The American Spectator

br> — Mark Pettifor br> Goshen, Indiana /p>

Reading Mr. Tabin’s “A Conventional Flop” and Mr. Klein’s “Grand United Party” I began to wonder if there was more than one GOP convention, if the networks coverage was glaringly different, or if people just see what they wish to see.

Mr. Tabin saw the convention as being neither stimulating for the party members nor well run, leaving the party drifting somewhat aimlessly. Mr. Klein saw John McCain’s performance as generating a party united behind him and his candidacy. Seeing McCain as having won over the Conservative base.

Strangely, I saw it another way. I saw a convention composed largely of Conservative voters. This was evidenced in Mr. Tabin’s observation that McCain’s speech was too flat, too low key and too boring. It is unfortunate that he missed Sarah Palin’s speech on Thursday. He would have seen, not only an excellent speech, delivered with style and punch, but a crowd who would have stood up and cheered wildly if Palin had been reading her shopping list. Why? I believe because she is seen as a Conservative. McCain is seen as a liberal moderate who is far too chummy with liberal Democrats.

As for McCain drawing the party together behind him, I simply can’t agree with Mr. Klein on that. What McCain has done is draw the Conservatives together behind his Vice Presidential candidate. In fact, some Conservatives new election slogan is “One heartbeat away.” Hardly indicative of a desire for a McCain Presidency.

p>As for a post-convention bump for the McCain/Palin ticket, it is irrelevant. In the first place, most, if not all, of the pollsters are suspect. Secondly, the only polls that matter do not open for sixty days. Let’s just watch the campaigns and see what happens. br> — Michael Tobias /p>

I have to agree with John Tabin’s comments concerning the GOP Convention. The scheduling of speakers and the performance of John McCain will preclude any “bounce” the GOP was looking for. However, I also have to admit the Democratic Convention in Denver was also disappointing. Yes, Obama did give a decent speech; but, it was one we’ve all heard before. Not even the crazed 80,000 adoring fans and Doric columns could overcome this liability. In Denver, Bill Clinton generated the most excitement, not Obama. In St Paul, it was of course Sarah Palin that generated the excitement, and not McCain.

This morning’s CBS poll again has McCain and Obama neck to neck. It looks like the election will break in either Pennsylvania or Ohio (or both) if the 2004 elections are a template. If this is the case, Palin might overcome Bush fatigue with the rural voters. But yet again, there are questions whether McCain can hold on in Virginia, Colorado, and North Carolina. Even Indiana is in play according to some pollsters (Obama opened up 41 offices there this past summer). I would say Obama still has a huge advantage due to his large war chest and a much improved get-out-the-vote effort by his party. But again, Obama should be cruising with a 12-20 point lead, and not fighting for his life.

p>This is a strange election. Before the Palin, this was an election where a mildly liberal Maverick was running against an eloquent far-leftist. Conservatives were not invited. This was to be an election where the victory was to be decided by the Center-Left. As everyone knows, no GOP candidate in modern times ever won a campaign without the base. Palin did temporarily solve this problem. How she performs the next 9 weeks will be interesting, and it is ironic to listen to her far left feminist detractors complain how she is abandoning her family in favor of her career, while conservatives extol the primacy of career over motherhood.