2008 Primaries, Branding Politix, Leadership, Messaging, Speeches • September 3rd, 2008

RNC: Day 1.5

by Chris Lato

It was an odd, and oddly compelling night of political theater in the Twin Cities.

Last night, I chose to watch PBS for the run-up to the prime time coverage, then tuned in to CBS and Katie Couric. Last week, NBC was my network of choice for the DNC.

Perhaps I should have watched the same network to conduct a fairer assessment of tone, but I was amazed as the persistence with which Couric pursued attack lines of questioning about VP nominee Sarah Palin. The DNC did not receive the same level of tough questioning from NBC in the coverage I saw. That is not an apples-to-apples comparison but it is now abundantly clear that certain segments of the press are really out to get Palin. The idea of Palin potentially being the next vice president is really riling some people up. We shall see whether she rises to the challenge as the top speaker tonight.

That said, the speeches Tuesday night were relatively low-key. President Bush delivered his address via satellite and focused on McCain, instead of trying to polish up his own record. Laura Bush, by all accounts a charming First Lady, offered a somewhat halting speech.

Then came Fred Thompson, which led me to wonder again why he flamed out in the primaries. I hadn’t made up my mind about who to vote for but was leaning toward Thompson, and his eloquent support of McCain was well done.

And then there was Joe Lieberman. I questioned the wisdom of putting Lieberman on in prime time, and I definitely think McCain dodged a bullet by not picking Lieberman as his running mate.

Initially, the crowd seemed understandably reluctant to embrace Lieberman. After all, this guy was (is?) a Democrat, the VP nominee in 2000 alongside Al Gore. He now calls himself independent, but also referred to himself as a Dem during the speech.

But what a speech. No one would accuse Lieberman of being a ball of fire on the stump, but his wholehearted embrace of McCain and repudiation of Obama’s candidacy had to have at least a few top Democrats reaching for the Pepto-Bismol. At the very least, Lieberman’s very direct appeals to the viewers at home had to touch a few fence-sitters out there. Democrats supporting Republicans…dogs and cats living together…mass hysteria!

All told, the RNC didn’t offer the same intensity level as the DNC in terms of rhetorical flourish, but the drama is there and there will be plenty more where that came from.

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