McCain's Speech

I apologize for the tardiness of this post. I've been busy the last 48 hours moving into my dorm at Ohio University, and writing has unfortunately taken a back seat to the proceedings of driving for nine hours (!) and then fashioning the room with all the bells and whistles of the ideal metropolitan journalism major.

As for the speech, I'll state what everyone probably knows already: I didn't like it.

But of course, I will elaborate on that.

The beginning of the speech was dreadful. While I did not see the frightening neon-green background that supported Johnny's speech (I was driving to Ohio and heard it on the radio), I actually felt that listening to McCain as opposed to watching him helped him in the long-run, as I was deprived of the man's Uncle Munster appeal and ancient charm.

The first third of the speech, though, truly was dreadful. A basic, meandering beginning, and more irritating falsehoods about Obama's platform.

Then, things got more interesting. First, McCain offered a fairly shocking bitchslap of the current government, chastising it for it's ineffectiveness and blaming it for the way the country is now. More on that later. But then, he turned his attentions elsewhere.

McCain has long been a candidate slammed for his misunderstanding of the economy. He famously admitted during an interview that he knew very little on the subject, and last night's speech was a clear attempt by the "maverick" to rid himself of this negative image and show that he really does have a grasp on the single-most important issue to voters in this election.

Launching on a long, winding road of policies and theories, McCain outlined specific economic proposals that he (and his advisers) seem to think will dig us out of our current recession.

But oh, how wrong he is.

While I applaud the effort, McCain was undermined by one glaring contradiction: Reaganomics! The single dumbest idea in the history of economics, Reaganomics--the brilliant idea that cutting taxes on the wealthiest Americans while raising government spending (namely military build-up) will somehow balance the budget, all the while decreasing government regulation on corporations and encouraging unlawful behavior--has never worked. It didn't work for Reagan, it didn't work for Bush I, and it surely has not worked for Bush II, as the current condition of the economy blatantly shows. So, with this kind of track record, what does John McCain propose we do to get out of the current recession? CONTINUE THE IDEALS OF REAGANOMICS!!! It was embarrassing.

The speech then turned to McCain's bread and butter: his time as POW in Vietnam. Now, I am not poking fun at what McCain endured as a prisoner. The tale, one of hardship, perseverance, and ultimate sacrifice, makes a beautiful, touching story, and I was genuinely moved last night when he recounted his experiences in the prison. Though it does not provide any prerequisite for the presidency--remember, Grant was arguably the greatest American General ever in the Civil War, and he SUCKED as a president--it does make for beautiful storytelling.

As the speech ended, McCain showed surprising energy, closing out the speech on a rare tone of "change," pleading for his supporters to fight with him to save our country.

Moving, but hollow, and I'll return to his criticisms of government to explain why.

I cannot possibly fault the actual message of McCain's speech. Washington is broken, party lines have become the most splintered since the 1920s, and our society is the most unequal since the Gilded Age. Clearly, the current style of politics is not working and a legitimate change must be made for any progress to occur. However, this will never happen with a McCain presidency.

It's all in the details. Going past the economy, many of the proposals McCain offered were Bush pt. Deux. Foreign Policy involving Iraq, Iran, Georgia, and Russia was straight out of the Dubya playbook, as was McCain's announcements on energy independence and, wait for it, OFFSHORE DRILLING, the dumbest idea of this campaign next to the gas-tax holiday. There is nothing new, nothing radical, nothing "maverick" about the specific policies that McCain offered in his speech last night.

So remind me, why is he the maverick? how is he going to change Washington? It's a mystery, and the speech last night, despite the beautiful POW passage, left me more frustrated and confused than motivated.