Soccer Dad

Sen. obama's acceptance speech

Senator Obama's acceptance speech touched a lot of bases. (via memeorandum)

Don Surber takes issue with a number of his points. I especially liked this one:

2. "But the record's clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of the time. Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush was right more than ninety percent of the time? I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to take a ten percent chance on change."

FACT: True. Logic does not follow that McCain has poor judgment. Considering Bush was re-elected by a majority -- a re-election feat no Democrat has enjoyed since FDR -- shows that perhaps the American public agreed with Bush most of the time, at least through his first 4 years.

But there was one point that stuck out for me. Betsy's Page asked the question:

Couldn't Barack Obama find a more modern example of Democrats protecting our national security?

Ross Douthat found the speech disappointing.

It was a historic evening, for Obama and for America, and there were moments that gave me shivers just watching on TV - but if you didn't go in sold on the Democratic nominee, I think it was ultimately something of a letdown.

(He found Sen. Biden's speech more effective.)

I don't accept most of Sen. Obama's criticisms, but I do understand how his speech could resonate with someone who didn't hold the beliefs I do. Clearly it will be up to McCain to respond vigorously to the Democratic charges. (A good start would be to continue to blame the Democrats for failure to move legislatively on domestic drilling for oil.)

Dick Morris has more. His general approach is for McCain to emphasize his independence from Bush. That should also be a good approach. But it has to be handled with care. Too much emphasis on certain issues (like global warming or campaign finance reform) could well hurt McCain with his base.