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McCain Draws Record Big Ratings for Lousy Speech
I find this genuinely surprising, especially given the lackluster energy level of everything associated with the GOP convention in Minnesota:
A record 38.9 million U.S. TV viewers watched John McCain accept the Republican nomination for president on Thursday, slightly more than the 38.3 million people who tuned in for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's speech, Nielsen Media Research reported.
McCain's tally was also higher than the 37.2 million Americans who tuned in to hear Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's address, Nielsen said on Friday.
Part of the McCain audience was tied to the NFL game that immediately preceded his remarks, but still...
One thing you can say about Palin pick independent of anything else: It has kept McCain in the game for a while. If he'd gone with Tim Pawlenty or some other minimally memorable (male) suit, I can't imagine anyone woulda tuned in Wed or Thur evening.
|9.5.08 @ 4:01PM|#
The NFL lead-in worked perfectly. Game ended just after 10PM, and NBC immediately switched to the convention.
|9.5.08 @ 4:10PM|#
And he didn't speak about nukular issues even once!
Truly a bonus evening for the Repubs. Glad-hands all around.
|9.5.08 @ 4:13PM|#
And I simply love what you've done to the place! The new McCain
banners are charming!
Contributions to the Compliance Fund will be used solely for legal and accounting services to ensure compliance with federal law, including a portion of the cost of broadcast advertising, campaign offices, and computer/website expenses. Federal law prohibits the Compliance Fund contributions from being used for a candidate's election.
I *guess* that's "investing in victory" ... or at least "investing
in making sure our attorneys are getting paid while we
campaign".
|9.5.08 @ 4:28PM|#
yeah, they got a boost from the Giants game. I watched the end of that and then this just came on right after; i hadn't specifically planned to watch it. Glad they covered the spread!
|9.5.08 @ 4:33PM|#
"Compliance Fund" makes me think of this line from
Futurama:
"My fellow Earthicans, we enjoy so much freedom it's almost
sickening. We're free to choose which hand our sex-monitoring chip
is implanted in. And if we don't want to pay our taxes, why, we're
free to spend a weekend with the Pain Monster."
SIV|9.5.08 @ 4:55PM|#
I'd bet a bunch of those viewers didn't know his story as a POW
until the speech.
Lousy as it was, he didn't say anything "scary" to an "independent"
voter and was gracious to the opposition. He was boringly sincere.
All that might work out well for him especially with the excitement
on the bottom of the ticket.
|9.5.08 @ 4:59PM|#
@Episiarch:
The quote belongs to Warner Bros. and I doubt you paid them.
Citing the source is only a weapon against charges of
plagiarism.
Reason.com could get in trouble for allowing thieves like you to
continue posting copyrighted material.
It would be safer if they removed your post.
|9.5.08 @ 5:02PM|#
He is not an electrifying speaker. Most people know that. But,
he came across as geiune, humble and gracious and a genuinely good
person. I think that goes further than people think. Journalists
are always looking for a show.
The POW stuff was really well handled. He told the story to explain
why he is who he is. Moreover, a good portion of it was praising
the people he was with and talking about his own failures and the
things he learned from it.
I would love to hear a similiar example from Obama where he
explained in a major speech where he was wrong and how he went
through self reflection and learned and grew from it. How someone
deals with failure and adversity says more about who they are than
anything else. It is the kind of question that isn't asked enough
of candidates.
|9.5.08 @ 5:16PM|#
"But after I turned down their offer, they worked me over harder
than they ever had before, for a long time, and they broke me. When
they brought me back to my cell, I was hurt and ashamed, and I
didn't know how I could face my fellow prisoners."
What did he mean by this? I thought that McCain had stood up to his
captors and come away a proud, if damaged, testament to American
incorruptibility.
SIV|9.5.08 @ 5:20PM|#
JB,
He signed some propaganda document admitting to being an Air
Pirate.There should be no shame in that. I don't think Stockdale
signed anything though.
|9.5.08 @ 5:23PM|#
@Episiarch
Lame attempt to trick me. "Pain Monster" is copyrighted.
Surely you can do better than that.
|9.5.08 @ 6:06PM|#
@Episiarch
Google research:
"Agony Amplifier" 5 hits.
"Agony Booth" 21.800 hits.
Don't push your luck.
The resemblance of your suggestion to "Suicide Booth", suggests
that it would have been even more ironic, if you had posted with
the handle "Originality Drain" (4 hits).
