GOP Convention in Four and a Half Quotes

Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN - 1,100 miles outside the Beltway

For those who missed it, a few selections from the 2008 Republican National Convention - the most watched political convention ever.

Mike Huckabee's speech to the RNC:

Let me make something clear tonight: I'm not a Republican because I grew up rich. I'm a Republican because I didn't want to spend the rest of my life poor, waiting for the government to rescue me.

Rudy Giuliani's keynote address:

"Change" is not a destination ... just as "hope" is not a strategy.

Sarah Palin's introduction:

Crowd cheers continuously for three minutes, is interrupted by the governor, and starts cheering again.

...

I'm not a member of the permanent political establishment.

And I've learned quickly, these past few days, that if you're not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone.

But here's a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion - I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this great country.

John McCain's Acceptance Speech:

If you find faults with our country, make it a better one. If you're disappointed with the mistakes of government, join its ranks and work to correct them. Enlist in our Armed Forces. Become a teacher. Enter the ministry. Run for public office. Feed a hungry child. Teach an illiterate adult to read. Comfort the afflicted. Defend the rights of the oppressed. Our country will be the better, and you will be the happier. Because nothing brings greater happiness in life than to serve a cause greater than yourself.

Yet Another Plurality

Florida 2000:

George W. Bush won the primary with 73.8 percent; John McCain came in second with 19.9 percent.

Florida 2008:

McCain wins Florida, CNN projects

With 55 percent of Republican precincts reporting, McCain held a 36-32 percent lead over Romney. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani trailed with 15 percent of the vote, followed closely by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee who held 13 percent.

Winner-take-all does not work with this many candidates.

In related news, the AP reports:

Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent who nearly won the vice presidency as a Democrat in 2000, says there's no way he'll be Republican Sen. John McCain's running mate should McCain become the party's presidential nominee.

This should never have been seriously considered. The Senate does not need to be driven further to the left.

Straight Talk on Drug Reimportation

George Will writes:

...was it unreasonable for Kerry to think McCain might be comfortable on a Democratic ticket? Not really.

In ABC's New Hampshire debate, McCain said: "Why shouldn't we be able to reimport drugs from Canada?" A conservative's answer is:

That amounts to importing Canada's price controls, a large step toward a system in which some medicines would be inexpensive but many others -- new pain-relieving, life-extending pharmaceuticals -- would be unavailable. Setting drug prices by government fiat rather than market forces results in huge reductions of funding for research and development of new drugs. McCain's evident aim is to reduce pharmaceutical companies' profits. But if all those profits were subtracted from the nation's health care bill, the pharmaceutical component of that bill would be reduced only from 10 percent to 8 percent -- and innovation would stop, taking a terrible toll in unnecessary suffering and premature death. When McCain explains that trade-off to voters, he will actually have engaged in straight talk.

There are decent, intelligent people who believe that equity or efficiency or both are often served by government setting prices. In America, such people are called Democrats.

I would replace "intelligent" with "misguided" or "short-sighted", but the point stands.