A (Relatively) Unbiased Breakdown of Palin and McCain's Speeches

For the second week in a row, we have been treated to the most concentrated political posturing of the election. By far the most interesting moments of the Republican National Convention were the speeches of Governor Sarah Palin and Senator John McCain. As the only two speakers actually on the ticket, their voices are the most important.

First, please indulge me while I vent my left-wing bias by sharing my personal opinion of the speeches.

Like Barack Obama before him, John McCain took the safe road when delivering his speech. He shied away from going into detail about any actual issues and kept the speech focused on fluff. There were the typical “We Believe” moments, the typical call for change, and the typical anecdotes about the hardships facing “real” Americans. As speechifying has never been McCain’s strong suit, I was not surprised by its brevity or its lack of substance. (On a brief side note, why do politicians feel the need to tell us of the plight of “real” Americans? As “real” Americans, shouldn’t we already be familiar with the problems we face?)

Miss Congeniality’s speech provoked a much deeper response, not only in my Democrat heart but also in the souls of most pundits and “real folk”. Though I give her credit for her speaking abilities, I find I must denounce her tactics. While both Messrs. Obama and Biden were defending Miss Congeniality and her family, the gun-toting beauty queen was busy aiming her sniper at Obama. Her speech was anything but dry: it was funny and sharp. However, I find that her humor would be better suited to Jay Leno’s show than to the Republican National Convention. Her attempts to show knowledge of foreign policy were almost laughable--as Jon Stewart commented, anyone can use Wikipedia. Congratulations, Miss Congeniality, you managed to memorize a bunch of factoids and statistics and regurgitate them to the nation.

Having dispensed with my “angry leftist” rant, allow me to continue with my attempt at a less biased analysis of the speeches.

The thing that I found most thought provoking regarding the two speeches was the methods that the speakers used when discussing the opposition. McCain, showing tact, grace, and wisdom, chose to keep his somewhat mild attacks isolated to attacks on the issues. Palin, on the other hand, showed that she truly is a Pit Bull wearing lipstick--her attacks were far more personal, and they were neither professional nor tactful.

A list of Ms. Palin’s more personal attacks on Mr. Obama:

“I guess a small-town mayor is kind of like being a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities.”

According to Wikipedia (look, I can use it, too!), community organizing is the foundation of the civil rights movement, the women’s suffrage movement, labor rights, and the 40 hour workweek. To cite a somewhat more credible source, here is what Obama actually did: He was hired by a group of churches to help the parishioners who had been laid off when the local steel mills closed. He helped to find them housing and job training, working with the local government to get the necessary services. Could someone please explain why this work is worthy of ridicule?

Lest someone ask why a community organizer ought to be above ridicule when a small town mayor is not, please keep in mind that Mr. Obama is not claiming that his position as community organizer provided him with the bulk of his political experience. On the other hand, Ms. Palin claims her position of mayor of Mayberry as the majority of her experience.

“But listening to [Obama] speak, its easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform--not even in the state senate.”

Evidently, while Ms. Palin is adept at Wikipedia, she has forgotten to visit the Senate’s web page to view Mr. Obama’s record. For a more condensed version of Mr. Obama’s impressive legislation authorship, visit Democratic Underground. I also highly recommend visiting The Atlantic’s Daily Dish.

A summary of these sources: Mr. Obama authored or co-sponsored 820 laws in Illinois and over 575 bills in the U.S. Senate. By the way, one of these bills was the 2007 Ethics Reform Bill--the specific type of legislation Ms. Palin was talking about.

“This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word ‘victory’ except when he’s talking about his own campaign.”

Unlike Ms. Palin, Mr. Obama does not feel that it was “God’s will” that we invade Iraq. He was against the war from the start--which, at least to my mind, shows a great deal of foreign policy intuition if not experience.

However, leaving my anti-war views aside, what exactly would “victory” in Iraq mean? Because the truth of the matter is that this never-ending war does not have a clear-cut goal. At this point, I think the best that can be hoped for is that Iraq will not immediately dissolve into bloody civil war the moment our last surge of troops leaves. At least his campaign has a chance for victory--the war does not.

“When the stadium lights go out and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot…”

There is not an unbiased, intelligent, rational response to this kind of comment. I hope it was meant as a joke. If so, it was in poor taste. There is a time and a place for such humor, but a national convention is not it. If it was meant to be taken seriously, then I am afraid. Has American politics really come down to one party making fun of another party’s décor?

“What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he’s done turning back the waters and healing the planet?”

I would think that healing the planet would be accomplishment enough for one term as President. But in case that isn’t enough, then allow me to direct Ms. Palin--and anyone else who has questions regarding Mr. Obama’s plans--to his web site. In a comparison between the sites of the Obama campaign and the McCain campaign, one provides incredible details regarding almost all of the candidate’s policy initiatives…and Mr. McCain’s does not.

In fact, on the issue of education alone, Mr. Obama’s plans cover roughly 15 pages of information. Mr. McCain’s provides about a paragraph.

More importantly, as noted above, this kind of sarcastic character attack does not have a place in an arena intended for intelligent political discourse.

To her credit, Ms. Palin does attempt to attack Mr. Obama on the actual issues. I say “attempt” because she got half her facts wrong again. That, however, is for another post.

Now contrast this with Mr. McCain’s comments about Mr. Obama:

Finally, a word to Senator Obama and his supporters.

We'll go at it over the next two months. That's the nature of these contests, and there are big differences between us.

But you have my respect and admiration. Despite our differences, much more unites us than divides us.

We are fellow Americans, an association that means more to me than any other.

We're dedicated to the proposition that all people are created equal and endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights.

No country ever had a greater cause than that, and I wouldn't be an American worthy of the name if I didn't honor Senator Obama and his supporters for their achievement.

Though Mr. McCain does follow this up with a critique of Mr. Obama’s stance on the issues (and though it is equally flawed as Ms. Palin’s issue based attacks), my respect for McCain has grown based on this one small snippet. This is the kind of discourse I hope to hear in the upcoming months--honesty, a recognition of the candidates’ differences, and a show of respect for one’s opponent.

Congratulations, Ms. Palin: You’ve won my scorn.

Congratulations, Mr. McCain: You’ve earned back some of my respect. Keep up the good work.