Nate|9.5.08 @ 6:09PM|#
> He is not an electrifying speaker. Most people know that.
But, he came across as geiune, humble and gracious and a genuinely
good person.
Sounds like something that might have been said about George W.
Bush in 2000.
(By the way, what *is* the proper way to quote around here? We need
markdown!)
|9.5.08 @ 6:15PM|#
@Episiarch
Good day, I'm new here, but I've made invention which exactly fits
your needs.
It's called the
"Filled-With_Things-You-Would-Not-Want-To-Spend-Even-A-Short-Time-With
Room".*
Sincerely, mriuQ aD odarnoeL
*or for short: "Ends-With-Preposition Room"
Mad Max|9.5.08 @ 6:16PM|#
James Butler,
Is this "compliance fund" exempt from the provisions of the
McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Let's Take the Filthy Lucre
Out of Politics Act?
If you donate to the Compliance Fund, you're not subject to
McCain-Feingold's contribution limits? Is that how it works?
Genius - they pass a law making compliance with campaign
regulations more expensive, then exempt the expenses of complying
with campaign regulations from donation restrictions. Then you can
solicit buttloads of "compliance" money from donors? Is that their
racket?
I genuinely don't know - maybe someone does?
|9.5.08 @ 6:20PM|#
(By the way, what *is* the proper way to quote around here? We need markdown!)
blockquote tag Nate.
Brian|9.5.08 @ 6:21PM|#
One thing you can say about Palin pick independent of
anything else: It has kept McCain in the game for a while. If he'd
gone with Tim Pawlenty or some other minimally memorable (male)
suit, I can't imagine anyone woulda tuned in Wed or Thur
evening.
What a revelation! It's almost like they planned it that way!
|9.5.08 @ 6:22PM|#
Hmm, I thought the speech was mediocre, but I'm a terrible audience for these speeches. I'm not sure that a record audience for a mediocre speech is a good thing.
|9.5.08 @ 6:27PM|#
Nate: Use HTML's blockquote tags ... strip out the spaces:
< blockquote >yaddayadda< / blockquote >
Brian|9.5.08 @ 6:30PM|#
I'm not sure that a record audience for a mediocre speech is
a good thing.
I think people generally liked what they saw in Palin (compared to
the opponent) and were looking (or hoping) for anything to like
about McCain. The speech was good compared to his norm, but it
would've been better had he been the only one who told his story
instead of hearing it 10 times within a few days.
|9.5.08 @ 6:33PM|#
Mad Max, this doesn't really answer your question ... but what
do you expect from the Straight Talk Express?
"McCain-Palin Victory 2008 is a joint fundraising committee by the
McCain-Palin Compliance Fund, Republican National Committee, and
Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania Republican Parties.
Because the McCain-Palin Campaign is participating in the
presidential public funding system, it may not receive
contributions for the any candidate's election. However,
federal law allows the McCain-Palin Campaign's Compliance Fund to
defray legal and accounting compliance costs and preserve the
Campaign's public grant for media, mail, phones, and
get-out-the-vote programs. Contributions to
McCain-Palin Victory 2008 will go to the Compliance Fund, and to
participating party committees for Victory 2008 programs."
https://secure.donationreport.com/donation.html
|9.5.08 @ 8:21PM|#
Palin and Obama were, whatever else, historical. Record numbers
for McCain? There is no God.*
(I thought the same thing when Hancock was the number one movie for
weeks)
|9.6.08 @ 7:26AM|#
Record numbers for McCain? There is no God
There is a God, and he's a prankster!
Look out!
BakedPenguin|9.6.08 @ 8:47AM|#
All that might work out well for him especially with the excitement on the bottom of the ticket.
Palin may have an exciting bottom, but with all of the pictures of
her taken from the front, how are we to know? I can't vote smart if
I'm not fully informed.
|9.6.08 @ 9:50AM|#
I think its probably likely that there were 37 million Obama voters watching McCain's speech, and 1 million republicans.
|9.6.08 @ 5:16PM|#
To be fair, a large number of the McCain speech viewers were
tuned-in to play a drinking game --"He said 'POW' -everybody
drink!"
Did you know that John McCain is reluctant to talk about his POW
experience?
somedude|9.7.08 @ 12:09AM|#
Don't war heros fight to the death?
What example does surrendering to the enemy send to the
children?
JohnD|9.8.08 @ 9:32AM|#
"Episiarch - we could always join the Apathy Party"
I thought the Libs were the Apathy Party! What the hell have you
people ever done wothwhile?
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