David Holt from the Republican Convention NewsOK.com Blogging Community

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.

I won’t lie, after Sarah Palin electrified the Xcel Center and took the nation by storm last night, the acceptance speech of the Presidential nominee, John McCain, seems a little anticlimactic this afternoon. 

But that’s not a bad place for McCain to be, and after what has been a remarkably successful convention, especially after the way this week began, it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if Senator McCain hits one last homerun tonight.

Sometime around 11 p.m., National Committeeman Lynn Windel and Senator Jim Inhofe cast Oklahoma’s votes.  They were expected to be 39 for John McCain and 2 for Ron Paul, but ended up being 41 for McCain (more on that in a minute).   Lynn is retiring this week from his position, and Senator Inhofe is Oklahoma’s senior Senator, and he’s up for re-election.

Mick Cornett was standing next to Senator Inhofe and made sure he said “the home of the Oklahoma City Thunder” during the traditional “brag” portion of the vote casting.

The two votes that were expected for Ron Paul were from delegates that had been allocated to Mike Huckabee, and those folks could now legally vote for whoever they wanted.  (See more explanation of delegates here.)

The first time Senator Inhofe got the floor, he passed, as all states at this point were trying to allow Arizona to put McCain over the top.  The second time he got the floor, after McCain had been nominated (noted with “green” confetti on the big screen), Senator Inhofe was mistakenly cut off by the chairwoman, who announced all 41 votes for McCain.   My understanding is that that’s the way it stayed.

Here’s the view from behind Senator Inhofe and company.

Sunday afternoon, RNC leadership announced that Senator McCain was scaling back Monday’s session to simply the “must do” business of the Convention.  This is the right thing to do, and fits with his character, but it does mean the apparent cancellation of Congressman Tom Cole’s Monday speech (unless it gets rescheduled to later in the week).

Delegates don’t seem to be that shaken up about the scheduling changes.  Most headed over to an all-delegate party at the Minneapolis Convention Center tonight.  I think everyone understands it’s the right thing to do, and I think they’re still hopeful that Gustav will not cause the devastation of Katrina, though no one can say what will happen.

Every delegate received a gift bag from the host committee. 

 It included a signed copy of “Faith of My Fathers” by John McCain, a stuffed duck that quacks “Aflac,” and this exclusive Kraft Macaroni & Cheese box.