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29 Aug 2008 02:16 am

"A Letdown"

Ross has the sharpest critique of the speech I've seen:

The whole thing felt schizophrenic - part Clintonian laundry-list, part McCain-bashing polemic, part "beyond red and blue" peroration - and watching it I was left with the impression that Obama would have been better off just sticking with the high-flown inspirational style that got him here, and waiting for the debates to recast himself as the meat-and-potatoes guy who can throw a punch and get down into the policy weeds.

Hindsight is 20/20, of course, and you can see what Obama and his speechwriters were trying to do - namely, have the best of both worlds, by being soaring and substance-oriented, combative and post-partisan. But the substance was predictable, thin, and rife with pandering, the combativeness felt faintly inappropriate, and the speech didn't soar nearly as much as it should have. 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.

We'll see. He couldn't repeat the primary theme; and his main job last night was to raise the Democratic numbers to McCain's among Republicans. In that, I think it was more than successful, it was triumphant. I worry about some of the liberal boilerplate. I can see why ideological conservatives would have found much of it distasteful. But temperamental conservatives - those who fear what Bush has done to conservatism more than what Obama can do for liberalism - will not be so quick off the mark. Obama is not promising a return to the Great Society. Sure, he is nonetheless a liberal. But sometimes, a re-balancing of the polity after a period of over-reach from one side is not so bad an idea.

I'd like to support a conservative not beholden to the religious right, not indifferent to fiscal degeneracy, respectful of the constitution, hostile to torture, tough with foreign enemies but eager for new and old allies, and intent on making government smaller and leaner and more effective. Such a conservative is not available, and unless the GOP is reformed root and branch by a new generation, there won't be one available for a long while.

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