A Review Of The Big Speeches At The Republican National Convention, Day 2

Day 1 of the GOP convention was wiped out because of Gustav and perhaps because they feared to get too partisan, too fast, Day 2 mostly focused on building up McCain and Palin. There was a little red meat here and there, but it wasn’t the main thrust of the evening.

The first big speech of the night was from Bush, who came to the convention via satellite feed. As you’d expect, Bush didn’t hit a towering home run, but he wasn’t bad either. It was a solid “B” speech that focused on pumping up McCain.

“Fellow citizens, if the Hanoi Hilton could not break John McCain’s resolve to do what is best for his country, you can be sure the angry left never will.” — George Bush

Next up was Fred Thompson who defended Palin, took a few shots at the Left, talked up McCain, and gave a better telling of the trials McCain has to endure as a POW than I have ever heard before. To say that Thompson brought his “A game” understates the matter because his oration was simply extraordinary. I gave Bill Clinton an “A+” grade for his speech at the DNC and, quite frankly, Thompson’s speech easily surpassed the Big Dog’s effort. It was an A++ speech.

“Now our opponents tell you not to worry about their tax increases.

They tell you they are not going to tax your family.

No, they’re just going to tax “businesses”! So unless you buy something from a “business”, like groceries or clothes or gasoline … or unless you get a paycheck from a big or a small “business”, don’t worry … it’s not going to affect you.” — Fred Thompson

Last but not least, the convention finished up the night with the Democratic VP nominee in 2000, Joe Lieberman. Lieberman started a little slow, but then got into a nice rhythm and really focused on building up McCain’s bipartisan credentials. Lieberman’s speech was extremely effective and probably hit home with any independents who happened to be watching. It was a B+ speech.

“Senator Obama is a gifted and eloquent young man who can do great things for our country in the years ahead. But my friends, eloquence is no substitute for a record — not in these tough times for America.

In the Senate he has not reached across party lines to get anything significant done, nor has he been willing to take on powerful interest groups in the Democratic Party.” — Joe Lieberman

For the night, the GOP gets an A-. Let’s hope there was a large audience that caught the convention last night.

Now tonight and tomorrow? I expect to see the GOP really unload on Obama after taking one night off and making nice for another night. Plus, Sarracuda has her big speech tonight. It should be a lot of fun.

PS: You can catch the video highlights from Night 2 of the convention here.

Update #1: This video presentation from last time was really moving.

Share this!

Enjoy reading? Share it with your friends!