I agree with much that has been said/written about John McCain's speech last night. Although he was too critical of George W. Bush and his fellow Republicans and, as always, a bit eager to offer that criticism, the broad strokes of the speech were the right ones. McCain should run as a reform Republican and the speech, however imperfect, set that up.
Then there was the delivery. It wasn't good. I'm surprised that this surprises so many people. McCain is not a good speaker. His speeches on the campaign can have powerful moments, but it is almost never the case that McCain gives a powerful speech. Mark Salter, who has written most of McCain's words over the years, is a good writer. But McCain often trips over his words and bungles his jokes. Several times in a typical stump speech, McCain gets his cadence wrong and ends up delivering meaningless bridge passages as if they are the climaxes of his prepared remarks and racing through the peroration like an auctioneer.
Even in town halls, McCain excels not because he is smooth and graceful, but because he is willing to answer every question posed to him -- no matter how absurd -- and comes across as likable.
One reason the speech may have been "sub-par even by his decidedly non-Obamian standards," in Dean Barnett's apt phrase, is that McCain is simply not comfortable as The Guy. After he won the New Hampshire primary in 2000, Tucker Carlson memorably described him the dog that caught the car. That still seems to apply today.
It's certainly the case that if the election were to be decided on the basis of who gives a better speech, McCain would not win it.
UPDATE: A reader offers a smart explanation: "One final point on the fact that McCain doesn't do well with speeches but handles the smaller give and take events better….this is typical of either House members or Senators from smaller population states. They get very comfortable doing the local, Rotary club-like thing that the other formats cause them a good deal of discomfort. The classic example of this was Dan Quayle, who was quite good in small groups but looked like a deer in the headlights when he got up on a big stage….unfortunately, that is what Presidents and Veeps do."
