In light of my earlier thoughts about the Democrats' anti-McCain strategy, the most provocative (as opposed to inspirational and affirmative) passage of the speech was this:
But what I will not do is suggest that the Senator takes his positions for political purposes. Because one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other's character and patriotism.
This might seem a bit of unnecessary high-mindedness lending support to Obama's new approach to politics. And it might seem to rule out the kind of attack that John Kerry leveled on Wednesday, separating "Senator McCain" from the positions that "candidate McCain" had taken for political purposes, or even the speech Bill Richardson gave moments earlier referring to McCain's expensive loafers and his flip-flops. It is, indeed, a wholly different way of designing the narrative that critiques McCain's policies while leaving his character unchallenged.
One downside to the "flip-flop" line of attack is that it leaves an opening for people who are inclined to like McCain to maintain a belief that he'll be on their side in the end. They give him a pass on the things that he "has to" say while running, and trust that he'll return to the occasional sensible position he took at one point or another. The real McCain will return when all this craziness is over.
Obama's approach tries to close that escape route. McCain's policies today are McCain's policies. There is no other, "real" McCain. Treat him, as he would expect you to, as operating in pure good faith, and this is what it is. Positions that he might have taken before, or that he might take in the future, or some general asessment of his character, are irrelevant.
That's a much different way of talking about McCain, but potentially much more powerful than the stale old "flip-flop" charge, which really is a charge about character. We don't need to doubt McCain's character -- here's what he says he would do, and what he will do.
In other respects, there's not much to add about the speech that hasn't been said already, at least without letting it sink in overnight. For months I'd been hoping for Obama to tone down his speeches, to rely less on inspirational visions and more on the potential eloquence of substantive policies. He certainly did that, and much, much else, tonight.
-- Mark Schmitt.
