08 RNC: Live Blogging Nite 3

And so we come to the end. But before convention mania 2008 leaves, come spend one more night with me, PBS and my laptop as we chronicle John McCain's big night. 8:00PM tonight!
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8:00 Welcome to John McCain's big night!

8:03 The big question from Pundit Brooks: Will McCain say something unpopular to the crowd but popular with him and Independents. Something that signifies BIG change: Global Warming, Campaign Finance, Immigration. I don't think he'll do that here. Later, when he is away from the revved up base, he'll do it.

8:06 On stage: Governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlente. He was second choice for Veep behind Palin. He starts off talking about character.

8:10 He talks about Sam's Club voters. I'm single, so I don't really shop at Sam's Club. Is there a set of Target voters? I shop there. And Ross. I shop at Ross! Good finds there.

8:12 Now a PBS correspondent is on the floor talking to an AZ delegate who cast the vote to nominate McCain during roll call last night. The roll call that I didn't get to see because they scheduled it during my sleepy time! I love roll call. It's American democracy in action. I'm a little peeved GOP that you didn't let me watch it before 11pm. You know how you could make up for it? BRING OUT THAT LIVE ELEPHANT.

8:14 Bill Frist is on the stage. I haven't been payin attention (elephants and all) but I think he just said "hell is a currency for peace"

8:15 No. He said health, HEALTH is a currency for peace. Hell doesn't make sense, though it is amusing.

8:18 I'm not sure why I have a slight elephant obsession. I just think that when you have such an awesome and far superior mascot (a donkey, an ass? What the heck were the Dems thinking in coming up with that one) you should celebrate it.

8:19 Seriously, every time he says "health" he keeps swallowing the "th" and all I hear is hell.

8:19 On the stage, the first woman to reach 3 star general in the marines. Hats off to this lady! Hats off to any female marine! She's here to talk about the first female marine officer killed in combat, a public affairs officer killed in 2006, Megan McClung.

8:23 Senator Sam Brownback from Kansas. Jim Lehrer tells me he was an early candidate for Pres during the primary. He must not have lasted long, because I really don't remember this guy.

8:26 He does a nice job of painting a picture of how Dems are a we "can't" do this party. Then he tries to lead the crowd in chanting "Yes we will." Which ends up being slow, awkward going at first because, well, despite being Repubs, the sound-bytes have sort of trained them to Obama's tune of "Yes we can." They keep shouting "Yes we will," when directed, but it's not very enthusiastic because, well.....they're not Obama Democrats.

8:28 Consensus from me and the unenthusiastic crowd: "Yes we will" is a poor slogan for Repubs. You know they are just DYING to go back to "drill, baby drill," which I admit, is much more fun to chant than even "Yes we can!"

8:31 I'm going to try to keep an eye on the football game playing over on NBC. It looks like they are at halftime. The worry is that the game will interfere with the start of McCain's speech and he will delay so that the football fans can watch him.

8:36 Mary Fallin Rep from Ooooooooklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain and the wavin' wheat can sure smell....oh you're not reading this for musical theater are you? As you might guess she speaks about the Oklahoma City bombing and ties it to responding to 9/11.

8:37 Now she references Teddy Roosevelt's big stick. (it's a political metaphor, it is NOT dirty). She neglects to mention the "speak softly" part of Teddy Roo's big stick strategy. It says a lot that she drops the diplomacy part of the Teddy Roo analogy.

8:40 PR Video!!! I almost missed them yesterday. Rudy spoke to long so we didn't get to see Palin's which had moose in it, which is the closest I could have gotten to seeing a LIVE ELEPHANT on stage. :(

8:41 About this video. I can't id the narrator, but it sounds like a voice that narrates a lot. It's about terrorism at home, domestic and foreign.

8:43 The Pollster in the PBS booth explains that Americans are less concerned about terrorism today. Probably, dare I say it, because GW Bush's fight against it at home is working.

