Day 2 at the Convention - “Viva John McCain”

Tuesday's schedule was dedicated to theme of service, while also showing an inclusive spirit. The most touching moment of the night came with a long standing ovation for the sister and fellow Navy Seal's in the unit of deceased Seal Michael Monsoor. He was the first Navy Seal to die in Iraq and was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery and courageous actions during battle.

Another nice moment was the warm welcome for President H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush. The night included talks from Captain Leslie Smith who lost her foot because of a blood clot that almost cost her her life. Tommy Epinoza who started his address saying, "Good evening, my name is Tom Espinoza ... I'm CATHOLIC ... HISPANIC ... and a DEMOCRAT ... and I'm proud to call John McCain my friend." He talked about Senator McCain's service in the community, and how service is a way of life for Senator McCain and his family. He ended his talk stating, "Viva John McCain!" Wes Gullet with his daughter Nicki at his side talked about how Cindy McCain brought back two babies from Bangladesh both of whom were in desperate need of medical care. The McCain's adopted one of those babies, their daughter Bridgette; and the Gullet family adopted the other baby their daughter Nicki.

The featured speakers President Bush via video (with intro from Mrs. Bush on site), Fred Thompson, and Joe Lieberman made for a solid and interesting night. President Bush did a nice job discussing Senator McCain's military service. Also, he noted how Senator McCain's strong support for the surge and how important that was, as some in congress wanted to cut off funding for the troops. He repeated Senator McCain's statement that he would rather lose a campaign than lose a war, as Senator McCain's support for the surge clearly jeopardized his chances of winning the primaries.

Senators Thompson and Lieberman made for an interesting contrast. While Thompson presented the biography of Senator McCain, he also gave a sort of classic Republican talk. On the other hand, Senator Lieberman talked about his friendship with Senator McCain; how respected he is on both sides of the isle, and how he is clearly not the typical Republican, and is clearly his own man.

Several excellent videos have been shown at the convention. This one takes a historical look at service.

Fred Thompson Quotes

Thanks to <a href="http://www.redstate.com">RedState</a> and <a href="http://www.googl.com">Google</a> bloggers had a blogger's brunch with Fred Thomspon. Here are some highlights.

Fred Thompson on the primary campaign. “What did you learn from your campaign? Well, the main thing I learned is never under estimate John McCain.”

Regarding foreign policy, “It isn’t the time to turn to the keys over to a fourteen year old in heavy traffic.”

Regarding Governor Palin “She’s the kind of public servant that we all say that we want. Someone who is an outsider not inside the beltway. The first thing every candidate does is try to convince everyone that they are not from inside the beltway. That’s what we want; someone who will stand up to authority right, someone that will work on a bipartisan basis will work with either side but will stand up to either side including members of their own party, but somebody who is successful who will take on the powers that be but will beat them. Well guess what that’s what you got. We know somebody else like that they’re running at the top of the ticket.”

Can you give your assessment of the media? (paraphrased)
“Well, it’s been generally poor up till now, and now it is abysmal.”

<a href="http://purplepeoplevote.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/mcpal.jpg"><img src="http://purplepeoplevote.wordpress.com/files/2008/09/mcpal.jpg" alt="" title="mcpal" width="450" height="377" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-546" /></a>

Monday at the Convention

Day one at the convention was nicely done. Party business was taken care of and the day wrapped up with an address from Mrs. Bush then Mrs. McCain about giving to gulf coast charities. A video played on all the Republican Gulf Coast governors addressing the hurricane, and thanking people for their prayers and contributions.

The set up for the convention is impressive. The presentation is more classic than flashy. There are sections for delegates, for radio, for tv networks, along with a variety of other media subgroups. A huge hat tip to security in both planning and execution. There were protests, some peaceful, some no so much, and security made things run smoothly. Frankly, anyone involved with the convention planning deserves some recognition, as the scale of the event, and the range of participants is emmense. While there was no earth-shattering events on day one, it certainly was interesting to see.

