McCain simply didn't have a vision or a policy agenda for the future. He has his character, and his biography, and he hopes that's enough.

...because the American people overwhelmingly reject the Republican agenda (not to mention their mendacity, incompetence, corruption and divisiveness).

I literally couln't stay awake. I woke up for a second when my wife said "oh my god" as they dragged out a protester. Then McCain said something about 'brown noise' but I guess it was 'ground noise' then I dozed back off.

Sarah Palin was definitely the best part of the convention. She's not hard to look at. She's a crazy fundamentalist who's less qualified to be president than I am, but sheis attractive.

Oh my.
Compared to Obama, this man was a Vertical Cadaver!

Apparently, it has something to do with McCain's sense that he's earned it, he's entitled to it, and it's his turn, gosh darn it.

As it happens, Bob Dole made the exact same pitch. It didn't work then, either.

Great analysis, Steve. Count Chocula's (McCain) sense of entitlement is palpable. This fossil offers nothing but more debt, more pollution, more war and more economic malaise.

And Good God the choppers on that man! - I haven't seen teeth like that since I saw a jawbone from Paleolithic man at the Smithsonian. Someone should inform McCain that you can now get these things called whitening strips at your local Walgreens or CVC.

Cindy McCain's skin on her face also looks so tight from all the facelifts that she would bounce like a Superball if she fell and landed on it.

I think McCain gave the perfect speech for a country tired of platitudes and empty promises; now we can see that he truly is a giant windbag who has no intention of changing a fargin' thing.

Too bad that for most of our thoughtful fellow Americans simply saying that he's different -- and a war hero -- is enough for them to cast their well-reasoned votes for him.

I wish I was more optimistic about Obama's chances here; I love the guy and what he's trying to do. But falling short of a major gaffe, or a stroke, McCain's ridiculously shallow and self-promoting speech was exactly what he needed to allow average Americans to be fooled again.

I think McCain gave the perfect speech for a country tired of platitudes and empty promises; now we can see that he truly is a giant windbag who has no intention of changing a fargin' thing.

Too bad that for most of our thoughtful fellow Americans simply saying that he's different -- and a war hero -- is enough for them to cast their well-reasoned votes for him.

I wish I was more optimistic about Obama's chances here; I love the guy and what he's trying to do. But falling short of a major gaffe, or a stroke, McCain's ridiculously shallow and self-promoting speech was exactly what he needed to allow average Americans to be fooled again.

He didn't have much to say about Global Warming, except a one-liner about how the All Energies Approach (drill everywhere, nuclear power plants, "clean" coal, etc) is going to "save the planet".

To tell you the truth, it doesn't matter how hot the planet gets, it will still be here. The planet doesn't need to be "saved". It is the atmosphere that is the problem.

McCain-Palin are in deep with Big Oil and they want nothing to do with Global Warming, just like the current administration. We will get more of the same.

Josh Marshall said the green screen was actually due to the camera shot. What we saw in the background was actually the lawn of Walter Reed Middle School in North Hollywood. He speculates that the techie charged with finding a picture of Walter Reed Medical Center goofed...

"Cindy McCain's skin on her face also looks so tight from all the facelifts that she would bounce like a Superball if she fell and landed on it."

Remember Wallon Flowers and his puppet "Madame"? Cindy is looking an awefull lot like Madame. In a few years and some work she'll be in Joker territory.

I think the most glaring thing about the Republicans' convention was how vacant it was. There was nothing but shrill insults and bitter rancor. McCain's speech was like a void, dead space. Last night his abrupt about face to embrace a message of "change" was as sad and desperate as it was cynical transparent. It was obvious he and his party hadn't a clue what "change" means or entails. It was just a sleazy attempt to co-opt a much more gifted rival's theme.

Sarah Palin. An agent of change? She's more an agent of Karl Rove than an agent of change. Her extremist views and insulting manner are mired in the dynamics of these past disastrous eith years. She made a big splash with her venom and smile, but like something too syrapy and sweet people will have their fill of her soon.

Last week, Obama said, "But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. It's been about you."

Last night, John McCain said (to paraphrase): "This election is about me, and what a fine gent I am."

But he's a POW!!!

That's all anyone needs to know about his qualifications. He suffered for and was saved by his country. He's got the scars to prove it.

Who needs a vision, a plan? He doesn't. He's a POW.

The dems delivered a knowckout convention with lots of meat int it. The Repubs delivered a light weight, more of hte same, typical polical crap. Palin does noting for me (and I am a woman) but shows McCains desparation.

It's hard work to run for prisoner of War of the United States. Hard, hard, work.

I guess his plan is to run as Prisoner of War. Let's see, he had a "captive" audience, "fear "speech, and a "no-surrender" playbook. Yep. That'll get him back to the "camp". I don't think McAce ever left Viet Nam. He still thinks he's at war there and hates losing so much he's sold his soul to the very shit heads who killed his spirit for the second time in 2000. Pathetic.