8:45 Think John McCain will dare to give GW B a shout-out for the war against terrorism from the home front? Come on, McCain. If I can complement him, surely you can.

8:48 PBS Historians!!! What scintillating historical fact will I learn tonight?

8:49 Historical opinions on Pres candidates not having military experience. They don't think military experience is such a big deal historically. Huh. That wasn't very scintillating, PBS panel. You disappoint me. Bring out an elephant!

8:53 Football update: 10:29 in the 3rd quarter. Looks like the game will end right on time.

8:54 Awh. Shields talks about HW B's denial the night before his loss to Bill Clinton. HW thought the country would never elect a draft dodger. Well we did. Sorry about that. Want me to go find Ross Perot and bludgeon him with my Irony Mallet? It's not doing anything right now?

8:58 Are we creating a new World War II class with veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan and are running as Dems? Excellent, interesting point. Next election: Bobby Jindal vs. Patrick Murphy?? (my suggestion, not theirs)

9:00 Lindsey Graham in the House! He brings up this little military event called THE SURGE! Still sounds like the name of a Palin child.

9:02 What? Graham places all of the success for the surge on McCain's and Lieberman's shoulders! Um, if it's such a good thing, maybe you should thank the EXECUTIVE who came up with it and enforced it? How is GW Bush not completely pissed off at this bunch?

9:05 Quote of the night:"Thank God for Joe Lieberman!" and GW Bush sits at home where he's just turned off the television in disgust.

9:05 Also Dem Reps plot how to ruin Lieberman's congressional life.

9:06 Did I hear right? Graham claims Al Qaeda isn't in Iraq anymore?* Dude. Not to be a "whiner," but Al Qaeda is still in Iraq and Afghanistan. If they weren't still there, we wouldn't be either. Unless, of course, they were never there in the first place.

(*) I went back and checked his speech. The line that caught my attention was "Iraq - A Muslim nation in the heart of the Arab world that rejects Al Qaeda."

9:08 Moose! Moose! The Sarah Palin PR video is on screen! (following an awkward transition by Graham).

9:11 Man! Guess the narrator game is so much harder with Repub PR videos. Their celeb narrators just don't have a high a profile as the Dems' celebs do.

9:12 She's a high school basketball star like Obama. So I guess playing basketball is no longer a sign of elitism.

9:14 If you are still playing the "maverick" drinking game with real alcohol, then you are seriously drunk right now.

9:15 TOM RIDGE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pennsylvania! Erie! A Republican who supports a woman's right to choose!! He used to be my governor.

9:17 He speaks about McCain's character and he does a very good job of personalizing and energizing it at the same time.

9:18 The only downside I see right now is the comb-over he's got going on at the top of his head sort of makes it look like he's wearing a yarmulke.

9:19 Ridge politely dings Obama AND Hillary Clinton. Now that's consistent criticism, I can live with.

9:22 Ridge: "The challenge of our time is not to change,...[but] to leave nothing to chance." Chance? Like picking an obscure untested running mate?

9:23 NFL update: 12:55 in the 4th quarter. Yep. Everything's running according to schedule. Now

9:25 Hey. Not cool. Ridge just stole soaring "no red state, no blue state" Obama rhetoric and applied it to John McCain. You can't slam the "pretty talking" speeches if you are going to liberally borrow from them.

9:30 It's not the stealing of ideas that bugs me. It's the hypocrisy.

9:31 Cindy McCain PR video. Gary "Lieutenant Dan!" Sinise narrates again. Cindy McCain travels the world rescuing children. She even adopted one. She adopted ONE! You hear that Brangelina? ONE. One child at a time, please.

9:34 On stage now: Cindy McCain and her family. The camera won't focus long enough on the stage for me to figure out if McCain's kids from his previous marriage are up there as well.

9:36 Thank you Cindy! She introduces all of them. Her step kids ARE all up there as well.

