McCain, balloons, and Palin the "grownup"

Just watched John Bush McCain's speech on TiVo. It was okay. Not great, but I suppose you don't expect greatness from McCain at a podium. Then again, Obama's speech last Thursday wasn't great, either (and you do expect greatness from him on the stump), so I guess McCain wins by default in the "expectations game," for whatever that's worth. On the other hand, in an election year where the electorate leans heavily to the left -- and at a time when McCain needs a bounce -- maybe Obama wins by default because it's McCain who needed to shake things up. Or maybe he already did that with Palin. I dunno.

McCain's speech did have one important thing that Obama's didn't: BALLOONS!!! But they were kinda slow to appear, or so it seemed to me. I wonder: was that intentional, or a 2004 DNC "f***ing balloons" type gaffe?

The Rudy music was also a nice touch, albeit less so than the first time. (P.S. GOOO IRISH, BEEEEAT AZTECS!)

Anyway, I agree with Mickey Kaus:

McCain screwed up what was potentially the most effective part of the speech, where he blames his own party for losing the "trust of the American people." Maybe the delivery was garbled or maybe the passage wasn't written to maximize the drama of the face-to-face dressing-down.

I don't know what was wrong, exactly, but that crucial segment of the speech wasn't as powerful as it should have been.

All in all, Glenn's right: "McCain's speech, like Obama's, was too long and had the laundry-list/State of the Union aspect that Obama's had. Both were upstaged by others -- McCain by Sarah Palin, Obama by Bill Clinton." And John Kerry!

Speaking of Palin... I link to Alan Sullivan frequently with regard to hurricanes, but rarely with regard to politics. Our worldviews are very different. But he's a mighty articulate guy (and clean!), and nearly always thoughtful and interesting, even when I totally disagree with him. All of which is prologue to saying that his take on Palin's speech, though quite different from mine, is worth reading. Money quote:

From this point on, it will really be Palin versus Obama. And she will win, because she is a formed and grounded grownup, while Obama is only a character in his own memoir.

Read the whole thing.