And while she lowered property taxes (a progressive tax), she raised the sales tax (a regressive tax). Not only that, but she took a town with zero debt and left it $22 million in the hole. And, of course, the reason she was able to "increase funding for infrastructure" was because she hired a lobbyist and secured millions of dollars in federal pork-barrel earmarks, some of which John McCain singled out himself as wasteful.
9:48 pm: Cindy McCain is definitely not an "elitist" like Barack Obama. I bet her outfit tonight only cost five times the average American salary.
9:54 pm: McCain "served in Washington without ever becoming an insider." Does anyone actually believe that? Is there anyone who's more of a Washington insider than John McCain?
10:00 pm: Too bad the Redskins suck. I was hoping the game would go to overtime and block McCain's speech.
10:02 pm: I missed Huckleberry Graham's speech. Apparently he was real tool.
10:05 pm: Was the first word of that video "POW"? And did the narrator just call him "hot-headed"?
10:07 pm: Kudos for using the word "torture." That's a word Bush wouldn't say the other night.
10:11 pm: "The stars are aligned"?
10:16 pm: They keep flashing to a protester with a sign that says "you can't win an occupation." Ballsy. I wonder how long it will take to remove him.
10:18 pm: I actually hope that protester doesn't make a scene. If he does, it will likely help McCain more than it will hurt him.
10:20 pm: I'm glad McCain's mom lived to see this (I mean that genuinely).
10:23 pm: Oy. Don't these protesters realize they're not helping.
10:26 pm: "She's worked with her hands and nose...." huh?
10:28 pm: Change is coming. Vote Republican! If the American people actually buy that pitch, God help us.
10:30 pm: "You will know their names." Yep, one of them is named Sarah Palin.
10:32 pm: So far, I think this speech is more effective than the others I've seen at this convention. He's clearly trying to appeal to the Perot-type voters. Not sure it will work, but it's at least an attempt to appeal to non-base voters.
10:35 pm: He's really going for the "Republicanism didn't fail us; we failed Republicanism" approach. I don't think that's going to work.
10:38 pm: This blue-screen background is bizarre. Colbert is going to have a field day with this.
10:39 pm: Again with the "Obama will raise your taxes" lie. On second thought, there are probably a lot of rich people in that audience, so I guess he will raise their taxes.
10:40 pm: Why must Republicans always lie blatantly about health care. No one is going to put a bureaucrat between people and their doctors. What a tired canard.
10:41 pm: Now he's lying about Obama's position on trade. It's amazing how Republicans always run against the same fictitious candidate.
10:44 pm: Did his teleprompter just break? He keeps looking down.
10:45 pm: Biggest standing ovation yet is for drilling. That's just sad.
10:48 pm: Now we've arrived at the fear portion of the speech.
10:50 pm: McCain knows stuff. He's not afraid.
10:50 pm: McCain forgot to mention what the War of 1812 was like.
10:54 pm: The basic gist of this speech is: forget the last 8 years. He wants us to ignore the entire Bush administration and pretend that McCain is the exact same person who ran in 2000.
10:55 pm: This is an attempt to get back on the media's good side. He's the reformer again. The maverick. He's back to running a "respectable campaign" (just ignore all the negativity up until this point).
10:58 pm: Wait. McCain was a POW? I didn't know because he doesn't like to talk about it.
11:00 pm: I'm actually kind of moved by the fact that McCain mentioned that he broke under intense interrogation. Every other speaker has left that part of the story out. But it's important. And it's nothing to be ashamed of. It speaks to the true horror of torture.
11:01 pm: Kind of unclassy to mock Obama immediately after that touching moment. It reduced its effect.
11:02 pm: I like the call to service. Too bad Giuliani and Palin openly mocked the very idea yesterday.
11:03 pm: Good closing.
11:05 pm: It's over. I think that will go over pretty well with independents and swing voters, at least at first. Like the other speakers, though, McCain said almost nothing to address people's economic concerns. He gave very short shrift to the bread and butter economic issues. I'm not sure a vow to fight wasteful spending is enough. It might be in other years, but this year my hunch is that people want more substance; they want to know what specifically your going to do for help.
11:20 pm: Stylistically, the speech was very flat, even for McCain. And content-wise, it wasn't much different than his typical stump speech. I'm not sure any of that really matters though. Unless people turned it off half way through, it's the substance of the speech that will ultimately matter. Again, I think voters will respond well to it. I just don't know if it's going to be enough to persuade them to give the Republicans 4 more years.
9:48 pm: Cindy McCain is definitely not an "elitist" like Barack Obama. I bet her outfit tonight only cost five times the average American salary.
9:54 pm: McCain "served in Washington without ever becoming an insider." Does anyone actually believe that? Is there anyone who's more of a Washington insider than John McCain?
10:00 pm: Too bad the Redskins suck. I was hoping the game would go to overtime and block McCain's speech.
10:02 pm: I missed Huckleberry Graham's speech. Apparently he was real tool.
10:05 pm: Was the first word of that video "POW"? And did the narrator just call him "hot-headed"?
10:07 pm: Kudos for using the word "torture." That's a word Bush wouldn't say the other night.
10:11 pm: "The stars are aligned"?
10:16 pm: They keep flashing to a protester with a sign that says "you can't win an occupation." Ballsy. I wonder how long it will take to remove him.
