Final Thoughts on the RNC…

So, I have one more post to come, in which I’ll try to insert a bit of political science into the punditry. But before that, I wanted to share a handful of quick thoughts:

One thing that was striking tonight was the reaction of the crowd to the various lines in McCain’s speech. For instance, his line about standing up to lobbyists and oil companies was VERY poorly received (imagine that) while the line about drilling was exceptionally well received. There is a basic tension in the party here between its primary funders and interests (which are increasingly linked to oil and gas) and the social conservatives that make up the base. Governor Palin speaks to both. The nominee, Senator McCain, speaks to neither. They love his bio. But they don’t love his stances on issues.
Governor Palin had a line last night that got a lot of attention. It was the one line she ad-libbed, about hockey moms being like pit bulls with lipstick. What is interesting is that in the hub-bub over her fantastic performance one interesting fact has gone unnoticed -  focus groups were unimpressed. In the echo chamber that is a national convention, it seemed that EVERYONE appreciated the speech. And the reaction from Democrats was one of concern. Her shots on Obama were largely direct hits. Dems. were worried that this would appeal to moderates and Republicans were convinced. Someone needs to tell that to moderates and independents. This reminds me of the assumption of both parties that Edwards would help in the south. The pundit class was convinced. Kerry/Edwards got shut out. Maybe the two parties should stop guessing how swing voters will react and pundits guess from inside the bubble. It appears that they were not moved. At least a couple of the veteran print journalists I’ve spoken with think the pit bull line was a SERIOUS mistake… that voters actually don’t want a pit bull as Veep. I would imagine the handlers were not thrilled with the one deviation from the text.

Of all of the attack lines, former NYC Mayor’s criticism of Barack Obama as “cosmopolitan” was perhaps the most hilarious coming from the mayor of America’s most cosmopolitan city while defending America’s small towns. Bizarre.

I wasn’t going to say anything, BUT… after applauding vigorously while Guiliani accused Dems and the national media of sexism in their treatment of Governor Palin, I heard several references, FROM DELEGATES, to Palin’s appearance… namely, the line that “she’s hot”. In fact, today, there were large and promenant buttons about the “hot girl” and “Hoosiers for the Hot Chick”. Glad to see they are concerned about sexism.

Both parties delivered solid spectacles at their conventions and the narratives for the fall campaign have lined up. For Obama it’s change vs. more of the same, future vs. past, and economic issues as primary (using the McCain gaffes about the economy as evidence of being out of touch). For McCain it’s service vs. speechmaking, strong vs. weak/indecisive/even effeminate, and authentic vs. messianic (using Obama’s gaffes about “clinging” to guns and religion and questions about when life begins to being above his pay grade.