LAST NIGHT AMONG THE FAITHFUL

Is it over?  Can we go out and play again?

The Democrats are leaving Denver after what, thanks to the political shrewdness of the Clintons, was a successful convention.  Hillary didn't cause any trouble, and Bill minded his tongue and his manners.  They thus got what the actress Joan Crawford used to call "the big okay," the blessing of their industry - politics - to continue.  The Clintons are well placed to knock on Democratic doors again if Obama should lose in November.  And no one wants him to lose more than the Clintons.  As Hillary stood amongst the New York delegates, throwing her support to Obama, you just knew that she wanted the scene recorded by every camera ever manufactured.  If she runs again, that photo will be prominently displayed.  "Team player" is still a compliment.

Barack Obama spoke well last night.  He is an outstanding speaker.  Notice that I didn't say that he's an outstanding speechmaker.  An outstanding speechmaker has to have an outstanding speech, and that speech, once examined, was far less than outstanding.  It was a well-polished Democratic laundry list, the same list we've heard year after year, including those years when Democrats controlled both the White House and Congress.  Strange, but items never seem to disappear from that list and go into the "accomplished" column.  I guess the list has sentimental value.

I always stress foreign affairs because, as a young person involved in politics, I was taught that you can absorb four years of a bad domestic policy, but that four years of a bad foreign policy can be fatal.  For the life of me, I could not figure out Barack Obama's foreign policy from that elegantly delivered address last night.  He will be tougher on Iran than the GOP, but how?  He will repair our alliances, but never told us how he'll get "allies" to do what they clearly don't want to do.  He won't "go it alone."  You mean, never?  What if England had decided not to "go it alone" in 1940?  He'll restore our prestige, but never explained that anti-Americanism is a constant in this world, especially in Europe.  You'd think, listening to Obama, that everyone once loved us, but started hating us as soon as we entered Iraq.  That is the view of a child or a political snake-oil salesman.  It is not the view of a knowledgeable leader.

Obama will get a bounce from the convention.  I would not be shocked if he was up ten to twelve points over the weekend.  That will settle back, but the degree of settling will depend on how well John McCain and his running mate do next week.  McCain must take Obama/Biden on directly and vigorously.  He must expose the Democratic ticket as the hollow road show that it is.  He must raise doubts, and more doubts.  And he must provide his own optimistic, Reaganesque view of the future.

It can be done, but this won't be easy.  The Democrats have nominated a superb speaker adored by the press.  McCain must, as Reagan did, speak over the heads of the middlemen and directly to the American people.

August 29, 2008.