The Speech

So I listened to most of the McCain speech last night and I have to say, it wasn't terrible. Obviously, McCain is not as good a public speaker as Obama, but most people aren't. I did think the speech drifted from subject to subject somewhat awkwardly, but it was hardly rambling. The speech doesn't resonate with me of course, but it seemed to do the trick for the Republicans in the audience. It was amusing to hear the audience cheer as McCain lambasted the Republican party for its failings, as the party's failings are largely a result of who the people in attendance have sent to Washington in the past. But that was simply part of McCain's bipartisan schtick, which was hardly an unexpected turn for so noteworthy a speech. It was also amusing to hear McCain pledge to adopt the best ideas of both sides without actually appearing to adopt any Democratic ideas in his speech, but that was also expected. And whatever you think of McCain, he does have this way of coming off like a kindly old grand-father when he tries, so the instinct to hold the man above the dirty tricks of his party is somewhat understandable. Anyway, I don't know how many swing voters he swayed with his speech, but all in all I'd say it was a decent effort.