9:38 NFL Update: 6 minutes left. Uh-oh, it might end too early and the football fans won't accidentally keep watching Convention Coverage.

9:39 Obama: this campaign is not about us, it is about YOU. McCain: this campaign is not about us, it is about OUR COUNTRY. which is better? you decide.

9:41 Cindy McCain claims that Americans are the most generous people in history. I think there are some Native American populations who might differ with her on that.

9:42 I haven't been giving score updates on the NFL game because the Redskins are playing so the ending is a bit of a foregone conclusion. But in case you have a lot of faith or "hope" in the Redskins.......sorry, but YES, they are losing.

9:45 She keeps talking up the American West and Western values. Guess where some battle ground states suddenly are this year?

9:51 She's talking a long time. Now she's talking about Rwanda. She calls the woman from Rwanda her hero. Uh oh. She didn't get the memo. John McCain is our great American hero and country comes first, ergo John McCain must be your hero.

9:55 Cindy McCain is done. Finally. (Sorry, but she seemed to go on a long time).

9:56 Jim Lehrer helpfully asks historian Beschloss about the history of spouses introducing candidates. Beschloss says it started with Pat Nixon. Norton-Smith says it just took off from there: Ladies helping soften and shape their husbands' images. Now they talk about 1992 and that whole Hillary thing. Shields thinks the trend now with first ladies is "they are the tough ones," starting with the Giant Pearl Power of Barbara Bush.

10:01 13 seconds left in the game. I think they really are waiting for the football game to end. There's nothing happening on the floor.

10:03 7 seconds.

10:04 The game ends. McCain's video begins. (I'm not actually watching this on NBC...I don't get that channel so easy on the rabbit ears). Again, it's the narrator I've heard before somewhere else, but can't identify. I think it's one of the standard History Channel narrators.

10:08 The video is very good. Much better than any of the tv ads I've seen. It's hard to make McCain's story boring. The only thing is that the "History Channel" voiced narrator makes McCain seem old. It makes the video feel like a history documentary. But I think it only plays that way to someone young like me.

10:12 Oooh. Dramatic theatrics. The convention hall darkens and Fred "D.A. Arthur Branch" Thompson's voice inTONEs phrases about McCain's time in a box.

10:13 Coming out of the Dark! It's John McCain! Clapping, standing and cheering ensues.

10:14 Mr. McCain, you have 45 minutes to give the speech of your life. Your time starts........

10:15 .......NOW.

10:15 He accepts the nomination. Several in the audience, I imagine, are upset he did not hand it over to Sarah Palin.

10:16 Oh no. No. no. no. no. Some IDIOT flashed up a picture with a green law in the foreground behind McCain so it looks like, on tv, that infamous green screen is behind him again. Steven Colbert is going to have a FIELD Day with this.

10:18 Damn that green screen! It's so awful and distracting. How? How could they do this again? I imagine someone up in a booth somewhere making desperate phone calls telling whoever is in charge to "change the picture, change the picture, change the picture."

10:20 Oh, look. They changed the picture. AND IT'S STILL GREEN.....just different shades of green now. Because there is a cornfield behind him. Now they are up in the booth scrambling to find a picture without green.

10:23 The screen goes to Blank Blue now! Because they can't find a picture!!!! This is hilarious. Oh. Sorry. It's not Blank Blue. That's just the sky in a picture of a flying flag.

10:23 Okay. Green Screen nightmare gone. Let's see if I can pay attention to what he is saying.

10:24 "I intend to stand on your side and not in your way." Good line.

10:25 He mentions Palin and the crowd goes cray-zee.

10:26 McCain offers a warning to the big-spending, old boys crowd (a lot of whom are sitting in front of him) that change is coming.

10:28 About 12 minutes in and still no substantive policy programs for the future.

10:29 Now he talks about big spenders who bowed to special interests and earmarks. He claims that the first big earmark that comes across his desk, he will veto AND we "will know their names." Names like Sarah Palin? I've read that she requested an earmark that was on your no-no list Senator.

