The Maverick

I agree...the speech was a little flat. A lot of it was redundant "A cause greater than yourself...blah blah blah". However, McCain was at his best talking about his experiences in Hanoi. I was very moved, when talking about being tortured, he said "They broke me". My favorite part though, was at the end, when he finally showed some enthusiasm...FIGHT WITH ME! FIGHT WITH ME! I think he did a great job explaining his fighting, maverick spirit. After all, he has the scars to prove it.

My take is that McCain was trying to say to the American public "This is who I am. You know me. You know my story. You know what I believe. You know what I have done. You know what I will do. The question is...do you know my opponent?" The obvious answer is no. We do not know who Obama is. We do not know what he believes. We do not know what he will do.

Peggy Noonan said off mike on MSNBC that the Republicans were selling a narrative. That is very true. But what is wrong with that? Let's be honest here. They can't sell they last eight years and they can't sell the "Republican" brand. What they can sell is McCain, and Palin, and honest to goodness bipartisan reform. The McCain/Palin ticket really is Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. However, Mr. Smith is riding on Teddy Roosevelts horse, with a whip in one hand and pitbull with lipstick in the other.