A few opinions from around the "inter-web"...
Bush's speech writer thought it was really bad:
Josh Marshall:
There wasn't a clear theme...Most of it was a fairly tired recital of Republican boilerplate. Did they really devote like ten minutes to charter schools? It was much, much too long for the speaker. I really think they could have given him a much better speech.Michael Crowley:
...this is a very underwhelming speech. Familiar points explained in pedestrian terms. No overarching themes--right now it's sounding like a State of the Union laundry list. Even the crowd in the hall isn't jazzed. This is the sort of reception Tom Ridge got.Taegan Goddard:
McCain had serious delivery problems with this speech. Starting with the awful lime green background (that later turned to blue) and continuing through McCain's difficulties reading from the teleprompter, the speech was very disjointed and hard to follow. To top it off, the crowd reaction at the end of the speech seemed forced and staged, almost like delegates were reacting to flashing "applause" signs at the side of the stage.Andrew Sullivan:
Quite a deflation after the drama of last night with the sportscaster-governor. It made me realize . . . why this is not his moment. The specifics were very vague, and the entire presentation based on biography, nostalgia and a kind of strained, exhausted mildness.I didn't need to see the entire speech to affirm what I already know: John McCain cannot be trusted with the stewardship of this great country. As his pick of Sarah Palin shows, he is reckless and impulsive...a combination that has got us into our current mess...and a combination we can ill afford for a third straight presidential term.
