Welcome back to the final night of the Republican National Convention. I'm watching Cindy McCain now, and it's truly notable how much more muted the reception has been for her compared to the raucous reception Sarah Palin received last night. In fact, her biggest applause line by far was when she mentioned Palin. Of course, that may have something to do with Cindy's interview with CBS News indicating that she supports Roe v Wade and sex education - and hinting that her husband may not be a zealot on the abortion issue, either. Consider this more fodder for the theory that McCain was pushed into this pick by a GOP base that threated to abandon him if he went with a more moderate running-mate.
While we await the main event, let's also note the report today that this RNC has fewer black delegates than any other in 40 years. There are exactly 36 black delegates in St. Paul, or 1.5 percent of the total - and a steep decline from the 167 blacks present in 2004. Guess how many black delegates there were at the Democratic National Convention last week? I'll post the answer in the comments.
Enjoy the speech!
There were 1,079 black delegates to the DNC last week, 24.3 percent of the total.
Of course, the Democratic party has rules requiring delegations to be diverse because we value diversity. The Republicans make no such claim, and minorities therefore feel far less valued.
Posted by: Julie in Boise | September 04, 2008 at 08:00 PM
Interesting staging, as McCain emerges from total darkness in the hall - representing his POW imprisonment, of course - to the cheers of his party.
Oh no, the Videodrome screen is back.
McCain is standing rock-star like at the end of a runway jutting out from the main stage. This is, supposedly, to help him enjoy the town-hall vibe in which he does better than formal speech settings.
I think his standing O went on nearly as long as Palin's last night ... but not quite. He's finally starting.
Posted by: Julie in Boise | September 04, 2008 at 08:16 PM
The green screen is back! Don't these people ever learn?
Less than a minute in, he's talking about 9/11.
Posted by: Julie in Boise | September 04, 2008 at 08:17 PM
To clarify, he actually mentioned 9/11 before noting the special guests present.
C-SPAN showed a protester in the rafters, wearing an Iraq Veterans Against the War shirt and flashing two peace signs. Nice.
Posted by: Julie in Boise | September 04, 2008 at 08:19 PM
Nice applause as he talks about Cindy.
For those of you who didn't get the green screen ref:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qBtjycMRIo
Posted by: Julie in Boise | September 04, 2008 at 08:20 PM
A note to Obama and his supporters: "We'll go at it these next two months ... but you have my respect and admiration ... We are fellow Americans, and that's an association that means more to me than any other."
"But let there be no doubt, my friends, we're going to win this election."
Posted by: Julie in Boise | September 04, 2008 at 08:22 PM
Looks like some Code Pink protesters. They're being dragged out amid shouts of USA! USA!
"Americans want us to stop yelling at each other, OK?" McCain says.
McCain is trying to talk about the economy, but people keep shouting USA. It's pretty weird. He finally got his thought out, and now he's introducing Palin, to more pandemonium.
Posted by: Julie in Boise | September 04, 2008 at 08:25 PM
Says being a maverick means he doesn't work for a party or for himself. "I work for you."
Eight years ago, I would've believed this. Now, we know he works for Rush Limbaugh and Phyllis Schlafly.
Posted by: Julie in Boise | September 04, 2008 at 08:30 PM
Interesting that he just mentioned the Latina daughter of an immigrant family in the same breath as those who came on the Mayflower. "We're all Americans."
I wonder what Lou Dobbs and Tom Tancredo would say to that.
Posted by: Julie in Boise | September 04, 2008 at 08:37 PM
A litany of boos as McCain says his opponent will raise taxes, close markets, and force families into a government-run health system "where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor."
And of course insurance companies never do that, do they?
That section will need some serious fact-checking, because every last thing he said was total BS.
Just telegraphed that he'll privatize Social Security.
"I know some of you have been left behind in the changing economy." Yes, all the middle class folks, everyone making less than, oh, say $5 million.
Says Obama wants to "wish back old jobs." In fact, Obama is dedicated to millions of new jobs in a clean, green economy.
McCain is talking about using community colleges to help people retrain for new jobs, but not mentioning what sort of jobs those would be.
"Education is the civil rights issue of the 21st century." Speaks of school choice, and of course by this he means vouchers. Lots of cheers.
Posted by: Julie in Boise | September 04, 2008 at 08:43 PM