Where Obama was soaring, McCain was sobering

Both candidates seek to overcome shortcomings with VP choice.

By HILARY LEILA KRIEGER, JPOST CORRESPONDENT, WASHINGTON
McCain Palin 224.88 (photo credit: AP)
McCain Palin 224.88
(photo credit: AP)
The rockets' red glare took on new meaning as a victory trope last week in Denver, where crimson flares cut through the night sky to herald Barack Obama's historic acceptance of the Democratic presidential nomination. Rather than signaling a military triumph as they do in the US national anthem, the pyrotechnics crowned the ascent of the first African American to the head of a major party ticket, an event shifted to an open-air football stadium so 85,000 people could serve as witnesses. Newly minted GOP presidential candidate John McCain, in contrast, had to suffice with standing in front of mere images of fireworks flashed on a mega-screen behind him at the conclusion of his speech Thursday night in St. Paul. Like both Republican and Democratic nominees before him, he appeared in an indoor stadium accommodating fewer than 20,000 people. Thus were the nights of the two men vying to become the next leader of the free world distinguished. Though it was McCain who spoke in the XCel Energy Center, it was Obama who energized his crowd, drawing repeated seat-rattling and flag-waving, responsive chanting and towering roars of approval. McCain, in contrast, evoked regard rather than rapture, only beckoning his audience to a sustained standing ovation with his closing lines. Where Obama was soaring, McCain was sobering. Obama moved his supporters through the power of his words and ideas; McCain moved his own through the example of his life story as a POW in Vietnam. Where Obama promised hope and inspiration, McCain promised to fight as he always had. In the end, the differences between the candidates at the conventions weren't so much about what they want to do as how they argue they can do it. They clashed on typical partisan points - taxes and abortion and judicial appointments - but both indicted Republican actions in Washington, emphasized the need for bipartisanship and offered energy independence as their most concrete policy prescription. They both are calling for and pledging change. Indeed, in the first major presidential choice before them - the selection of their vice presidential running mate - each seemingly picked the other. To shore up his perceived weaknesses in experience and foreign policy, Obama chose Delaware Senator Joe Biden, chairman of the US Senate's Foreign Relations Committee. And old Washington hand McCain went for a young and dynamic outsider, first-term Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, to give his ticket some of the spark and diversity it was seen as lacking. The latter's fire might help explain why Obama didn't get a bigger bump in the polls after his show of force at Invesco Field in Denver last Thursday. The next day the McCain campaign announced Palin's surprise pick, followed a few days later by her electrifying speech, which drew almost as many viewers - 37 million - as Obama's 38 million. Most national polls show Obama with a slight edge, but not a runaway lead. McCain is also now calling on the playbook left behind by Obama's Democratic rival Hillary Clinton to bolster his own campaign, choosing a woman whose first speech referred to shattering the glass ceiling that Clinton had cracked; stressing international experience as a claim to office in dangerous times; and carving out a new slogan for himself as a fighter. That image, of someone of the people fighting for the people, was the one that most helped Clinton draw white working class voters to her side and keep the Democratic primary contest going for as long as she did. Yet Clinton was able to fight Republicans with a free hand; McCain has one hand tied behind his back since he's arguing against his own party. He did that with some success in his speech Thursday night, taking the GOP to task for corruption just as Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff was being sentenced for his crooked dealings. But it will be a tough balancing act for McCain to pull off, as the circumstances of this election heavily favor the Democrats - dissatisfaction with Republican President George W. Bush, a flagging economy and a widespread feeling that the country is moving in the wrong direction. Yet during the final two months of the campaign, the candidates will be fighting in the places where Clinton was strongest against Obama - Ohio and Michigan and Pennsylvania and Florida. In some of these cases, the Jewish community will be a significant factor: When the margin of victory could be razor thin, every voting bloc matters. And these are states where Jewish voters strongly backed Clinton, and where Jewish voters are generally Democrats, as they are elsewhere, but also have more conservative inclinations than in many major Jewish population centers. Both campaigns have already indicated they take the constituency seriously by dispatching leading players, particularly to Florida, to win over this group. They have a tight race ahead. And unlike the experience of the conventions that the world just absorbed, there won't be two victory parties.