Last night, John McCain accepted his party’s nomination for President. I thought he did okay, but his speech was a bit all over the place. He should have focused on one clear message and stuck with it. Instead, he was trying to please everyone, so he came off as a bit schizo.

He acknowledged our current president for guiding the country through the storm that we’re in now, but then he went on later to say that he was going to shake up Washington and buck the status quo because he’s a maverick. He thanked Bush for doing a good job, and then talks about all the corruption that runs rampant on his watch, in both parties. Yikes–I guess he felt the need to acknowledge the scandals, but it felt a bit like pandering. It’s hard to embrace the current administration whilst promising change, so it’s not surprising that McCain’s message wasn’t cohesive.

He did a good job talking up Sarah Palin, but I noticed that parts of his speech–particularly the part about renewable resources and drilling–sounded almost verbatim to hers. That’s good in that they’re on the same page, bad in that it was a little repetitive.

Seeing his 96 year old mom in the audience was touching, but also a reminder that he’s got great genes. She looked darn good!

His best moment was how he handled those stupid hecklers. Why do these people come to the convention to stir up trouble? They had their moment in the sun last week, and crashing the Republican convention is petty and pointless.

McCain stayed calm and jovial, and simply advised everyone to “ignore the static and the noise.” That’s the tone I think he should take if he wants to succeed in this election. Let Palin be his “barracuda” and do the attacking. McCain should play the role of the wise, experienced leader who rises above the buzzing of the nay-saying gnats.