Three Candidates, Three Speeches

I watched all three speeches last night. McCain in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner with Governor Jindal and former Governor Buddy Roemer used the time to keep his face in the eyes of voters since it really was the Democrats' night.

McCain needs to brush up a bit on using the teleprompter. His speech was really good, his delivery a bit off. He shines at town hall style meetings where he can talk one on one with the folks.

Hillary missed her chance to show some class. No surprise, though, as she doesn't normally exhibit class in her actions. She made it clear she intends to take her delegate commitments to the convention in August. At the very least she'll use her delegates as leverage for whatever it is she decides she wants. Will the Democrats go with the Dream Ticket? I don't see it but I could be wrong.

This election cycle has thrown conventional thought to the wind and I don't think any of us truly know how all of this will play out on November 4. It's going to be a long summer, that's the truth.

Obama delivered a magnificent speech, as was predictable given his finely honed ability to do just that. The crowd was large, in the convention center where John McCain will accept the nomination from the Republican delegates in September. The venue was a bit of the Obama campaign marking their territory, declaring it's on.

The Obama speech itself was standard content with a ratcheted up emotional delivery. He is the first bi-racial candidate for President with a serious shot at it so he is due his recognition. Other than that, though, his speeches remain full of empty statements. For example:

"The journey will be difficult. The road will be long. I face this challenge with profound humility, and knowledge of my own limitations. But I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people. Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on earth. This was the moment --this was the time--when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves and our highest ideals."

OK, I know the man is far from humble. He holds himself above others which is indicated by his posture alone. The head up just enough for his nose to be tilted up, the facial expressions a bit smug. Whatever. But did you hear the speech?

He's going to heal the earth. Wow. He's going to provide jobs when the country has record levels of unemployment. He's going to heal the sick, too. And, he'll end the war and restore our reputation with countries that are going back to conservative leadership on their own. Even Canada is written up today as having a growing conservative leadership base. Just by electing Obama, he is telling you that he'll remake the country.

Remake the country? I understand reform or improve, but remake? No, thank you. This is why he continues to lose swing states and all segments of the voting population except the young voters and the affluent liberals. He lost 14 of the last 19 primaries. That's an eye-opener in my book.

He will need to flesh out the platitudes for the general election campaign. He is quoted as saying to a woman in South Dakota, which he lost to Hillary, that she is a Republican but wants to vote for him. She asked him to promise he wouldn't raise her taxes. He said he promised. What? Who is that gullible? And, who believes the whole she was a Republican stuff, anyway?

Tony Rezko was just found guilty in Chicago of some of the counts on which he was indicted. He is a long time financier of Obama. Even Obama's new mcmansion in Hyde Park was purchased with Rezko's sponsorship, plus the lot next door to it.

I find it fascinating that so many fall for the propaganda that Obama is a 'different' kind of politician, when he is a product of the south side of Chicago. Hello? From a personal viewpoint it amuses me and troubles me mightily about the vulnerable voters out there. My husband was married after coming home from Vietnam and his wife was the daughter of a Chicagoland elected politician. A big Democrat family. Puts things into a different perspective for me.

When I met my husband, he was a young widower with lots of interesting firsthand stories.

There is simply no such thing as a Democrat out of the south side of Chicago, mentored by the likes of Richard Daley, who is a 'different' kind of politician. The change he is promising is all the way out to Marxist land. This is why his associates, past and present, are so troubling. And even the 'no lobbyists' pledge? What was David Axelrod? Please.

It's going to be a long summer.