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McCain Speech Watch -- San Mateo
It would be a miraculous feat for John McCain to win San Mateo County in November, where about 70 percent of the vote is Democratic. But a hodgepodge of voters - half stalwart Republicans and half only there out of spite for Obama - found a common cause in John McCain, whose story of being a prisoner of war was the turning point in his speech Thursday night that convinced even the lukewarm supporters that he is much more than a default candidate.
About 40 people gathered in this small, private room at the local Round Table Pizza restaurant to watch the Republican National Convention proceedings on Fox News, projected onto a screen. Most looked more than 50 years in age, save for the two or three younger couples who brought their small children. Surrounded by wall hangings of autographed jerseys from John Elway, Steve Young and Dan Marino, people squeezed to find sitting room on long benches as they chatted over beer and pizza. As McCain's speech began, the latecomers were forced to stand in the doorway.
During the long talk, viewers were silently focused - the calm interrupted by occasional clapping for statements of patriotism, or laughter at jabs at Sen. Obama. But near the end, the ladies in the front two rows shed a few tears when listening to McCain's personal story of how his pain as a prisoner and camaraderie with fellow American soldiers triggered a call to service greater than himself.
"It was very emotional to me," said former schoolteacher Karen McKellar, "because he was humble but still strong, and that appealed to me." Wiping her cheek with the back of her hand, McKellar said she liked that McCain gave credit to other people and to God.
McKellar, a former Fred Thompson supporter, called herself a Christian conservative whose Democrat friends and fellow teachers call her "nuts." "I started to believe in him when he selected Palin," she said. After the speech, "I believe in him now. I haven't sent any contribution, but I will now...I didn't realize all that POW stuff. You could tell he's from the heart." McKellar particularly warmed to McCain because she said since winning enough votes for the nomination, he's moved to the right on issues. "He's gotten with the program," she said.
Karen Weiss, the outreach director for the San Mateo County McCain campaign, acknowledged that there weren't strong, Republican officeholders in the county, and that currently the McCain campaign is acting as a proxy for Republican organization. The realistic goal this election season is to win 40 percent of the vote.
On McCain, Weiss said, "He's somebody who made conservatives and Republicans angry...but is very good for people in this area." Weiss even called McCain a "Schwarzenegger-like Republican." She supported Fred Thompson in the primary but recognized that McCain seemed to be everyone's second choice, which fuels his current success.
Weiss said that previous speeches at the convention this week spoke to general themes, but hoped that McCain would address more "policy meat": a comprehensive energy plan including nuclear power, and a health care plan.
While McCain did talk about those things, it was his personal story that captured the viewers' attention. A couple of the younger viewers debated policy after the party disbanded, but most, like 80-year-old Victor Buhuhrke, emphasized the man, not the politician.
"Issues are important, but his character and experience - including life experience are what strikes me," Buhuhrke said. This is Buhuhrke's first time volunteering for a political campaign, and he said it was largely because he wants to defeat Sen. Obama. He liked Sen. McCain before, but the convention speech "proves that my original confidence was right."
Others may not have shared such confidence in McCain, but definitely united over the cause to defeat Obama. One woman in the back became notably angry that someone writing for Huffington Post was at the event. "If you're from Huffington Post, you should have no business here," she said.
She pointed to a wrist bracelet with the letters P.U.M.A. and took offense that I didn't know what it meant. For those who share my unwitting ignorance, the letters stand for "Party Unity My Ass," a group of Hillary Clinton supporters who strongly oppose Barack Obama. Her friend elaborated on the sentiment.
"It's about dumping off the worst candidate," said the friend, whose first name is Sandy. When asked for a last name, she didn't want to give it - then said jokingly, "Sandy McCain." She said she disliked Obama from the moment she saw him.
"I don't like him. I don't like his wife," Sandy said, noting that she lives with black people and it's not about race. "He's a big showoff, an egotistical hambone." In contrast, she said McCain is a "good, honest man." Sandy, like many others at the watch party, said she loved that Gov. Palin was on the ticket. "Palin helped secure a good energy," she said.
"Obama has no experience. He's a junior senator," said George Porta, a former Regan Democrat-turned-Republican. "I don't think his wife likes white people. He didn't salute the flag." Porta said he didn't really know John McCain all that well and didn't think McCain was "that great either," but at the very least, he said he felt Gov. Palin had way more experience than Sen. Obama.
