And Another Conservative Reacts

Conservative columnist, Debra Saunders, on McCain's lack of an agenda:

Like (John) Kerry, John McCain seemed stuck in the past. He didn't talk about America's future as much as he should have. His campaign team made the convention too personal - too much about McCain, too little about his vision on how he would govern. In his speech, McCain, like too many politicians, served up a jumble of letters, embellished with cutesy sentences that served as shorthand for the larger arguments he failed to articulate:
"All you ever asked of government is to stand on your side, not in your way," for small government.
"We're all God's children, and we're all Americans," for the immigration debate.
"We are going to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don't like us very much," as a stand-in for a foreign policy discussion...

McCain surrogates frequently dismissed Barack Obama, saying America doesn't need dramatic speeches. Maybe America doesn't need them, but McCain does. He ought to think of the next eight weeks as a first date. It's not enough to throw out a series of pickup lines. You have to throw in a little romance. And you don't spend dinner talking about yourself.