My favorite bit of Convention analysis
Out of the thousands upon thousands of words written analyzing the Democratic and Republican Conventions this observation, by Powerline’s own Paul Mirengoff, has to be my favorite:
I don’t know whether anyone whose vote is up-for-grabs continues to watch a convention after the presidential nominee finishes his speech. However, the ensuing celebrations at the two just-completed conventions were revealing.
At the Democratic convention, Obama and Biden remained on the stage with their families, basking in the glow of mass adulation. After several minutes of this, the two candidates and their wives came forward for what I called “one more bow. . .before they ascend to the heavens.”
Last night, McCain looked rather uncomfortable on stage during the celebration. Before long, he descended into the crowd to shake hands. Only then did he look at ease.
The contrast could not have been clearer, and I think it tells us a good deal about the two presidential candidates.
Brilliant insight Paul, brilliant. I’m a little confused as to how standing on stage while people are applauding you is different then going into a crowd so people can shake your hand and pat you on the back but whatever you say Paul. I guess Senator McCain really is a man of the people, he’s so eager to get hands on with the riff-raff who attend Republican Conventions. Paul’s right though, if your vote was up-for-grabs before the conventions then you should absolutely pick your candidate based on how they may or may not have acted and looked after their speeches. Knowing particular policies is really hard, makes sense to me.
Holla at me