Looking back five months
Sometimes, there’s a reason for going with your first impression/analysis. Back in early June, when John McCain clinched the Republican nomination, I wrote the following:
I’m listening to John McCain’s speech (live) down in Louisiana as I type this.
My prediction: the Republicans are going to get beat like a red-headed stepchild this fall. Sigh.
There’s been a lot of political analysis lately indicating that McCain has an even-to-very-good chance to beat Barack Obama in the general election. All I have to do is listen to John McCain for a few minutes — and listen to how profoundly uninspired and forced the cheers and chants are at his comments — and it’s clear that he’s just not going to energize the base, which already has deep suspicions about him (and which he has done little to assuage in the past weeks).
McCain’s rhetoric and his delivery are both very underwhelming. We talk about Hillary Clinton’s shrillness, but McCain has a weak, breathy tone to his voice that becomes harder and harder to listen to as he goes on. McCain going up against Obama is going to be like Bob Dole going up against Bill Clinton back in 1996, except that Obama is a better and more attractive orator than Clinton.
Barack Obama won the most convincing Democratic victory — in terms of popular vote — in three decades. It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. ..bruce w..
Category: 2008 Election, Main, US Politics
About the Author (Author Profile)
Webster is Principal and Founder at Bruce F. Webster & Associates, as well as an Adjunct Professor of Computer Science at Brigham Young University. He works with organizations to help them with troubled or failed information technology (IT) projects. He has also worked in several dozen legal cases as a consultant and as a testifying expert, both in the United States and Japan. He can be reached at bwebster@bfwa.com, or you can follow him on Twitter as @bfwebster.Subscribe
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