ALABAMA

Governor's Emergency Relief Fund

www.servealabama.gov


(877) 273 - 5018

FLORIDA

Florida Disaster Fund

www.FloridaDisasterFund.org

(850) 410-0696

LOUISIANA


Hurricane Gustav Relief and Recovery Fund



www.braf.org


(877) 387-6126







Aidmatrix Foundation

www.aidmatrixnetwork.org


(866) 881-8882

MISSISSIPPI

Mississippi Hurricane Recovery Fund

www.mississippirelief.com

TEXAS

Texas Responds

www.texasresponds.org

(512) 473-2140

To donate by phone:

The Aidmatrix Foundation at (866) 881-8882

RNC Raises Money for Gulf State Relief - Scales Back First Day Activities

Senator McCain and the RNC have decided to scale back Monday's convention activities, and focus on fund raising efforts for charities in the Gulf States due to Hurricane Gustav. They have consulted with the Gulf State Governors about what charities to support. Governor Bobby Jindal recommended Aid Matrix. Comfort packages will be assembled and sent to the affected region with the help of FedEx and Target. A charter plane returned affected delegates back to the region, and will return them to Minnesota circumstances permitting. The RNC is taking a wait and see approach to the convention scheduling. As they learn more about the effects of Hurricane Gustav they will be able to confirm more of their convention plans.

Today's schedule consists of basic convention business. Laura Bush will introduce a video to the delegates, and Cindy McCain will also briefly address the delegates. Governor Palin will be in town, but has no public schedule. Speeches by President Bush, and Vice President Cheney have been canceled as they deal with the effects of the hurricane.

RNC Raises Money for Gulf State Relief - Scales Back First Day Activities

John McCain Bill Clinton Approved

Sure sounds like an endorsement. Certainly not a reach to see McCain as Clinton approved.

Bill Clinton Endorses John McCain Sort of

Democrats Praising McCain

Democrats Praising McCain

Obama McCain Links

Obama's foreign-policy implosion World Net Daily

Ludacris Releases Song Attacking Clinton, McCain - Fox News

In his own words: John McCain's radio address today - LA Times

McCain Camp Cozies Up to Bill Clinton On Obama and Race - ABC

Axelrod: Obama Campaign Based on Race - Red State

Clinton Supporters Wondering: Will She Be Nominated at the Convention? - CQ Politics

McCain Camp Sees Energy As Winning Issue - CBS

Obama backs away from McCain's debate challenge - Yahoo/AP

Barack Obama his party's presumptive nominee, now he's its presumptuous nominee - Washington Post

Obama arrogance watch - Boston.com

LEAKED: Obama Kotel Note Leak was Campaign PR Stunt -Jerusalem - Hillary Green Mountain

Women Count Demands Hateful Rap Song to Be Pulled and For Ludacris to Apaologize - Purple People Vote

Humor as a Remedy for Hubris

Senator McCain's sense of humor has been both an asset and a liability over the years. It is certainly part of his basic appeal, and it is one of the reasons he relates so well at town hall meetings as his humor creates an immediate connection with the audience. His detractors will note that some of his jokes have been inapprporiate, and in some cases that's true, hence his humor as liability. It can also cause problems because in print, jokes often don't come across the way they do in person. For instance, during the primaries Senator McCain jokingly called a student who asked him a somewhat inappropriate question 'a little jerk' (clip below). There was quite a buzz in the papers until people actually saw the clip, and it was quite evident that he was joking.

So now comes the humorous and sarcastic McCain ad The One. In this case humor turns out to be the perfect remedy for an over-inflated ego. It's hard not see lines like, "We are the ones we've been waiting for" or "a light will shine down from somewhere" as flat out funny. To add to this Obama's reaction is priceless. His stern condemnation of the ads 'juvenile' just shows his inability to laugh at himself. You know that if you make a joke at Senator McCain's expense he'll likely be the first one to laugh (as he has done numerous times when teased about his age). On the other hand, Senator Obama blew it by taking this joke and himself so seriously.

The One


WMUR - Little Jerk


Humor as a Remedy for Hubris