John McCain was not speaking to the convention hall last night, he was speaking to the TV audience. Instead of a steady diet of red meat, McCain directly indicted the GOP and their failures in recent years. Here is my favorite part of the speech, starting at about the 2 minute mark,
I fight to restore the pride and principles of our party. We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us. We lost the trust of the American people when some Republicans gave in to the temptations of corruption. We lost their trust when rather than reform government, both parties made it bigger. We lost their trust when instead of freeing ourselves from a dangerous dependence on foreign oil, both parties and Senator Obama passed another corporate welfare bill for oil companies. We lost their trust, when we valued our power over our principles.
We’re going to change that. We’re going to recover the people’s trust by standing up again for the values Americans admire. The party of Lincoln, Roosevelt and Reagan is going to get back to basics.
No honest Republican can disagree with that!
McCain will never be confused with the country’s great orators. However, he delivered a good speech last night, true to himself and who he has always been.
As for the Code Punk protesters, they are vile scum. John McCain has earned this moment, perhaps more than any man to ever accept his party’s nomination. He deserved to have this night to himself, not as a showcase for left wing nuts who spit a soldiers entering Walter Reed hospital. Spare me the BS that dissent is patriotic. What they did last night, interrupting his speech numerous times, was inexcusable.
Here is the full speech,