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The speech was basically divided into two parts-- Fred the narrator and Fred the attack dog. Thompson told McCain's moving story quite well from his days in the military to fighting earmarks in the Senate and standing up for the surge. A key line was when he said that being a POW "doesn't qualify somebody to be president. But it does reveal character." All throughout, he contrasted Obama as a talker and McCain as somebody who has actually had his character and courage tested throughout his life. He said "we've heard a lot of hope in this campaign, but John McCain knows hope, because hope is all he had." He also said, "That is character you can believe in." His point was also pretty clear when he said that with McCain, you don't have to ask, "Who is this man? And can we trust this man with the presidency?" There were also times when he twisted the knife deeper, saying that McCain didn't have to make a "teleprompter speech attempted to appeal to those abroad" and that Obama is only making history as "the most liberal, most inexperienced nominee ever to run for president." The speech will also be remembered for its defense of Sarah Palin, and criticism of the liberal media for going after her and her family -- an especially big hit with the crowd. I wonder if all of the lines directed at Obama will detract from his telling of McCain's life story.

topics:
John McCain, Sarah Palin, Earmarks, Military