Because everyone else has criticized John McCain's speech from last night, I'm hoping it won't jeopardize my shot at a future seat on the Straight Talk Express if I add my voice to the choir and say I also thought it was a poor performance. No one expects McCain to match Barack Obama when it comes to doing magic with a teleprompter, but we've seen McCain do better than he did last night. Seeing last night's juxtaposition of the candidates' skills in this important area did not provide an encouraging kick-off to the general election for anxious conservatives.
It's worth pondering why McCain's performance last night was sub-par even by his decidedly non-Obamian standards. As others have noted, he looked uncomfortable while delivering the speech. I think he was indeed uncomfortable with parts of the text. McCain devoted much of the speech to sniping at Obama, seeking to minimize Obama's stature. While we love doing that over here at The Blog, that's not really McCain's style. McCain really is a bipartisan guy, and pit bull politics are not to his liking. He prefers a more courtly style (unless the subject of Mitt Romney comes up).
So hear me now, McCain campaign: Let McCain be McCain. Let him talk about his issues. Let him talk about valor and service and his country. These are the things that are close to his heart. When he speaks on these subjects, it's obvious that he feels what he says. He pours his heart into such speeches, and that show of heart compensates for his less than brilliant oratorical skills.
And leave the sniping to a platoon of eager surrogates who will gladly handle the task.
