I really enjoyed the opening night of the Republican Convention. The folks are clearly in an up-beat mood, with the President rising in the polls as the convention opens, and the opposition doing their part in the streets to make the contrast sharper for the undecideds. McCain gave a great speech making a point that gets lost too easily in politics, that the other side is actually sincere in their beliefs and feelings, so we should try and engage them in respectful dialog and all that, but he drew the line at people like Michael Moore who are disingenuous. It strikes me that he hit just the right balance there.
His explanation of the rationale for the Iraq War was sound and convincing. The idea that Saddam had been successfully contained was floated quite a bit by the other side a year ago, but it’s clear to close analysis that the containment was unraveling. Given Saddam’s history, the end of containment would have meant the start of a serious threat, so it was best to deal with him then and there. Even if a mullah-style government were to take over in Iraq — and I don’t see that as likely, just a worst-case scenario — it will still be years before its weapons program could be organized at the level that Saddam’s was right before the last days. And there are the human rights issues, as well.
While McCain gave a good, sound, sober speech that we can all identify with and be proud of, Rudy hit one out of the park, mixing personal stories with political history and the intellectual with the emotional. His was a glowing tribute to the president, from a man of enormous credibility and appeal. The cute remark about Kerry needing Edwards’ Two Americas so each of his positions on any issue could have a home was the great takeaway.
Rudy’s going to make a great president when he’s elected in 2008.