Preliminary thoughts on McCain's speech

Preliminary thoughts on McCain's speech.

First off, it was not very well delivered. There was no passion except during his description of his time as a POW (no surprise there). Basically, unless he's talking about how he was tortured for five years, he has all the charisma of a cheese log.

Secondly, there was a curious disconnect from the speeches theme of casting off the old establishment with its content which basically trouted out the same republican rhetoric that has been in use for thirty plus years.

On the issue of policy, the speech was notably weak. I can almost picture an add where some people sift through a stack of paper and then demand "where's the beef?" There were no specific policy points that we haven't heard from Republican candidates for years. Some Maverick, huh? Lower taxes, ok. Cut spending, ok. But how will you accomplish this? By vetoing every bill that comes across your desk? Why, wouldn't that effectively lead to a shut down of the federal government? How about talking to people and working out your differences instead of telling everyone how big our stick is, and then waving it threateningly at them. That goes for foreign policy to. I think you'll find, McCain, that the more you tighten your grip the more star systems....I mean supporters and allies, will slip through your fingers.

Foriegn policy. Holy crap. Did he just imply that he would consider going to war with Iran and Russia? I know he claim he doesn't want another cold war, but did his speech ever rule out the possibility of a hot one? "The Rebuilding of the Russian Empire" is way to close to describing the Russians as "the evil empire" for my tastes thank you very much.

On the issue of gaffes, I noticed he stumbled over simple words a few times in the speech, which didn't help his charisma, and only reminded me of how old and infirm this man truly is. Though he spent an unreasonable amount of time reiterating (for what, like the 12th time?) Sarah Palin's personal history, it doesn't make me like the choice any more than I did when it was first announced. If possible, I like it less.

Where was the discussion of the economy? Of Healthcare? Other than some lip service, no plans were presented.

On the note of education, did anyone else pick up the disturbing coding for school vouchers? That's right kids, all the rich folks who "opted out" of public school will now get a 2500 dollar check to boot! Go rich white people!

All in all, the speech was a wash for me, muddled in places and offensive to my intelligence in others. He claims to be a maverick, but he uses all the old Republican tricks. He may receive a mild poll bump, but I doubt it will put him over he edge.

I give this speech a B- for presentation (would've been lower without the POW portion, which was admittedly well delivered) and a D for content. I say again, Republicans, where is the substance? All I've seen so far is an attempt at style.