- Overall, Democrats should feel pretty good about the last two weeks. It's hard for me to compare, since I wasn't also in St. Paul … but last week in Denver was electric — forward-looking, optimistic, energized … and Thursday night in Invesco was simply a unique event in American political history.
This week, on the other hand … it really felt like a post-mortem on the Bush years. The Republicans seemed deflated, worried, unenthusiastic. And even when Mitt and Rudy brought the bombast, the swagger seemed forced.
Even Palin seemed more like the September call-up to the 40-man roster hitting .350 for a week, rather than getting the slugger back from the DL. “Sarah Palin: 20% less corrupt than your average Alaska Republican.” That's your selling point?
In any event, I'm confident that this convention will not produce an enduring bounce for McCain/Palin, if any. I expect the polls will be close, but Obama will maintain a lead of a few points through November. We've just got to take care of business on the grassroots level — particularly in NH.
- I thought McCain's speech was pretty flat, and notwithstanding the gushing of the PBS folks last night, it seems like most commentators agree. He's caught between a rock and a hard right: Too tied to Bush-Republicanism to actually look forward with true independence of vision.
- The bio stuff was really terrific. While we can deplore the McCain campaign's interjection of his POW experience into irrelevant subjects, he has certainly earned the right to talk about it in this context. And the video and speech mentioned his experiences appropriately and powerfully.
That said, “war hero” does not equate to “best choice for president” — not for McGovern, Bush Sr., Kerry, or McCain. It's a meaningful data point, but it's not the trump card. In the same way, “experience” emphatically does not equate to “unimpeachable wisdom”.
- Mitt Romney is quite simply the most revolting figure in American politics today. Mitt's speech didn't just attack left-liberalism — it carpet-bombed “small-l” liberal democracy. Due process?? Get the hell outta town! The Supreme Court is too damn liberal!! [Even with four hard-right judges.] Republicans make government smaller!! And the sun rises in the west!! YEAEAAAAARRGGHGGH!!! Far-right crack-potitude is still relatively new to Mitt; and since it didn't get him the nomination this time, he has to try extra-hard. This makes him come off like a space alien trying to impersonate a right-wing candidate: Comically forced, and more than a little weird.
Charlie, I think you’re selling George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Karl Rove short. Give them the credit they deserve!
I suppose I meant purely in politics — Bush/Cheney are actually in government. Yeaagggghghg
Although I have the highest respect for people who have served this country in both times of war and times of peace, I have a hard time understanding why John McCain is a “war hero”.
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p>The phrase “war hero” invokes images of the guy who throws himself on the grenade. Or the guy who drags his fallen comrade across miles of enemy territory. Or the general who won the battle that shifted the course of the war.
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p>In short, a “war hero” is someone who does something extraordinary, heroic.
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p>I just haven’t figured out what heroics John McCain performed.
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p>I tried Wikipedia. It describes an incident where McCain “escaped from his burning jet and was trying to help another pilot escape when a bomb exploded”. They give a source reference; the NY Times article from 1967 says that McCain “ran toward a man whose clothes were on fire, but a bomb blast knocked him away”. That doesn’t sound very heroic. The article was an obvious puff piece too, it referenced McCain’s father and grandfather.
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p>The next Wikipedia entry referenced McCain’s capture after his plane was shot down. It then describes his time as a POW camp – from turning down a release because it would make Vietnam look good, to producing an anti-American propaganda statement after being tortured.
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p>While I’m sure many will argue that anyone serving in the military is a hero, or that anyone who is was POW is a hero, I don’t agree. To me, being heroic is an active trait, not a passive trait. You don’t become a hero for being shot; you become a hero because you were shot trying to rescue your buddy from no-man’s land.
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p>I suppose you could argue that McCain’s active moment came when he enlisted, but then again, given his background, I think that wasn’t much of a choice.
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p>I think that John McCain is getting a free pass here. No one wants to question his “hero” tag. And maybe it would be suicide to do so. But I think that many people think that McCain is a “hero” in terms of doing something heroic, of having extraordinary character that translates into a leader. But unless I’m missing something, he is a hero simply because he served in the military in times of war and because he was captured by the enemy.
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p>While those are things I can’t even imagine doing myself, hundreds of thousands of others have done them — and I’m grateful for that. But those things don’t show any exceptional, extraordinary quality, a quality that would separate a person from the rest, an indication of qualities or skills that are rare or unique.
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p>In other words, McCain is a hero in the sense that all soldiers are heroes, but he hasn’t done anything particularly heroic.
I have never understood McCain’s choosing to stay a prisoner rather than make some canned Anti-American statement which everyone would have known was fake anyway. I always thought the goal was to take any opportunity to get out of prison camp and “live to fight another day”, not stay put and get physically and psychologically hammered.
I believe, says that the people below you in rank are released first. I think I’ve heard that, but I don’t have a reference.
McCain said in his speech last night that the standard release order was “first-in, first-out”, but the point stands about the code of honor.
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p>Incidentally, I would argue that it’s hard to nitpick “heroism” — all right, there’s a Sen. Kerry on the phone saying he’s seen it done before so maybe it’s not that hard. But we can at least agree criticizing someone’s war record without proof of atrocities is pretty low. Not every act of heroism is elaborately documented. I’m sure, given the amount of time spent overseas, McCain proved himself a hero actively at some point.
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p>That is, I agree that maybe McCain is a hero in the sense that all soldiers are heroes, but what’s wrong with that?
if you’re going to use that definition of hero to make a case for mccain being qualified to be president, you have to give that bump to all veterans. yet i’ve never heard the gop refer to as heroes john kerry or howard zinn or even major general smedley butler, for example. so, they must be relying on his being shot down and imprisoned as the basis for the honorific. i agree with NoPolitician – it is notable he served, but he’s no active hero. in fact, his decision to stay a prisoner for several extra years makes me question his judgment.
that if they had instead chosen to honor him with the title of “a survivor”, i would agree without question. and i think that would have resonated with a lot of americans, me included. but they didn’t, so…
Years ago, for some reason, Michael Jordan and some other sports figures were often being described as heros. Because of that, one day my son asked me “what’s a hero?”. I said it was someone who risks his life to save the life of another.
Dictionary.com defines it differently; “a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities. “
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p>I’d say McCain’s a slam dunk either way.
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p>(maybe someone should tell dictionary.com that women too are often heroes)
How’s that workin’ out?
had a successful convention. No matter what anyone discusses, short term, vetting, etc. Bottom line, the end result was an upswing for McCain. It surprised me, did it surprise you?
Example – Biden has been going around doing his ‘silence is deafening’ meme
nothing on jobs, etc. And yet, the entirety of Day 2 was devoted to Prosperity, with entrepreneurs like Meg Whitman and the lady who founded Annie Em’s Pretzels talking about how they started businesses, created jobs, etc. and how different regulations and policies could help the startups, self-employed, etc. Much of it OVERLY specific, unless you WERE self-employed (have been for 27 years, so I found it interesting).<
p>Zero coverage/mention in the news.
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p>And yet, somehow, some of it leaked out – pehaps those 300 bloggers? – and people got that message. So perhaps your surprise should be flavored by the realization that ‘coverage’ and getting the message out has fundamentlly changed.
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p>PERSONAL NOTE – the bloggers were seated in tiers at either side of the stage, not in a remote area. Also, Pajamas Media was there as PJM-TV, streaming the convention live on the net. GLENN REYNOLDS GAVE ME A PJM TEE-SHIRT!!!