No matter what reasons they had for attending, those at the watch party are now sold on McCain's touching life story - much more than just everyone's second choice. Weiss said that in this county where Schwarzenegger lost by 640 votes, she hopes McCain can produce a good turnout in November. She said, "They haven't told us to stop fighting yet."
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The entire Republican Party of San Mateo was able to fit into a pizza parlor for the photo op shown above. They are, of course, shocked and dismayed at Obama's obvious over-abundance of melanin - very unsettling in someone who neither mows their lawn nor cleans their house.
Karen Weiss is wide of the mark when she calls McCain a "Schwarzeneggar-like Republican". The only Schwarzeneggar-like Republican Californians can recall was Ronald Reagan, which is due to the fact that Arnold idolizes Reagan and goes to great lengths to copy his appearance and mannerisms. So Arnold is actually a Reagan-like Republican: a terrible actor who cheated his way into office.
McCain is a lot more like Bob Dole: out of touch with today's reality, constantly reliving and reinforcing his wartime experiences of 40 years ago.
When Weiss suggests that McCain is "good for people in this area" she is referring to Hillsborough (not San Mateo), a kind of SF Bay Area Beverly Hills where the ultra-wealthy build palatial mansions with their ill-gotten gains. McCain would be "good" for them due to his tax-cuts for the rich, and his plans to keep their servants servile through further oppression and robbery of the working class. Needless to say, McCain would be a disaster for all the rest of San Mateo County, but since we're not all billionaires our voices can be ignored as usual.
The entire Republican Party in San Mateo County is over 82,000, if you feel that they were all at the function, you are probably not from this area. As far as the rich goes, they are the reason why you can drive on the 280, 101, get a low cost education, have county services, have parks and you name it. If your parents raised you properly, you would learn how to say "Thank You," instead you want to bleed them to the point where it is no longer desirable to be rich. Name one poor or middle class country who can provide all the services that this great country does? Also, poor or middle class people do not donate to causes like the rich donate. I am not a rich person, but I can thank God we have them otherwise we would be living under third world conditions. I hope you be rich one day to be able to contribute to our great county.
Unfortunate! It's sad that till now we allow our emotions to take the place of good judgement and rational thinking. These are the exact reasons we are in the mess we are in right now. We allow slick politicians to play on our emotions. When will we learn?
Oh, and Natasha? Thanks for going and working up this piece!
"One woman in the back became notably angry that someone writing for Huffington Post was at the event. "If you're from Huffington Post, you should have no business here," she said."
Lovely tolerance.
Intriguing, those comments about Mrs. Obama. But no comments about Mrs. McCain? Nothing about her $300,000 wardrobe? Her thoughts and feelings about, oh, the middle class? Her husband had nothing to say about them in his speech.
Not once in this article is there a mention of the *laws* or *policies* that either candidate would emphasize. Not once is there mention of important ISSUES we face today: the shredded economy, shredded Constitution, war without end, our shredded military, our shredded social safety net, Medicare, failing roads, bridges & schools in the USA....yes, I refer to our SHREDDED infrastructure. Are you kidding?
"white people" "personal story" "prisoner of war" "don't like his wife" ~ excuse me, but I personally know many very intelligent people in San Mateo. I do NOT know who they support politically, but for heaven's sake, who are the people described here? They all sound dumber than a bag of hammers. All of the people that I know would be talking about policy, no matter what their party affiliation.
Did FOX "News" gather this group into one place? It's just not representative of that area. Get real.
I have lived in San Mateo and surrounding cities, and the people who were interviewed there are not representative of the greater number of more intelligent and informed people I know in the area. However, what does concern me more is that these kinds of "sentimental feelings" about John McCain are not just representative of the weeping Republicans at this particular Round Table restaurant--I'm witnessing these kinds of vapid and irrelevant reactions from hordes of Republicans around the country--the RNC was full of it. I don't get it: All fluff and no substance--and they seem to really believe that this kind of "leadership" (???) is going to pull our country up as we continue our swift and perilous slide down the world drain. We should be very scared: This kind of irrational emotion--which is not based on reality--brought us the last 8 excruciating years of the GWB empire.
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Posted September 5, 2008 | 02:01 PM (EST)