The Candidates
It’s not up on YouTube yet, but you can watch the highlights and read the full text of the speech. It’s a very impressive speech and it has won McCain more praise from conservatives than at any other time in recent memory.
McCain also held a conference call with several bloggers immediately following his speech. David All live-blogged it, Ed Morrisey has the best commentary and Ryan Sager has the round up.
UPDATE: Somehow I missed this recap earlier by the Hotline. I think the first paragraph really encapsulates the true meaning of having the courage of your convictions.
It’s remarkable — ballsy — for a presidential candidate to tell the American people, on the most intractable and divisive issue of our time, that they are wrong and he is right. And that they ought to — they must — trust his judgment. Either this is hubris, or leadership — tragic leadership, as E.J. Dionne might write. Some of McCain’s opponents have proposed to us convoluted arguments purportedly demonstrating how McCain’s speech today and his identification with the surge are convenient for his political aspirations, but… we’re yet to encounter a convincing theory.
April 11th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
Sounds like an excellent performance from Senator McCain.
The question now is whether it is enough to re-energize his presidential campaign by getting Republican voters to take a second look at him?
April 11th, 2007 at 11:46 pm
Newsmax is reporting he is cutting staff and has spent as much as he has brought in… It’s just a matter of time… I don’t see McCain continuing much longer… He has a lot of pride, and this has to hurt him.
April 12th, 2007 at 12:21 am
This speech was excellent. . .reminded me why I was a McCain supporter back in 2000. I don’t think the staff changes are a sign of imminent demise. It’s common at this early stage in the race, and better it happens now than 6 months from now. He was running the campaign of a frontrunner when he wasn’t one, so I think this is a good thing. Some more of these speeches should help, as will the War situation as long as things progress in a positive direction. This time around McCain is not my top choice but I definitely haven’t written him off, and with more speeches like this one I’d be happy to vote for him next year.
(by the way I see there’s a new Jake on board R4′08. . .I’ll continue to be the original lower case jake!)
April 12th, 2007 at 1:12 am
It’s funny, I happened to be near a public tv broadcasting CNN today. I saw all of 4 seconds of McCain on the screen and then they delve into ‘Obama’s Rebuttal and devote far more time to him.
Is the MSM not even trying to hide their bias anymore? It’s sickening. I can rally behind almost every Republican candidate in regards to the Greater War on Terror. The obvious exception being Chuck Hagel of course.
Does anyone here know how strong Huckabee and Pataki are on this issue? They’re the only ones I haven’t really hear much from regarding this.
April 12th, 2007 at 1:54 am
Is Pataki really still running? I didn’t think he was even doing interviews anymore.
April 12th, 2007 at 3:15 am
I am John McCain hater, but I really admire what he is doing now. I just know he’d screw us on taxes, individual accounts and choice, healthcare, etc.
April 12th, 2007 at 11:04 am
This was nice work for McCain. Kudos to him for standing up and saying what I’ve been trying to tell people for years now on Iraq: the MSM isn’t giving us the whole story. I’ve had four family members (two uncles, a cousin, and a step-brother) fight in Iraq, and all of them came back saying things on the ground are vastly different than how they are portrayed on the news. For that, I have great respect for Senator McCain.
April 12th, 2007 at 9:04 pm
Amen to the foregoing comments. My problem w/McC now is the same as in 2000- above all else I voted George II on the CFR issue. Absent freedom of political speech, assembly ,etc the other 9 of the original 10 rights don’t mean a damn.
Now I can only regret McC was so less perceptive of free speech in America than he is now of the need of freedoms in Iraq and other lands.