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."