DEMOCRATIC Sen. Barack Obama will give a stirring speech tonight in that wonderful baritone that calls to mind the voices of radio newsmen of my youth.
Girls will swoon. Boys will shout. Tears will stream down the cheeks of those who marched with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. 45 years ago.
But as historic as the occasion is - the nomination of the first black presidential candidate by a major party - Obama's speech does not matter politically.
Momentum has shifted. The race now belongs to Republican Sen. John McCain. The election is his to win or to lose.
McCain's is one of the biggest comebacks in American political history.
He ran out of money last August, had to fire most of his campaign staff and fly commercial. He carried his own baggage.
He was down to his last endorsement: Wilford Brimley.
On her blog, McCain's daughter, Meghan, recalled how Brimley called in his support and the small group of campaigners left on the McCain staff cheered.
Brimley rallied them. With Wilford Brimley on board, all things are possible.
Six months later, McCain was the last man standing in the listless Republican primaries. Party regulars were resigning themselves to a 1964 or even a 1932.
Republicans responded with a sigh and a "He'll do."
His campaign reform bill, his willingness to give amnesty to illegal aliens, and his overall bucking of the party once too often garnered him tepid support from the conservatives.
But with the nomination locked up, McCain hung in there. He used his humor and his grit and gutted it out.
The media handed Obama the Democratic crown a month early. This tainted his win and ticked off many in the half of the Democratic Party that did not vote for him.
The outright rooting for Obama in some quarters is understandable; many reporters want to cover the election of the first black president.
They may have to wait until next time.
Obama is inexperienced. He gives great speeches.
But he is all style and no substance.
Like Paris Hilton, he is famous for being famous.
McCain has succeeded in exposing Obama as a thin-skinned, rabbit-eared celebrity with no accomplishments other than repeatedly writing his memoirs before the age of 47. First came "Dreams From My Father," followed by "The Audacity of Hope."
DEMOCRATIC Sen. Barack Obama will give a stirring speech tonight in that wonderful baritone that calls to mind the voices of radio newsmen of my youth.
Girls will swoon. Boys will shout. Tears will stream down the cheeks of those who marched with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. 45 years ago.
But as historic as the occasion is - the nomination of the first black presidential candidate by a major party - Obama's speech does not matter politically.
Momentum has shifted. The race now belongs to Republican Sen. John McCain. The election is his to win or to lose.
McCain's is one of the biggest comebacks in American political history.
He ran out of money last August, had to fire most of his campaign staff and fly commercial. He carried his own baggage.
He was down to his last endorsement: Wilford Brimley.
On her blog, McCain's daughter, Meghan, recalled how Brimley called in his support and the small group of campaigners left on the McCain staff cheered.
Brimley rallied them. With Wilford Brimley on board, all things are possible.
Six months later, McCain was the last man standing in the listless Republican primaries. Party regulars were resigning themselves to a 1964 or even a 1932.
Republicans responded with a sigh and a "He'll do."
His campaign reform bill, his willingness to give amnesty to illegal aliens, and his overall bucking of the party once too often garnered him tepid support from the conservatives.
But with the nomination locked up, McCain hung in there. He used his humor and his grit and gutted it out.
The media handed Obama the Democratic crown a month early. This tainted his win and ticked off many in the half of the Democratic Party that did not vote for him.
The outright rooting for Obama in some quarters is understandable; many reporters want to cover the election of the first black president.
They may have to wait until next time.
Obama is inexperienced. He gives great speeches.
But he is all style and no substance.
Like Paris Hilton, he is famous for being famous.
McCain has succeeded in exposing Obama as a thin-skinned, rabbit-eared celebrity with no accomplishments other than repeatedly writing his memoirs before the age of 47. First came "Dreams From My Father," followed by "The Audacity of Hope."
Obama has been the hare in this marathon, posing for his portrait on the currency. He told people he does not look like those other presidents on the dollar bill.
Apparently he thinks there is more than one president on the dollar.
Unlike Ronald Reagan in 1980 or Bill Clinton in 1992, Obama did not offer his top rival the vice presidency. After all, he has better judgment than Presidents Reagan and Clinton.
Just ask him.
Obama's world tour turned him into a laughingstock.
This year's Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, Michael Ramirez, sketched Obama as saying, "Ich bein ein beginner."
The tortoise just chuckled and used gentle humor to throw his opponent off his game.
It worked.
Obama is angry over the "Celebrity" ad, the who-do-you-want-to-answer-the-phone-at-3 a.m." ad and the ad from his running mate, Joe Biden, that ridiculed Obama and praised McCain.
McCain has chuckled his way into the lead. In the much-touted Year Of The Democrat, McCain inched ahead of Obama in the polls in the middle of the Democratic convention.
On Tuesday, the Gallup Poll showed McCain ahead of Obama for the first time in months - 46 percent to 44 percent.
Tonight, Obama will try to rectify that.
Whenever he gets in trouble, he gives a speech that sounds great but reads remarkably empty. More platitudes. More programs. More government.
After the third or fourth time, the law of diminishing returns kicks in. People are bored.
The real show is next week, when McCain accepts the Republican nomination.
He could still blow it.
A year ago, the odds against him were steep. Six months ago, the nomination was worthless
But McCain has worked his way back and he now has a legitimate shot at making history not in August, but in November.
Thank you, Wilford Brimley.
Surber may be reached at donsur...@dailymail.com. His blog is at blogs.dailymail.com/donsurber.
When asked how many homes he owned, McCain said, "I'll have my staff contact you". Yet he'll be "ready on day one?" He doesn't know Shia' from Sunni.
McCain's foreign adviser regarding Georgia is lobbyist Randall J Scheunemann. Former adviser to Rumsfeld, he was responsible for delivering faulty WMD intelligence used as Bush's excuse to take us into Iraq!
McCain's top economic expert, Texan lobbyist Phil Gramm, was directly responsible for the Enron Loophole, allowing Big Oil to speculate excessively on oil commodities, driving oil prices up to 60% over normal. This actually permits them to grab those record profits while producing less!
McCain voted against ending BILLIONS in tax breaks for Big Oil while stating that he believes our economy is strong.
Folks don't realize that it's entirely legal for members of Congress to trade on insider information. But I'll bet MULTImillionaires John McCain and Shelley Capito do!
The public should be aware that there are people working for Neoconservatives who are being paid to cause mayhem exactly like this across the internet.
MoveOn.org has NEVER claimed that Bush and Cheney blew the towers up.
Unfortunately they may well be using your tax dollars to pay that shill, given the Bush administration's past history of paying propagandists. Like radio pundit Armstrong Williams. And their "Pentagon military analyst program" long used to sell the public on Cheney's never ending business venture in Iraq.
And of course, when the White House paid journalists To go on the Middle East propaganda network, Attorney General Mukasey turns a deaf ear while Bush and his buddies throw your tax dollars at covering up the scandals.