Republicans' Bizarre Night

Matt Cooper reports from St. Paul: Fred Thompson is, of course, right. As a "pundit" and "media big shot" I hate Sarah Palin because she's been an effective governor and doesn't just talk about it on the Sunday TV talk shows. And I despise her because she isn't into the Washington cocktail circuit. You got me.

The first real night of the Republican convention was strange, odd. Sure, in some sense the evening was predictible. Fred Thompson gave the red meat speech—bashing the media, liberalism—combined with a testament to John McCain's character. Joe Lieberman made the pitch to Democrats. But there was no policy in either speech, no message about what McCain was for.

There was no sense of how to get the economy moving again. There was no sense of how to end the war in Iraq or promote American interests abroad. It was oddly policy free.

If you're a business leader, you had to note that the biggest applause lines were President Bush (via satellite) denouncing the "angry left" and Fred Thompson talking about the unborn. It was an almost economy-free night. Thompson basically said that the economy is better than pundits—that's me—keep saying it is, and Lieberman did a tip of his hat to high gas prices. But I don't think there was any mention about falling home prices or the liquidity problems plaguing the economy.

The headline speakers seemed to think that by extolling McCain's service record, they could end the argument. But McCain's record of heroism isn't in dispute. What is in dispute, what is the subject of the election, is who can fix the country's problems. So far this convention hasn't said much.

Plus, the whole Country First theme is off. America First was obviously a discredited slogan because of Charles Lindbergh. . And while McCain has a legitimate record of bipartisan initiative and personal courage he could point to, it's absurd to think of the Democrats as not putting country first.

One of Thompson's better lines, dissing Obama as the most liberal and inexperienced nominee in the Democrats' history was actually pretty good. You could make that case. They could have just made a good, crisp smaller government, lower taxes argument. There wasn't that much of that. Much of the evening was pablum.

And I'm not just saying that as a pundit who hates strong executives.

Matt Cooper

Get more from the Republican convention in St. Paul with these:
-- The G.O.P.s Gov Child.
-- The Republicans Get a Mulligan With Gustav.
-- McCain's Pick of Palin a Game Changer.
-- Drill, Baby, Drill!
-- Where to Eat in the Twin Cities.
-- How to Party Like a Rockstar TV Star With Republicans.

Get a recap of what happened with the Democrats in Denver:
-- Obama Gets Down to Business.
-- Are Obama's Donors Tapped Out?
-- Google's Schmidt: "They Have Guns and We Don't"
-- Why Does Everyone Want In on the Act?
-- I'm T. Boone Pickens and This Will Save America.
-- The Election According to Mr. Burns.
-- The Portfolio.com Capital Index.