McCain-o-Mania

So here we go again, I'm obsessing over John McCain. I just can't help myself. I stayed up till midnight last night to watch his speech. I must say, I was impressed. I'm amazed by his patriotism and dedication to our country. As I've stated before, I also agree with most of his political leanings.

If you want to read the whole speech: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/04/mccain.transcript/

A few highlights for me:

• His thanking of many people, including the other candidates who ran for president along side him. In my life, no success has come without a good fight, and this nomination wasn't any different. That's a tribute to the candidates who opposed me and their supporters. They're leaders of great ability who love our country and wish to lead it to better days. Their support is an honor that I won't forget. I found this to be gracious and humble.
• His statement toward Obama and company: We'll go at it -- we'll go at it over the next two months -- you know that's the nature of this business -- and there are big differences between us. But you have my respect and my admiration.
  Despite our differences, much more unites us than divides us. We are fellow Americans, and that's an association that means more to me than any other.
  We're dedicated to the proposition that all people are created equal and endowed by our creator with inalienable rights. No country -- no country ever had a greater cause than that. And I wouldn't be an American worthy of the name if I didn't honor Sen. Obama and his supporters for their achievement. I was thrilled to hear this and glad he made a point to reach out to his opponent and make it a fair fight.
• And let me just offer an advance warning to the old, big-spending, do-nothing, me first, country second crowd: Change is coming. Much of the Obama campaign has focused on "Change" and the McCain camp is really trying to make everyone see that they want change, too. McCain does not tend to backdown from adversaries, Democrat or Republican. It's one of the reasons I like him so much.
• You well know I've been called a maverick, someone who...marches to the beat of his own drum. Sometimes it's meant as a compliment; sometimes it's not. What it really means is I understand who I work for. I don't work for a party. I don't work for a special interest. I don't work for myself. I work for you. On the topic of the "Maverick" nickname. I thought this was fitting.
• He talked about big spenders and his fights against them in the past and his dedication to continue doing so in the future. I'm a fiscally conservative Republican and it makes me ill to see a White House that has spent more money frivolously than any other president in history. That's not being a responsible president or Republican.
• Talking about his fights for the military: when the pundits said my campaign was finished, I said I'd rather lose an election than see my country lose a war.
• The mentioning of specific families and their needs. I liked that, sincerely. There are over 300 million people in the US. It was nice to hear a few of their stories.
• I fight to restore the pride and principles of our party. Why has every other person brought up Lincoln? I find this a bit odd. I mean he was an amazing president but why is he in nearly every speech of this convention?
• Beliefs and promises. I. Agree. On. Almost. All. Fronts.
• I didn't particularly like the jabs at Sen. Obama, but I did see the point in showing the differences between the two candidates. I can appreciate it, even if I didn't like it.
• I loved his statement on education. I believe in equal access to education and believe it should be the right of the parent to choose the schooling for their child. I believe in vouchers and competition. When a public school fails to meet its obligations to students, parents deserve a choice in the education of their children. And I intend to give it to them...I want schools to answer to parents and students.
• Energy & Terrorism had to be discussed. They continue to be hot topics. I think they always will be. I just don't know that change is going to come as swiftly as we would like. We'll always be dependent on an energy source, I just wish it wasn't oil. Terrorism isn't going to go away. It has existed for thousands of years and it's difficult to see an end in sight. I think we just want to believe we're safe. Or at least safer than we have been.
• This amazing country can do anything we put our minds to. I'll ask Democrats and Independents to serve with me. And my administration will set a new standard for transparency and accountability. I'm beyond ecstatic he made this point. He's standing in front of a crowd of die hard Republicans and he's making the point to them that we MUST learn to work together to impact change. I was blown away.
• His comments on duty and bravery. His heroism in Vietnam and the men that saved him there. He brought me to tears. His commentary on serving our country in some capacity made me proud to be a civil servant. My friends, if you find faults with our country, make it a better one...Enlist in our Armed Forces. Become a teacher. Enter the ministry. Run for public office. Feed a hungry child. Teach an illiterate adult to read. Comfort the afflicted. Defend the rights of the oppressed. Our country will be the better, and you will be the happier, because nothing brings greater happiness in life than to serve a cause greater than yourself. And hasn't he lived his life in this manner?

On the crowd of delegates, etc. Seriously, why the chanting of "USA" every chance you got? You were annoying me. You're at a Republican National Convention for the USA. It's not the Olympics. We're not fighting another country. Just shut up and let the man speak. ps. That's the reason why it looks like he's stuttering throughout the speech but it's really because he got interrupted repeatedly.

I'll be honest, I didn't watch many of the other speeches because, well, I have a 10 week old child and I can't pay attention to the television for long periods of time while he's awake. He puts a damper on my tv time. Ha. I did, however, catch Rudy Guiliani and Cindy McCain. I was far from blown away by Rudy Guiliani. I'm just not a fan of his. Yes, he was mayor of NYC on 9/11/01 and did an amazing job of rebuilding the city in infrastructure and morale. BUT, I just don't like his politics. Again, too conservative and close-minded for me. I also didn't like the repeated jabs at Barack Obama. It came off as childish. Seriously, why all the jokes about "community organizer"? I'm a social worker and I understand the importance of people working in the communities to create change. Why is this something funny? I though Cindy McCain's speech was nice. She was far more eloquent than I had originally thought she would be. I, also, was not fully aware of all of her humanitarian work around the world. Kudos to her.

And finally, my favorite part of the speech. Not for the content but because of the power it exuded: Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight. Nothing is inevitable here. We're Americans, and we never give up. We never quit. We don't hide from history. We make history. He started speaking faster and louder over the roar of the crowd. I loved this. I wanted to be there. Cheering him on.

If you didn't catch it, he also accepted the nomination to the presidency by the Republican party. Don't worry, Mr. McCain. As for me and my house, you have our vote.