The oratory of the 2008 Republican National Convention came to a fitting close with John McCain’s acceptance speech. It was wise, forceful, poignant, and at the conclusion, inspiring. McCain struck a post-partisan tone, then delivered a fairly standard policy review, and then concluded with a personal story of why his life belongs to his country. It was not the barn burner that Sarah Palin delivered the night previous, but it was the speech of a man so far beyond his opponent in experience and gravitas that the comparison was never far from your mind.
Members of the Oklahoma delegation clearly had more fun the night before, and in many ways they’ll remember Sarah’s remarks longer, but the two speeches complemented each other, and you couldn’t help but feel he nailed it exactly as he needed to.
The speech concluded with a rousing 
call to service that, following his personal story, seemed so much more sincere and meaningful than any I had ever heard, and his voice then rising, he demanded that the people of America “fight” with him to make America a better place. The crowd responded with a roar that left the last 30 seconds of his speech completely unheard in the Xcel Center, but I have seen it three times on TV since, and that finale has given me chills every time.
Here are some pics I took.
September 7th, 2008 at 9:53 am
After attending the convention and spending the last night on the floor doing applause jumping jacks(jump up, sit down – jump up, sit down) I am so tired I can’t hardly wiggle. I can just hear the pundits now conjecturing about what kind of uppers McCain must be taking to still be on his feet..