My Reaction to McCain Acceptance Speech: Reform vs. Going Back

For years, we have heard all sorts of promises for change in Washington at the conventions of both parties. But how many of them were really believable? In the end, you have to look at the person standing behind the speech--not the words, but the person who stands behind the words. Reagan fit the bill of someone who would push hard for change in D.C. You could sense it in the passion with which he declared his conviction for less government intervention. In my view, McCain also fits the bill. McCain's passion is honor and the common good. He is an impatient man. The impatient man with a marvelously impatient woman as his running mate is the kind that will defiantly give all the promises a fighting chance on the ground.

Here are some specific items that struck me:

1. McCain went all out for school vouchers. Then, this morning I heard a right-wing commentator warning that McCain had just unnecessarily challenged every teacher's union leader in the nation. Boy, you really can't please everyone: on the one hand, a candidate is criticized for not being bold enough, then, when the candidate is indeed blatantly bold, the boldness is said to be imprudent. Solution: take the pundits with a very large grain of salt, along with a temperate dash of disdain. McCain rightly labeled school choice the unfinished civil rights issue of our time. (Stopping abortion is the human rights issue of our time.)

2. McCain and Palin have both promised to be leading advocates for special needs kids. There are a lot of families in our nation facing that challenge. This advocacy for special needs kids is part of the defense of life because all human life is worthy of life in a seamless continuum from conception to natural death.

3. The choice is not between more of the past with McCain and change with Obama. The choice is between reform with McCain/Palin and a change back to failed liberal policies with Obama/Biden. Reform vs. Going Back. What kind of change do you want? The Obama campaign comes down to a plea to come back to the failed liberal past. That's like telling a struggling alcoholic to change by going back exuberantly to the bottle. The desirable type of change is reform.

Update: Here is a link with good commentary on the speech as Jacksonian. Thanks for the stylistic comment below which has been incorporated in the main body of the post. By the way, on another matter, readers may come across misleading media coverage of an ethics inquiry in Alaska involving Gov. Palin. The inquiry concerns a state trooper who allegedly threatened to harm her family. Here is a McCain campaign statement setting forth the facts at this PDF link. I am glad the Governor and her family now have Secret Service protection since her nomination to national office.