Reading The Speech

Below are this guy's selection of the highlights of the Candidate's excellent, inspirational acceptance speech, without quotation marks.

"This guy"--me--could weave these snippets into a tapestry that would be a comprehensive, positive advertising assault that even Hillary supporters--the "under-informed" voter--could embrace, and that could have enough magnetism to attract fence-sitters and some who currently lean toward McCain, but nevertheless have an IQ above 93.

I'm too tired and too in love to do that right now.

[I apologize for the arrogance inherent in this post.]

* an economy that honors the dignity of work.

* many of these plans will cost money, which is why I’ve laid out how I’ll pay for every dime

* programs alone can’t replace parents

* The Bush-McCain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that generations of Americans — Democrats and Republicans — have built, and we are here to restore that legacy.

* As commander in chief, I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but I will only send our troops into harm’s way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and benefits they deserve when they come home.

* America, we cannot turn back.

AIN'T THAT AMERICA!---SPRINGSTEIN, cited by "This Guy."

McCain's First TV Ad of the General Election: "My God! He's a Ghost!"

Let’s forget the Content, if it even can be called such, of this ad and talk about the Form.

For a candidate who has to cope with the always already there issue of Age to present himself looking like nothing less than an apparition is astonishing. He appears flat-out ghostly; half his face just not there, the black suit against the black background effectively makes his body disappear as well, leaving only the haunting half-moon of his pale white face and the vertical streak of brightness emanating from his shirt peeking through the darkness.

Perhaps his campaign was shooting for the serious/somber look; and given the subject matter, such a look would be appropriate.

But they’ve leaped right over serious/somber and managed to produce a video that can only be described as macabre.