McCain the Nominee Delivers a Eulogy for McCain the Maverick

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On Wednesday, Palin went after Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama with vengeance: a man lacking "actual responsibilities," a man who sees the presidency as a "journey of personal discovery," a dilettante who "authored two memoirs but not a single major law," and a guy who wants to "reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world." By Thursday, she was accusing the Democratic ticket, without evidence, of "misinformation and flat-out lies" and being "vicious in their attacks directed toward me, my family and John McCain."

The anger was contagious. "Button up your chin straps, boys," Danny Diaz, communications director of the Republican National Committee, wrote to the Democrats' spokesman, Damien LaVera, at 1 a.m. Thursday. Continuing the football metaphor, he added: "Two a days are over and full contact has begun."

Seconds after the opening prayer at Thursday's session, Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, the first speaker, was talking about the Democrats' "inexperienced presidential nominee in a dangerous era," a "vice presidential nominee who's the handmaiden to liberal special interest groups," and a "do-nothing Democratic Congress."

That set the tone. Sen. Mel Martinez: "He said he would meet with rogue leaders without condition." Gov. Tim Pawlenty: "Barack Obama gives a good speech, but the best sermons aren't preached, they're lived." Sen. Lindsey Graham: "Barack Obama's campaign is built around us losing in Iraq." The backbenchers followed the lead when they got their turns at the microphone: "Democrats, led by Nancy Pelosi and her allies, are obsessed with an ultra-liberal agenda. . . . The next commander in chief must not only know how to defeat an enemy but know how to inspire a nation with more than platitudes and cliches. . . . Who do you trust to defend your children against the haters and killers whose only creed is evil?"

McCain, in his acceptance speech, lamented the "constant partisan rancor" of the capital, offered his "respect and admiration" to Obama and took a maverick-style swipe at his own party. "We lost the trust of the American people when some Republicans gave in to the temptations of corruption." The crowd was unmoved.

But his brandishing of his work with the other party became a way to scold his opponent. "I will reach out my hand to anyone to help me get this country moving again, he said. "I have that record and the scars to prove it. Senator Obama does not."

In a nod to political realities, there wasn't a single mention of President Bush before McCain took the stage, and scant reference to the economy. Instead of dealing with those delicate topics, barely a speaker all night passed up the opportunity to mention McCain having been a prisoner of war in Hanoi. McCain himself gave a moving description of his imprisonment: "I found myself falling toward the middle of a small lake in the city of Hanoi, with two broken arms, a broken leg, and an angry crowd waiting to greet me. I was dumped in a dark cell and left to die."

But that honorable story turned into a way to take a swipe at Obama. "I wasn't my own man anymore. I was my country's," he said. "I'm not running for president because I think I'm blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need."

It was time for the maverick's convention to end in the conventional way, with a balloon-drop.