Ok, he’s on, after the video tribute.
At the start, the most impressive part of the speech was watching how quickly his 96-year old mother Roberta stood up to acknowledge the applause.
Nice touch in acknowledging Obama.
Nice line re: the protesters.
Better line about change – this is clearly the new tact McCain has adopted. It’s clear the “experience” approach hasn’t worked as well as they’d like, because it gets trumped by Obama’s change motif, which is the winning theme in this election. So McCain is trying to present himself as the maverick who brings his own type of change . That’s why the Palin choice has proved so effective.
He’s taking a page out of the Reagan playbook with the reference to “real” Americans. Reagan used this technique very effectively to humanize his speech. Notice the states that these people are from – all swing states: Michigan, New Hampshire …. .
Ok, here’s the expected effort to differentiate himself from Bush-Cheney and the Republicans, but without mentioning them by name. All part of the change theme – notice how many times he’s used that word?
OK, now on to immigration. A sensitive subject with mainstream Republicans, so he can’t address it directly. He has to be careful here, because he can’t afford to alienate the Latino vote.
And now the obligatory reference to promoting a culture of life and to appointing judges who apply the law without legislating from the bench. Red meat for the Right. Ditto for health care and the health care bureaucracy.
On the global economy – another tricky topic. Remember, he needs Pennsylvania and Ohio, so he can’t push free trade openly. Note the focus on job retraining.
School choice – more red meat.
The drilling chant begins – this is a winning issue for Republicans, and McCain works it well. Notice that here he references Obama by name, rather than saying “my opponent” as he did with other issues. It’s a sign that his internal polls show this is a winner.
Finishing with terrorism and foreign policy. If he wins election it will be because of this issue.
Nice touch starting with the Georgia conflict as the first issue in the section of the speech – it gives his foreign policy experience an immediacy.
The “I hate war” is a direct takeoff from Franklin Roosevelt.
This is the strongest part of the speech so far – foreign policy and his background is clearly a winning issue for McCain.
Here’s the change theme again, presented in the context of rising above partisanship. Clearly he’s responding to Obama’s very effective claim to be the one to put partisanship aside.
Ok, there’s nothing to say here. It’s rare that McCain ever talks about his service. Best to just listen….
“I fell in love with my country when I was in someone else’s” – great line.
If McCain wins this election, it will be because of this part of his biography. Powerful stuff.
And now the fight refrain….. .
A very effective speech. McCain is not noted for his speechmaking, but this was first rate. It is clear that he will not cede the “change” mantra to Obama – he is going to campaign on a theme that melds his maverick reputation with the change theme. The goal here is separate himself from Obama’s efforts to portray him as an extension of the Bush-Cheney presidency.
But he is clearly not comfortable yet with Palin – they need to work on their stage presence. Expect them to separate on the campaign trail almost immediately.
(BTW, who chooses the music at these things? Is that Heart singing Barracuda? Does John McCain even know who they are?)
Ok, what did you think? I’m eager to hear your responses…
A final thought – the key for McCain was not to appeal to his base Republicans, but to reach out to moderates, centrists and the undecideds. Did he do that? He was short on policy specifics, but will that matter? Was he successful in portraying himself as an agent of change? Or was this simply biography, without any evidence that he is different from “Bush-Cheney”? What do you think?
As long as we’re on the subject of music, what about the stage backdrop? Microsoft Windows wants its desktop backgrounds back…
So: in this seemingly interminable election, we’ve heard “change” together with “Obama” so many times that I at least feel a bit like Pavlov’s dog. Call it marketing, but it’s *his* theme. Nike, “Just Do It”; Apple, “Think Different”; Walter Mondale, “Where’s The Beef?”; (Okay, fine, that was a Wendy’s line.) Change is Obama’s brand.
Brands and branding are huge here. After tonight’s “I’m John McCain, and I’m also about change, but slightly differently, so vote for me” speech, I’m reminded of New Coke.
New Coke was Coca-Cola’s response to Pepsi in the Cola Wars of the 80’s. Pepsi was about change, too: “Pepsi Challenge,” supermarket buyers, a new name in town, etc. People were excited and mystified by the new guy. Coca-Cola responded by capriciously changing the recipe of their very heart and soul and selling under the label New Coke. “Look!,” said New Coke, “We’re *also* new, like that guy, but we’re different, because it’s us. Coke. So buy this.”
The GOP looks like it’s making a New Coke move with John McCain, and I don’t think it’s going to work. Obama is going to sit back, act like Sarah Palin doesn’t exist, and watch the McCain campaign flail about as it tries to make Americans forget the past eight years.