- He is not the glib, silver tongued lawyer type and did not speak with the eloquent (albeit essentially meaningless) high flown phrases and the dramatic pauses and the changing cadences of Barack Obama in his made for, by and of Hollywood production of last week.

- Nor did he go on the attack and effortlessly and powerfully and amusingly eviscerate the laughable qualifications and questionable ideas of his political enemies as Sarah Palin did so brilliantly last night.

- All he did was to speak clearly and relatively specifically about what formed his character and his love of his country and what being an American and being a president means to him and what ideas he has for restoring Washington as a place that serves the American people rather than itself first and foremost.

- And those like me who listened carefully to what McCain said could clearly sense that here was a great man possessed of exceptionally high levels of patriotism, integrity, decency and honesty.

- For example, early in his speech he praised President Bush for keeping the country safe even though this was politically inadvisable for a speech intended mainly at the TV audience. He did this because his integrity and decency told him it was the right thing to do even if it cost him some independent or cross over votes.

- Later in his speech, he praised his opponent Barack Obama for his success in winning the Democratic nomination and for being a patriotic and honourable American who, too, loved his country. This was not something the audience in the hall wanted to hear nor was it helpful to McCain. But, again, as a man of integrity and decency he knew this was the right thing to do.

- Also in his speech he observed several times that not only the Democrats but also the Republicans in Washington had lost their way and that he was determined to reform the way things are done in the capital not just by Democrats but also by his own party. When was the last time you heard a presidential nominee of a party in convention stand up and publicly announce that the party which had nominated him had lost its way? Probably never. You certainly didn't hear it from Barry Obama about the farcically disfunctional and divided Democratic party which lost its way in the Carter years and is still a schitzophrenic mess of a party united only by a hatred of Bush and conservatives and a desire to once again be able to cut up the cash at the public trough. Barry would never admit that because it might cost him votes. But Big Mac admitted it because he is an exceptionally honest man who doesn't try to con the people or himself.

- So if being president is mainly about the ability to occasionally give soaring speeches that get the masses all fired up for half an hour or so, Big Mac didn't do so hot last night.

- But if being president is mainly about doing the job every day with exceptional patriotism, integrity, decency and honesty along with the sound judgement that comes from real in depth character and wisdom building experiences, then there really is only one sound choice in this presidential election.

- To the degree that others sensed these sterling qualities emanating from this splendid person last night, maybe Big Mac did OK after all.

- Onward to the debates which will probably decide the election ...
September 5, 2008 - 12:33:22 PM