Most of the things to say have already been said, but here are some thoughty thoughts I haven’t seen elsewhere:
- 2008 McCain is a totally different animal than the 2000 McCain, and I don’t mean just his policies. There is some weird coachy/brainwashy thing happening. 2000 McCain was bulletproof and invisible, and I secretly hoped Bush would get the nomination because Bush seemed easier to beat (*laughs loud, ironic, painful laugh*). 2008 McCain acts like a melty scoop of ice cream, if you could make ice cream out of crabby.
- I would like Obama to say, just once, “If you want a balanced budget, elect a Democrat. We’re the only ones who’ve done it in thirty years.” I can’t be the only one with a warm and tender place for Bill Clinton, much less a warm and tender place for the Bill Clinton years.
“American people — do you want four more Bill Clinton years — of peace and prosperity? Strength and dignity? Or do you want four more Bush years — of war and despair, of fear and anger? This November, vote Democrat. I’m the new man from Hope.”
Then play “Don’t Stop Thinkin’ About Tomorrow,” segue into an MIA beat, and bring his daughters on stage holding a tuxedo cat.
Man, I should get paid for this.
- I generally poo-poo telegenics as a qualification for president. But the split-screen of Obama looking at McCain and McCain squinting into space felt really damning. That’s the body language of their campaigns — Obama reaching across the aisle, and McCain hunkering in position.
- A-a-a-and the “what Obama doesn’t understand stuff” — if it was, as it seemed, a riff fed to McCain by his campaign, that’s not good, and a beastly trait to share with Bush. But consider if it’s not. It’s one thing to take a condescending tone with, say, a John Kerry, with his blue blood and millions of dollars. It’s another to take that tone with, say, someone of a single-parent family, biracial heritage who doesn’t have seven houses. I might even call that “elitist.”
