Bill's Broadsides

The Convention of 'Hope' ... er 'Change'

Last week, I hinted that I thought Barack Obama's nomination-acceptance speech was an exceptional bit of political oratory, so you might expect me to follow through now with a reaction to John McCain's speech last night. I'm afraid it wouldn't be fair for me to comment on it, however, because I fell asleep about half-way through it. I'm not saying McCain is old, stodgy and boring, but ... well, let's just say I had a long day at work and I couldn't keep my eyes open.

The short biographical film that introduced McCain focused intensively on his experience as a POW in Vietnam. I know this time in his life sets him apart from the rest of us mere mortals and makes him a regular "profile in courage," but the tone of the presentation seemed more grim than uplifting. One scene that must have been an attempt to draw laughs featured McCain's 96-year-old mother calling him a "mama's boy." It came off more creepy than funny, at least to me.

Overall, the MCain flick seemed kind of awkwardly put-together compared to the film last week on his Democratic opponent. I guess Obama's campaign must have found somebody from their party who knows something about movies and theatricality (I can't imagine where they found a liberal (or progressive, or whatever) Democratic filmmaker.)

Anyway, about 15 minutes into McCain's speech, I dozed off right there on the couch. I was jolted awake around the time the ballons dropped, though, and for a moment I was so disoriented, I had to look around to figure out which of my seventeen houses I was in. And then I really woke up and remembered I only have one. (It's a nice enough place, though by the time my wife and I pay off the mortgage, I'm sure several women will have been elected president already. Oprah in 2016?)

I flipped the channel to see what the pundits on Fox News would say. (You'll recall I was expecting some cheesy sports metaphors.) I was disappointed that I didn't hear anybody say he "threw a Hail Mary pass" or anything. The reactions, even from Weekly Standard-type conservatives, seemed to be focused on a few key aspects of the speech: 1) McCain is not as gifted a public speaker as Obama; 2) Sarah Palin's speech the night before may have stolen some of McCain's thunder; and 3) everybody was suprised that McCain levelled some criticism at his own party and its shortcomings of the last several years. I was sorry to have slept through that part, you can be sure.

Before I fell asleep, I think I heard McCain talk about "CHANGE" a few times, intoning it like a mantra the way Obama and his folks have been chanting "HOPE."  No matter who becomes the next prez, I HOPE he does something about this lousy economy, or else a lot more of us will be on the street begging for CHANGE.

I've always liked what Utah Phillips had to say about the presidency:

"I have studied the presidency carefully; I have seen that our best presidents were the do-nothing presidents: Millard Fillmore, Warren G. Harding. When you have a president who does things, we are all in serious trouble. If he does anything at all -- if he gets up at night to go to the bathroom -- somehow, mystically, trouble will ensue. I guarantee that if I am elected, I will take over the White House, hang out, shoot pool, scratch my ass, and not do a damn thing. Which is to say, if you want something done, don't come to me to do it for you; you got to get together and figure out how to do it yourselves. Is that a deal?"

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spiralsands
09-07-08 2:18 PM »Report Abuse	I agree about the effect of the short biographical profile. Before, I was ambivalent about McCain personally but now, I just don't like him. He's been using that POW shtick since his first run for Congress. Having multiple affairs on his crippled first wife? I know conservative married women who vilified Clinton for cheating on a wife who stayed with him. Also, it seems like his bipartisanism was just a result at the slapdown he received from the 2000 election. He worked against his own party's attempts to keep issues extremely polarized and lost alot of their respect. Now that he beat out all the rest for the nomination, he drags the brunette equivalent of Ann Coulter up as a running mate. He's a trainwreck.
FireKatt
09-06-08 7:55 PM »Report Abuse	Aww. except that he passed away in May. Didn't know that.
FireKatt
09-06-08 7:52 PM »Report Abuse	I love it!!! Utah Phillips has my vote!!!

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