MUTH’S TRUTHS

A tough balancing act faced Republicans with how to handle President Bush. Not the most popular guy in America today, or even in his own party. But the man is the sitting incumbent president. You couldn’t “dis” him and not have him speak at all, much as some may have liked. But giving him a relatively short speaking role via satellite seemed to strike the right balance. Republicans certainly treated Bush tonight better than Democrats have treated Carter for many, many years…and to this day.

* President Bush did throw a little red meat out there, telling the GOP faithful – as well as the rest of the nation watching on TV – that if his captors at the “Hanoi Hilton” couldn’t break John McCain’s resolve, the “angry left” sure won’t. Ya hear that, Michael Moore?

* Following the obvious “character” theme which will obviously run throughout this convention, the President also noted the John McCain bucked conventional wisdom and popular opinion by backing the “surge,” thereby jeopardizing his presidential ambitions. McCain’s response, said the President, was that he would rather lose an election than lose the war. That will resonate.

* Two points I noticed in the new tribute video to Ronald Reagan. 1.) The Gipper was referred to as a “maverick,” clearly an effort to link the sainted Republican to this year’s Republican presidential nominee. 2.) Reagan’s insistence on running on what he believed was referred to as “conviction politics.” It’d be nice to see Republicans return to that. Hope the phrase catches on.

* If Fred Thompson had performed on the campaign stump a year ago the way he did tonight, this could have been an entirely different election.

* Everyone knows John McCain was a former POW who suffered physical abuse at the hands of his captors. But Fred Thompson’s re-telling of that narrative tonight was the first time many, many Americans probably heard the full gut-wrenching details. Hard to imagine anyone telling that story any better than Thompson did.

* Recently the Left has been criticizing John McCain for hiding behind his POW experience, accusing him of using that as a campaign weapon. Thompson hit that issue squarely tonight by acknowledging that while McCain being a former POW doesn’t qualify him to be president, how he handled his ordeal sure as hell reveals the man’s character – or as he put it, in a sharp jab right on Obama’s glass jaw, “Character you can believe in.”

* In talking about John McCain’s ordeal, here’s a real-life lesson Fred Thompson delivered for the present generation of American kids: “A man who never quits is never defeated.” Sounds like he’s been talking to Joe Biden’s dad.

* If politics is about perceptions – and it is – the clear perception coming out of Thompson’s re-telling of McCain’s POW story as compared to Barack Obama is: Substance over flash. A very real, very clear, very believable and very important contrast – which is what elections are all about.

* At that point, Fred Thompson darned near became Freddy Krueger, ripping the Democrats and their nominee a new one. Ridiculing the “historic” nature of Obama’s candidacy, Thompson noted that B.O. was the most liberal, inexperienced candidate the Democrats have ever nominated in history. Ouch.

* Thompson also ridiculed the Obama/Democrat notion that they’re only going to raise taxes on businesses, noting the economic reality that if you raise taxes on businesses, those businesses will only raise prices on the average American. Which means only people who buy groceries, clothes and gas will have their taxes raised. Point well made and well taken.

* Thompson also tied Obama to the present Democrat-majority Congress, which he noted is the most unpopular Congress in history due to the fact that it has accomplished practically nothing.

* And Thompson clearly hit one out of the park with social conservatives in the audience by pointing out that when it comes to the question of abortion, John McCain doesn’t think the issue is above his pay grade. Wild applause.

* Very effective close in asking the audience to salute a man who, because of the injuries he sustained in captivity, can no longer raise his arms above his shoulders to salute the American flag he fought for in Vietnam.

* And in the end, Sen. Thompson may have hit upon the “Are you better off now than you were four years ago” campaign theme by telling the nation that there are two things you’ll never have to ask about John McCain: Who he is and whether you can trust him with the presidency. Two questions the nation certainly still has about Barack Obama.

* In response to Thompson’s A+ speech, all that nitwit Keith Olberman over on MSNBC could criticize was that Thompson coughed a lot during his speech. What a jerk.

* That being said, during some of the throat-clearing pauses by Thompson, those of us old enough to remember the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts could be excused for thinking the former senator from Tennessee sometimes reminded us a little of that lovable lush, Foster Brrrr-ooks.

* And then along came Joe.

* To have the opposition party’s vice presidential candidate from just eight short years ago deliver a prime-time endorsement speech for the other party’s presidential nominee today was darned near surreal. I mean, it’s just not done.

* While not a particularly scintillating speech – after all, it WAS Joe Lieberman – the Connecticut senator delivered some major league body blows to the Obama campaign. Saying in his unique, low-key manner, “I support John McCain because country matters more than party” and, in an obvious reference to Obama’s superior verbal skills, that “eloquence is no substitute for a record,” Lieberman sliced and diced The Chosen One like nobody’s business.

* Lieberman also slammed Obama for his inability (or unwillingness) to work across party lines in his short 3 ½ years in the Senate, as well as the fact that B.O. voted to cut off funding for troops on the battlefield. That’s a damned hard vote to defend, and B.O. will be on defense over it for the duration of this campaign.

* Lieberman may have delivered the soundbite of the night when he said that McCain would be a president “our allies will trust and our enemies will fear.” You know. Kinda like that other “maverick” Republican president from the 80s.

* But if may have been Joey L’s closing and explicit appeal to Democrats and independents which may ultimately do the most damage to the Obama campaign. No, Lieberman’s call for those not belonging to the Republican Party to vote for John McCain won’t sell to the hard-core Democrat base which showed up in Denver last week for B.O.’s coronation. But it very well COULD resonate with “Reagan Democrats” and independents who still remember fondly Al Gore’s former running mate.

* All in all a very strong opening night for Republicans. About the only thing they might have done to improve the evening would have been to lead off with Lieberman and close with Thompson rather than the other way around. But it would be Olberman-like to be so picky, so pretend I never said that.

Posted on September 2nd, 2008 by Chuck Muth
Filed under: National