Auster: McCain 'has no ideas'

September 05, 2008

"Strikingly bad." Those were the words, or words like those, with which commentator Jeffrey Toobin summed up John McCain's speech last night. He said the speech had no theme, no vision, and presented no policies, and was only good in its closing, rousing section. I agree. But this is exactly what one would expect of McCain. McCain has no ideas. He has a couple of pet issues he cares about, such as reducing pork barrel spending, and he has his sense of "honor" and of "service to something larger than ourselves," and he has his delight in messing up conservatives and Republicans. And that's about it. His speech perfectly reflected the intellectual and political vacuity that has characterized his entire career.