The Political Voices of Women

Did you see John McCain’s Acceptance speech?   What did you think?  Here is a roundup of what the media and the bloggers thought.  I hope you will let me know what you thought of the McCain speech in comments.

Rachel Maddow on John McCains’s speech…

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From Megan McArdle…

• The words “I fought corruption” should never pass the lips of a charter member of the Keating Five.
• “I fight for you” is a clever tag line, and I presume the image that the McCain campaign has settled upon.  This will allow them–just barely–to keep making the ridiculous claim that John McCain doesn’t like to bring up the fact that he was a POW.  If John McCain didn’t want to bring it up, he would have instructed his staff not to mention it to every single person they talk to, including the barista at Caribou Coffee.
• Ack!  The dreaded “Free America from Dependence on Foreign Oil” meme rears its ugly head.  This is high definition hogwash.  Drilling isn’t going to save us from Demon Oil any more than windmills will.  It might make us some money.  But we’ll still be part of a world economy that will be pigheaded about buying their oil from funny people who don’t even speak English.
• John McCain does not seem particularly comfortable talking about God.  The lines are there, but they’re mechanical, clearly recited by rote.
• McCain claims he’ll cut government spending.  I’ll believe it when I see it.
• Boy, the folks at the RNC really hate national health care.

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David Gregory on McCain speech…

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From My Take…

First and foremost, John McCain is an American and while you may or may not agree with him on policy issues, you have to agree that he loves this country and will do everything in his power to keep us safe. I realize he is not the best public speaker in the world, especially compared to someone like Mike Huckabee, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, and if last night’s speech was any example, Sarah Palin. He has a completely different style that leaves me the impression that he is more comfortable talking to someone face to face, one on one. However, it seemed to me he just kept getting stronger as the speech went on.

At the last of the speech, he brought something back up that he had already mentioned and that was how he would fight for our country and it’s citizens. He invited us all to stand up and fight with him, taking Washington and our government back and making it work for us, not against us. The crowd began to cheer and gave him a standing ovation as he finished it up.

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Jeffery Toobin thinks the McCain speech was “shockingly bad”…

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From The Slant…

John McCain the maverick showed up — sort of.
Yes, the Republican presidential nominee promised to stretch out his hand in bipartisanship while bringing change to a broken Washington. He acknowledged his party’s failure in coming to Washington and letting the nation’s capital culture corrupt it. He vowed to catch up with history and admitted times were tough. He used the word “change” 10 times, and he even had a line for protesters who interrupted his speech.

He played to all his strengths — America’s place in the world, the war against terror and a desire to change Washington while holding on to his maverick image.

“I wouldn’t be an American if I didn’t honor Sen. [Barack] Obama and his supporters,” he said in a kind word to his opponents. “But, let me make one thing clear. We’re going to win this election.”

And with those words, the “sort of” mentioned at the outset was there for all to see.

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Tom Ridge on “John Bush” - oops…

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From Blast Magazine…

This speech was good, republicans will love it, like they will Palin’s speech. Personally, I think it could have been better. The best thing he said, which I think maybe Obama could have emphasized more (but who am I to tell Obama anything about speaking), was that he would reach across party lines, and have the government think as Americans, not republicans or democrats.

He showed a genuine love for his country, like Obama did, he showed he cares for his country and it’s people. He used personal stories of people he met, and personal stories of his experiences in Vietnam. These were especially emotional words for both McCain and the audience.

This speech was so detailed, as a recreation, mental for all viewers, of his time in Vietnam. He went deep into his time there, as a prisoner. He basically said, he was a fighter there, and he will be a fighter here.

In that way, the speech was great. But then it faded.

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Chris Wallace on John McCain’s speech…

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From Wake Up America…

Unlike the speech that the Republican vice presidential candidate gave last night, John McCain’s speech was geared more at showing the contrast between Barack Obama and himself, putting Washington on notice and discussing problems Americans face.

The stage was dismantled and a 30 foot long, 8 foot wide runway was installed to lead toward the floor of the convention hall so that John McCain could be closer to the crowd in a more townhall style atmosphere, John McCain spoke to Americans about where he intends to take America if they elect him as the president of the United States.

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David Gergen on John McCain’s speech…

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Bush speech writer slams McCain speech…