Well, I was actually playing a hockey game while McCain was giving his speech (yes, my mom is a hockey mom; and yes that pitbull & lipstick joke has basis in fact). I got back, showered up, and watched a repeat of the speech. Seeing as how no one else posted anything on it, I’ll take a shot.

This speech… wasn’t a classic. I don’t think anyone expected it to be. The audience applauded at the wrong times and McCain, during his laundry list segment, didn’t have a good rhythm. But that’s McCain. I’ve heard a lot of his speeches, some live and some on TV, and he’s a simple, pedestrian speaker who doesn’t talk to you- he talks with you. That’s why he excels at town hall forums and sucks at big-time teleprompter speeches.

That said, I think it was a good speech that for the most part did what it needed to do. He effectively portrayed himself and Gov. Palin as reformers and change agents, invading Obama’s territory and launching an assault the Democrat’s main theme. He looked, sounded, and acted experienced. He didn’t belittle Obama’s inexperience, but he didn’t have to- the contrast was evident. He rebutted Obama’s attack that he “just didn’t get it” by connecting with American families and showing that he understood their struggles. And by attacking a Republican Party that “lost it’s way” in 2006, he tried to put some distance between himself and Pres. Bush.

And yes, he talked about his POW time, and yes, to those of us who have heard it before, maybe it sounded a little repetitive. But I gotta say two things- 1) He’s earned the right to bring it up as often as he wants; and 2) I’ve never heard him talk about it quite like that. It was personal in a away I’ve never heard. He sounded not like the ambitious immature boy he once was (and Obama still is), but like a man. A sobered, experienced, hardened-but-still-hopeful man who’s seen hell, seen evil, and seen the ways to overcome it. Obama and his hollow happy-talk looks like a pygmy in contrast.

Was he entirely successful? Of course not. And I know many of us here will chafe and huff about his references to global warming, his lame-o idea that government should make up the monetary difference when people who have lost their jobs get new ones with less pay, and of course, his one reference to immigration, in which he sounded like he might bring his old welcome mat out again. Yeah, I know. I hate that stuff too. And I think he could have done more to attack Obama, especially on the judgement question. But it was an effective speech that presented himself as a viable alternative to people who don’t like the way things are now, but who still don’t get the Obamessiah juju.

Oh, and I loved the ending. Notice how when Obama’s speech reached a crescendo, it was regarding Obama. When McCain’s did, it was regarding service to America. Big old warm spot in my heart right now…

Here are some other reviews:

Jim Geraghty on NRO: It’s McCain, because of instead of a litany of applause lines, he takes us into that cramped little cell, in solitary confinement, in Hanoi. Few speakers want an arena this size silent, but he does it. How many speakers get up before the nation, describe the torture, and then say, “and they broke me”?

Rich Lowry: Don’t focus on the oratory. If Mark Salter wanted to, he could have written prose for the ages, but it wouldn’t have seemed true to McCain. Don’t focus on the delivery. The election isn’t going to be decided on speech-making ability. Focus on the theme—a populist fighter for you. This is exactly where McCain needs to be.

Jay Nordlinger on The Corner: “I’ll start by repeating what I said earlier, in my “instant react”: He was himself and he said what he believes. And that’s probably the most you can ask for in a candidate. “

Yuval Levin on The Corner: “John McCain gave a fine speech, but perhaps the third or fourth best of this convention. McCain was never going to be a stirring and eloquent formal speaker, he was at best going to offer a plain but clear case for himself as an experienced and patriotic agent of reform, and that’s what he did.”