Props to the person who coined the phrase that "change" for a Republican is different people doing the same thing. It's funny, apt, and accurate.

The "notice" rhetoric is straight out of Bush too! In 2004 especially, he would say something like, "we know its tough out there for working families" then he got re-elected and did nothing to change it.

Or he would say stuff like, "it is my job to help out working families" and then clearly not do his job.

I listened to a bit of the McCain speech. It was flat, it was boring, it was trite. Then I turned on the Obama speech (I have it on TiVo) and was blown away again by its depth, passion, and complexity. Wait till these two get into a debate. As long as the media doesn't give McCain a sympathy victory (like they did with Bush in 2000 and 2004), it will be a slaughter.

there really should have been a ticker running across the screen warning viewers to refrain from holding heavy objects while viewing. I nearly threw my beer, twice.
my knee jerk reaction to his fake smile was vommiting.
we need to get out there & keep the 'stirring' alive so all of us have our eyes on the prize. O is no John Kerry, he's already shown us that. he's not done taking aim at the permanent pow.
speaking of that, my dad is absolutely outraged at his gall to act as the only pow in vietnam. and as for his position...he may have gained more respect from the rest of the vets (like my dad) if he'd served on the ground instead of looking down on everyone else from the comfort of a replacement jet (since he liked to bang those up too)
ENOUGH!!

I expected McCain to go to great lengths to explain how he'd be different from Bush.

He can't because he's not.

I really hope at some point that the McBush/McSame chorus becomes so deafening that it is brought up in a debate. I can easily imagine it, the moderator saying to McCain "Senator Obama claims that your policies are just like Bush. Name 3 major issues where you differ." Imagine McCain sitting there, stunned, without any answers. Seiously, what can he say? That he used to differ with Bush on a bunch of things but now they're pretty much in lockstep?

Baseball metaphors could allow more flexibility: With 2 on, McCain grounds into a double play. Runner at 3rd, 2 out.

Once the speech was over, it occurred to me that I still don't know what McCain wants to do as president, or even why he's running for president. Apparently, it has something to do with McCain's sense that he's earned it, he's entitled to it, and it's his turn, gosh darn it.

And in that sense, his acceptance speech was the gold ring that he's been grabbing at for all these years. The winning of the presidency is everything. The functioning as president is secondary. This is why he doesn't see his age as an issue. If he can get thru the next two months and win the election, he's fulfilled his lifelong dream, and this is why his speech last night felt more like a testimonial dinner than the kickoff for a new quest.

was it just me, or did the whole part about Palin seem like, "Wow, this is really bombing, WAIT! I know how to get cheers..."

Once the speech was over, it occurred to me that I still don't know what McCain wants to do as president, or even why he's running for president. Apparently, it has something to do with McCain's sense that he's earned it, he's entitled to it, and it's his turn, gosh darn it.

In terms of change, "more of the same," etc., it may be worth noting that the McCain-Palin ticket is the first GOP ticket since 1952 (except for 1964's, Goldwater-Miller) that doesn't have a Nixon, a Bush, or a Dole on it. I'm convinced that if he'd had a different last name, Jeb Bush would have been an ideal running mate for McCain. Elizabeth Dole, not so much.

Steve Benen wrote: "The message of the night, and practically the entire convention, seemed to be: 'Vote for John McCain, not because he's right, but because he's John McCain.'"

Well, duh. The Republicans have made it very clear that they are running on a fake, phony, focus-group-tested, scripted, completely bogus image and not on substance. They are not even pretending to offer any substance. They really have no choice, since they have nothing whatsoever of substance to offer the American people, except more blatantly criminal and corrupt government of, by and for America's Ultra-Rich Ruling Class, Inc.

What do you mean that McCain didn't tell us about how he's different than Bush? Of course he did!

He was a POW!!!

Apparently, that makes all the difference. He loves his country SOOOOO much!

(By the end of his speech, I got the feeling that if we don't go out with him, he's gonna cry.)

By the way, did you know he was a POW?

And what was that bit tacked on at the end, about serving your community? Was he suggesting we might want to become community organizers???

A total disaster. Even the audience showed it. I missed the sleeping ones, but I saw, time and utime again, people talking to each other, or just ignoring what was going on, or staring with puzzlement if they were paqying attention. Others were just waiting for a cue-line to wave banners, and sometimes they missed it.

And that was Republicans in the hall. Somehow I doubt if even 18 million -- the lowest night of the Democrats -- tuned in or stayed tuned in.

And yes, the loudest applause was for Palin mentions. There are still those Republicans who think she is the 'saviour of the ticket.' They'll be changing their tune the more that comes out about her, but they believe it now, and she is the real 'rock star' in the race.

