Pitney on McCain's RNC Speech

Professor Pitney’s opinion was recently quoted in article at the Politico about John McCain’s speech at the Republican National Convention. Pitney believes that McCain’s speech should win him points for acknowledging Republican’s failures.

 John Pitney, a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College, said a “remarkable aspect” of the speech was the acknowledgement that Republicans had failed.

“That passage of the speech had power because it was true,” said Pitney. “He’ll get credit for candor but will he get Americans to vote Republican?

In addition to being quoted at the Politico on McCain’s speech to the Republican National Convention, Pitney was also quoted in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

No moment was more powerful or poignant than when McCain recounted the torture he endured as a prisoner of war in Hanoi and recalled in a quiet voice the day he could not take the beatings any more. “And they broke me,” he said.

“Those are the four words that people will remember,” said John Pitney, politics professor at Claremont McKenna College and a former Republican congressional aide. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard a line like that in an acceptance speech.”

Later in the article, Pitney reiterated his belief that the convention had helped get the Republican base into the race as much as the Democratic base has been so far this election season:

“They unified the party and closed the enthusiasm gap,” Pitney said. That “enthusiasm gap” has troubled Republicans all year as all polls showed Democrats far more excited about their candidate.

But St. Paul – and Palin – changed that, with far-reaching implications for the fall campaign.

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