10:18 pm: I actually hope that protester doesn't make a scene. If he does, it will likely help McCain more than it will hurt him.
10:20 pm: I'm glad McCain's mom lived to see this (I mean that genuinely).
10:23 pm: Oy. Don't these protesters realize they're not helping.
10:26 pm: "She's worked with her hands and nose...." huh?
10:28 pm: Change is coming. Vote Republican! If the American people actually buy that pitch, God help us.
10:30 pm: "You will know their names." Yep, one of them is named Sarah Palin.
10:32 pm: So far, I think this speech is more effective than the others I've seen at this convention. He's clearly trying to appeal to the Perot-type voters. Not sure it will work, but it's at least an attempt to appeal to non-base voters.
10:35 pm: He's really going for the "Republicanism didn't fail us; we failed Republicanism" approach. I don't think that's going to work.
10:38 pm: This blue-screen background is bizarre. Colbert is going to have a field day with this.
10:39 pm: Again with the "Obama will raise your taxes" lie. On second thought, there are probably a lot of rich people in that audience, so I guess he will raise their taxes.
10:40 pm: Why must Republicans always lie blatantly about health care. No one is going to put a bureaucrat between people and their doctors. What a tired canard.
10:41 pm: Now he's lying about Obama's position on trade. It's amazing how Republicans always run against the same fictitious candidate.
10:44 pm: Did his teleprompter just break? He keeps looking down.
10:45 pm: Biggest standing ovation yet is for drilling. That's just sad.
10:48 pm: Now we've arrived at the fear portion of the speech.
10:50 pm: McCain knows stuff. He's not afraid.
10:50 pm: McCain forgot to mention what the War of 1812 was like.
10:54 pm: The basic gist of this speech is: forget the last 8 years. He wants us to ignore the entire Bush administration and pretend that McCain is the exact same person who ran in 2000.
10:55 pm: This is an attempt to get back on the media's good side. He's the reformer again. The maverick. He's back to running a "respectable campaign" (just ignore all the negativity up until this point).
10:58 pm: Wait. McCain was a POW? I didn't know because he doesn't like to talk about it.
11:00 pm: I'm actually kind of moved by the fact that McCain mentioned that he broke under intense interrogation. Every other speaker has left that part of the story out. But it's important. And it's nothing to be ashamed of. It speaks to the true horror of torture.
11:01 pm: Kind of unclassy to mock Obama immediately after that touching moment. It reduced its effect.
11:02 pm: I like the call to service. Too bad Giuliani and Palin openly mocked the very idea yesterday.
11:03 pm: Good closing.
11:05 pm: It's over. I think that will go over pretty well with independents and swing voters, at least at first. Like the other speakers, though, McCain said almost nothing to address people's economic concerns. He gave very short shrift to the bread and butter economic issues. I'm not sure a vow to fight wasteful spending is enough. It might be in other years, but this year my hunch is that people want more substance; they want to know what specifically your going to do for help.
11:20 pm: Stylistically, the speech was very flat, even for McCain. And content-wise, it wasn't much different than his typical stump speech. I'm not sure any of that really matters though. Unless people turned it off half way through, it's the substance of the speech that will ultimately matter. Again, I think voters will respond well to it. I just don't know if it's going to be enough to persuade them to give the Republicans 4 more years.
posted by A.L. at 8:40 PM
13 Comments:
"Is there anyone who's more of a Washington insider than John McCain?"
Yeah. Joe Biden.
Dammit, VC. Beat me to it.
Damn, beat me too.
That really wasn't a very smart thing to say given who is at the bottom of your ticket.
Check those photos from Miami in 2000... you may find that protester's face there.
Colbert & Stewart will have fun with the green (or blue) background.
VC, Steve, et al.
No question that Biden is much more insidery that most. But McCain's been their just about as long. And McCain is famously chummy with the Beltway media and intelligencia. And, more importantly, McCain is the one who claimed tonight to be a Washington outsider.
"McCain will be ahead in the polls next week. People see a winner."--Chris Matthews
Have fun watching the Obama bump go down to nothing!
A.L.,
I thank you profoundly for your coverage. I hope you can recover from the hideous ordeal of listening to Giuliani, Graham, and Lieberman without permanent damage.
I know I couldn't have done it without some serious pharmacological help.
You do have the best live-blogging style I've found, AL. Well played.
Loved the moment when McCain choked out this lie:
"We lost their trust when instead of freeing ourselves from a dangerous dependence on foreign oil, both parties -- and Sen. Obama -- passed another corporate welfare bill for oil companies. We lost their trust when we valued our power over our principles."
This bill actually resulted in a net INCREASE in taxes on oil companies.
McCain voted AGAINST this bill, and Obama voted FOR it.
Saw it reported on today, and for reference found a link here:
http://mediamatters.org/items/200808060010
Watching on TV, you could see McCain hesitate, knowing he was about to intentionally mislead, and then force out the words anyway. You could tell something deep inside him protested against the lie, some memory of honor that is cold and dead now.
How does it feel, Republicans, to support a campaign whose primary tactic is delivering and repeating statements intentionally designed to mislead the American public? To try to convince people that something is true, when it is actually false?
McCain has no honor. Obama is going to destroy him at the debates if McCain tries to spout his falsehoods there. McCain needs to be called a liar to his face.
Can't call McCain a liar to his face - he was a POW (but doesn't like to talk about it)
Apparently the outfit cost over 300k.
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