McCain Was McCain

John McCain was John McCain last night -- which is to say that he is, as always, a pedestrian speaker with a twitchy and often weird smile who delivered his bromides as if he were one of the nation's great orators. What was most peculiar was his shtick of criticizing Washington as if the Democrats had controlled it for the last eight years. But his impersonal, accountant-like tone was especially strange -- given that this was presumably the most important speech of his campaign. Maybe he just wanted to get through with the thing at age 72 without showing geriatric exhaustion. He lamely latched onto the "change is coming" mantra while tossing a few weak bleats at Obama. He never proferred a vision or a domestic agenda. He gave no sense of what his leadership was about except to suggest the 9/11 theme. At the very end, he went on a strange rant, almost shouting to the audience,something akin, in his mind, to General Patton rousing the troops. If this can be the best he can muster, he risks a downhill slide for the next 90 or so days.