The American presidential election (62)
OK, I’ve now seen the speech by John McCain to the Republican National Convention. It was just like one of his town hall meetings rather than an oratorical call to arms. It’s not just that the delivery was lack-lustre – we’ve come to expect that. It’s that it was so light on policy, especially on the crucial issue of the economy.
The faithful in the hall seemed to applaud every sentence even though his messages were aimed much more at independents than at them. Nobody can deny the outstanding personal courage that McCain showed in that Hanoi jail and his speech made much of that, but his compelling personal narrative is not a political programme and it is little wonder that his team insists that this election is not about the issues.
You can see, hear and read his speech here.