GOP In Minnesota: Politics First

The Republican National Convention concluded in St. Paul Thursday, and not a moment too soon. Senator John McCain and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin accepted their party's nominations as President and Vice-President, respectively, to cheering delegates waving "homemade" campaign signs. With all the veterans in the audience, was this a glorified VFW convention?

McCain struck a conciliatory tone in praising Barack Obama for winning the Democratic nomination at the beginning of his speech. But he also touted his experience at getting bipartisan support for his programs, and offered up himself as an agent of change in gridlocked Washington, even though he's been supporting President Bush's policies for the last few years. When you've been in the Senate for 26 years, as McCain has, the old 1960s adage "if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem" comes to mind.

The Senator from Arizona defended his support of the surge of soldiers in Iraq, leading to what he apparently believes is a prelude to an eventual victory. A hollow one, yes, but a victory nonetheless.

McCain recounted his POW experience during the Vietnam war for seemingly the millionth time. OK, we get it. But Vietnam was such a costly and controversial war (much like Iraq), the word "hero" doesn't apply here. As long as the Senator keeps using his experience as an all-purpose "get out of jail free" card whenever he is criticized, it cheapens his accomplishments. Just because you put on a uniform, it doesn't make you a hero.

There were a couple of uninvited guests who made themselves known while McCain spoke. Two members of the Code Pink organization and a couple of veterans who disagreed with the Senator's policies were shouted out of the arena with "U-S-A! U-S-A!", as if this were Lake Placid in 1980. McCain referred to the protesters as "ground noise and static". Now the national television audience got a taste of what we've been seeing the last few days, with police and demonstrators clashing in the streets of St. Paul, resulting in approximately 400 arrests.

Along the way, McCain referred to the Republicans as the party of Lincoln, Roosevelt (we're sure he meant Theodore) and Reagan. He also demonstrated that he remembers the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. And he concluded his speech by echoing the old Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne, shouting "Fight! Fight! Fight!" as if he were exhorting his team to victory. Insert your own age joke here.

McCain's speech was benign compared to Governor Palin's on Wednesday. She proved to be an excellent and telegenic speaker, mouthing Republican talking points mostly written by someone else, and taking shots at Obama and the news media. She and other speakers followed the same script: Republicans Good. Democrats Bad. Obama Worse. Liberal Media Rot In Hell.

(To be fair, the Democrats at their convention last week used a similar script: Democrats Good. Republicans Bad. Bush and McCain Worse. Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity . . . oh, never mind.)

Curiosity about Palin and her made-for-People magazine life story resulted in 37 million TV viewers tuning into her speech, one million less than Obama's the week before. Wonder how many McCain got?

Now the delegates are going home, primed and ready to support their man (and woman) all the way to what they hope is victory in November. They will take away memories of sitting on their hands while a hurricane played out in Louisiana, parties turned into fund raisers, a rock star to rival Obama, and an old soldier reporting for duty as the party's presidential nominee. And trying to remember if the convention was held in Minneapolis or St. Paul.