The Night Of The Long Knives In St Paul

It was hard to keep up with all of the weirdness from St Paul last night but somebody has to try.

You had Huckabee stepping in front of a smacking by Jay.

Rudy! gave the speech he was born to give; sarcastic, caustic and filled with half-truths. But given the state of McCampaign over the last ninety six hours half-truths are looking pretty good. Rudy! snarled and grimaced and hacked his hands through the air as if they were being controlled from above. He said various versions of "Stay the course," of "100-year presence," and "permanent war," all without making use of a single usable soundbite.

There was that surreal moment when Rudy! brought down the wrath of a half-filled hall on Demon Hollywood and the crowd that had just the night before cheered for Fred Thompson, denied him. Like John McCain's captivity, the GOP has played the Hollywood card so often that it looks tawdry and a little pathetic rather than carrying the dynamic image it might have had.

Is anyone else concerned that the party that tells us that government (it's been them for the last 8 years) can not be trusted with governance? They tell us that government (it's been them for the last 8 years) cannot be trusted to run schools or healthcare. They tell us that government (it's been them for the last 8 years) should not be looked to for leadership because government cannot do it. And then they try to tell us they are perfectly capable of being in charge of nukes and courts and prisons and torture, thank you very much. Why should we trust them now when they admit they've been lying for 8 years?

And then we get to the new doyenne of the GOP...Sarah Palin proved that as a public speaker she's no Dick Cheney. I've heard more dynamic speeches given in support of a zoning change. She didn't run on her record. How could she? Palin didn't come out and say that she supports borrow and spend budgeting. She trumpeted giving oil money back to Alaskans but forgot to tell us that the state had to borrow for to do it. She didn't speak up about earmark reform. She kept throwing the same tired talking points against the crowd hoping that they'd stick with the portion of America that hasn't been exposed to her radical ideas yet.

John McCain has managed to do what many thought impossible. He's brought to his campaign someone who makes him look like a tolerable public speaker. But, to give them both a little slack, it's hard to sound convincing when you're trying to sell snake oil. If your product is shabby and has been proven wanting it cannot be easy to stand in front of an audience, even one predisposed to acceptance, and sell it as something new and exciting.