McCain's speech

I didn't watch it, but here are some reactions:

A roundup of TV personalities, courtesy Washington Monthly.

Steve Benen:

And that, ultimately, is why the speech didn't work. McCain simply didn't have a vision or a policy agenda for the future. He has his character, and his biography, and he hopes that's enough. The message of the night, and practically the entire convention, seemed to be: "Vote for John McCain, not because he's right, but because he's John McCain."

To be fair, what else can he do? The Republican party is dictating the policies in the platform, even though those policies have never worked. McCain can't effectively sell himself (I hope) as any kind of significant change from the current administration as long as he's supporting the same policies.

All that's left for Republican candidates to do these days is spin furiously, turn out their base and attempt to discredit their opponents. Sadly, it's proven to be a somewhat effective strategy. (Note that it does not include providing any kind of actual leadership or vision.)

A caveat: This strategy, with this particular platform (being driven by the Christian Right and all), does put the Republican business community in a bind; while they see how Bush's policies are a long-term disaster (the Dow reportedly dropped something like 350 points after Palin's speech), the incredibly amounts of profits being made in the short term are proving to be enough of a bribe to get them, on the whole, to keep their mouths shut.

A second caveat: "spin furiously, turn out their base and attempt to discredit their opponents" and "does not include providing any kind of actual leadership or vision" sound like part of Mr. Alexander and Mr. Wineteer's efforts to avoid being recalled and their time on the school board. Heh.