By Paddy
Buyer's remorse sets in.
NEW ORLEANS – As Democrats buzzed this week about their new de facto nominee, his historic candidacy and the unlikely political demise of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Republican circles were humming with another topic.
The topic: Is there a way John McCain can win the presidency without giving another speech?
That’s overstated, of course, but the concern about McCain’s wooden and stumbling address before a few hundred supporters here Tuesday night – the same evening as Barack Obama’s soaring acceptance address before thousands of screaming fans – has sent something of a shudder through the party and left GOP operatives shaking their heads in dismay.
“Not good,” a McCain adviser conceded about the dueling images, speaking on condition of anonymity like others interviewed because of the sensitivity involved in critiquing their nominee’s presentation. “It’s never going to be his strong suit, and it will always be Obama’s.”
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“They were appalled at the environment the candidate was standing in and his performance,” said this strategist. “It’s a serious problem — the contrast is so clear that it’s demoralizing. And it deflated our balloon last night. When the guys on Fox are trash-talking, you know it’s bad.”
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