Bottom line, the Republicans had a darn good convention. The symbolism was well-handled, the Sarah Palin stuff was absolutely spectacular in a great old western way. Today I heard a guy saying he'd vote for her because of her looks. And did you see the cleavage last night? Wow. (Maybe actually embonpoint, like a princess in an opera box in War and Peace). Alas, there was little substance re policy, and that is going to hurt them. The people in the hall seemed old and military, that has also got to hurt their demographics. Very yesterday. They may have alienated a lot of soccer moms in spite of themselves–I hope.
The McCain in Hanoi narrative was so relentless I completely missed the point. Chris Matthews promptly explained it; they are separating him from George Bush, making him out to be an outsider maverick. OK, that is why I changed parties for McCain 8 years ago to vote for him, but how does that help us now? Again I think of McCain blasting Obama on the tire gauges. The man doesn't have real ideas. Tire pressure is actually a small but significant contributor to conservation. It's time to think and innovate, not just drill.
I loved McCain's mom, amazing, how does she do it? But his wife seemed very strange to me. Like some out-of-it rich woman
you meet who's never worked and tells you all about her many projects. The Wuthering Heights hair, the glazed expression, the
voice. My sister-in-law said, Beta-blockers. I also thought it was
weird to hear Thompson being so incantatory about the box McCain
was in. "When you've lived in a box… when you've lived in a box…"
That was a long time ago. McCain underwhelms. My mind drifted. When that guy with tattoos interrupted him from a balcony, it was like, Life suddenly broke into a marzipan assembly. That guy was so vivid and real, and he's a veteran, too. His banner, "You Can't Win an Occupation" was genius. While McCain looks back at not winning Vietnam, and his speech wound down to the same point,
the box. It was quite moving, his story is amazing. But I want a
president who can think outside that box…