But there were three things that were absolutely predictable about last night:

1) McCain wouldn't come close to Obama -- but I don't think anybody thought he'd be this bad

2) There would be some commenters who would buy into his 'let's win votes for Republicans by attacking Republicans' strategy -- and there were some. Not all the initial comments were as bad as the ones Steve quoted.

3) That there would be a few commenters here who would proclaim "It was a lousy speech, but it won McCain the election, because the American people are so stupid!"

Well, they aren't.

This is the attitude it seems like I have to rant against about once a week. This is the true 'elitist' attitude that is the germ of truth that the Republicans cover with lies.

It feels sooo good for us to go 'Democrats smart, Rewpublicans stupid' and pat ourselves on the back for being Democrats. And of course, if this were true, the more Republicans there are, the more exclusive our own self-congratulatory group is, and the better it makes us look.

And it is true that the majority of intelligent people who follow politics are Democrats, and that number has been increasing with every blunder, corruption, and lie coming from the Republicans.

But even then, there are intelligent people who do make a case for some Republican principles -- and yes, there are some, even if the Republicans don't follow them. I happen to believe they are wrong to argue that 'less government is better,' that 'bureaucracy gets in the way of people,' or that 'if corporations prosper, this will create more jobs and the whole country will do better.' Wrong, yes, but I won't insult the intelligence of the people who argue this way, because there are cases to be made for all of these, even if they are cases I'd love to refute.

And there are people who remember 9/11 and are afraid of 'Islamic terrorism.' (And not entirely without reason. Most Muslims are not terrorists, but a good part of the terrorists are Muslims -- though our home-grown ones are more likely extreme Christians.) And maybe they still don't know the difference between Shi'a and Sunni, don't realize that secular governments of Muslim states are anathema to the Bin Laden types, etc. They are just afraid, and celebrate any 'positive action.'

But enough with the small minority of high-information Republicans. There are plenty of Low Information Voters out there -- and a good number of them, a minority, but still a decent proportion of them, are Democrats.

I've said, repeatedly, that those 'moronic, mouth-breathing hillbillies' from West Virginia have repeatedly voted for Democratic Congressmen and Senators, that the last Republican Senator they elected was in 1942, that they've always had a majority of Democrats in Congress (except in 1946), that there has only been one Republican Representative who has been reelected since the sixties, and that, again, since 1940, they've never replaced one Republican Representative with another.

And y'know, LIVs may not 'get' the issues, but they can be impressed by rhetoric, and we sure as hell have this on our side. (Of course, one type of rhetoric they are impressed with is what they hear from their preachers -- but they aren't goign to hear as much of that for McCain, for a lot of reasons, even with Palin on the ticket.)

But the key in this, and most elections are the middle-information voters, people who think politics is important, but still would rather watch sports, people who vote, but don't spend hours reading up on the candidates, people who are affected by the choices they make, and who are frequently scared by what's going on around them. They are the drivers who see the high price of gas and want to hear a 'quick fix' and have to be convinced that it won't work. They are the ones scared of losing their jobs -- and aren't sure if the reason for this is the corporations or the government. These are the patriots who aren't sure if patriotism means 'country right or wrong' or 'if wrong, make it right.'

These are the people that are being fought over. And we'll have them, but not instantaneously. That's why it is still a close race, and why it will be less and less close as it goes on.

And why it does help if we talk to them, ourselves, instead of just giving up on them. They'll listen to people they know when political speeches and ads just confuse or annoy them.

It matters that the McCain-Palin campagin has begun saying that they will change things in Washington. Their response to "More of the Same" is "No, we're not." The major sign of this message is how seldom George W. Bush's name was mentioned at this convention -- almost never. Fallows noted this curiousity in his blog at The Atlantic. Sen. McCain even said "the President" not President Bush. That the Republicans themselves are rejecting their own incumbent is significant. This morning, on a BBC Newshour broadcast over my local NPR station, Trent Lott was interviewed and said the Republicans were confessing (he used that word) how they had messed up these last eight years and that the American people should forgive them because they won't do it again. "More of the Same." "No, we're not." I agree -- they're worse! How gullible do they thing we are!

My favorite quote of the night was when McCain said:
"Let me say something to the old, big spending, do nothing, me first, country second crowd... change is coming!!"
*Smiles*

Does he realize the irony in this?
Hearing that line made my night!

McCain vowed to bring "change," but a) he left us with no idea what kind of change; and b) his message was fundamentally the same as Bush's, who promised the same thing.

Yeah..hmmm, how are those Bush Tax Cuts helping the economy again??

Trickle down economics might have worked in a more closed economy. The problem is that the trickle is syphoned off to China, Indonesia, South America, Mexico, India. That is why John Bush's economic plan works for the rest of the world, but not the US.