10:31 He's talking about the military right now. Pretty soon for that, his strongest asset. So maybe he is building up to talking about the economy. Hey, this could actually be exciting here. Go, John, Go.

10:32 Bad housing market mention! name check. Franklin County, PA name check! McCain's talking about how he will fight for the little people.

10:34 Tell me how you'll fight for them Senator. Either tell me, or bring out that live elephant. (Heh. you thought I'd given up on my elephant, didn't you).

10:35 He frames his argument by saying "we lost the people's trust" and the crowd actually cheers...lukewarmly, but they cheer. Then he claims he and the party will regain the trust by "getting back to basics." The crowd is able to cheers enthusiastically at that.

10:37 He runs through the litany of traditional Republican beliefs. John, you had me until "judges who legislate from the bench." (Sorry, it's a personal pet peeve. Lack of respect for judges who apply the law as opposed to politically popular positions.).

10:38 John McCain has a health care plan? I don't know what it is, but he tells me it will help, not hurt small businesses. (A tax credit does not a health care plan make). But how does that help an individual sitting at home who has inadequate insurance? I'm not for national health care, I'm just saying that John McCain, to get votes from outside the base needs to appeal to individuals not small business owners.

10:41 "Education is the civil rights issue of this century." Huh?

10:42 Oh my. The camera just focused on some lady in the audience who staccato screams like a muslim woman at a funeral. It's a bit jarring to see at a GOP event, but as long as she's comfortable with it, I am.

10:45 "Drill baby, Drill" It's back.

10:47 As president, McCain will work to establish good relations with Russia. It should be pretty easy for him to do, since Sarah Palin lives so close to Russia.

10:50 He talks a tiny bit about his family's naval career history re: WW II. I bet he loves the books "The Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance" as much as I do.

10:52 Heh. He wants to stop partisan rancor in Washington. He claims it's because people go to D.C. wanting to work for themselves and not for the American people. Hey, McCain, instead of worrying about rancor in D.C., why don't you not re-start a culture war across this country.

10:54 Here comes the "cause greater bit" It's good. Honestly, it's very good and moving. He talks about getting captured and "learning the limits of [his] selfish independence."

10:57 He tells his personal journey better than Fred Thompson did, which says a lot.

11:01 "My country saved me, and I cannot forget it." Awh.

11:02 McCain encourages us, if we are dissatisfied with the country, to join the military, be a teacher, help those who need it, serve a cause. Question: does community organizing count as service? 'Case some lady last night gave me the impression that you had to be elected for that kind of service to matter.

11:04 Serve your country, and God Bless America. And he's finished.

11:05 Wife on stage. Palins on stage. When do they let down the balloons? So far it's just confetti.

11:07 Balloons!! Glorious Balloons!! Elephant shaped balloons? Nope. Just normal shaped red, white and blue Balloooooons. So many balloons. And the giant background screen is showing fireworks.

11:08 Ahhh, I see some of the white balloons have stars on them. Bet those ones cost extra.

11:12 Was it the speech of his life? I think so. Let's see what the pundits think.

11:15 Pundit opinion: Obama is in for the fight of his life. Um, Obama's been fighting for his political life since before Iowa. Suddenly the prolonged, tight primary is forgotton?

11:17 Beschloss: yes it was McCain's best speech ever. He notes references in McCain's speech to language from Truman and Gore. Shhh. Don't tell the people on the floor that he was Quoting Gore.

11:19 Pollster thinks that in an otherwise successful speech, McCain failed to address the economic concerns most significant to Independents.

11:20 Liberal Pundit, Mark Shields thinks this speech was inferior to other McCain speeches.

11:22 Conservative Pundit, Brooks agrees speech has policy substance limitations, so not the best ever, but successful. He thought the emotional crescendo at the end was fantastic.

11:23 Well that's it. Really. That. Is. It. Thanks for reading. No live elephant. The most I can give you is this: