RNC Live Blog Day 4: John McCain

7:00: We’re going to be light on the liveblog before Cindy McCain speaks, but monitoring it nonetheless.

7:32: Joe Gibbs is going to speak tonight. Because McCain wants to remind everyone of the last time someone in Washington came back when he was supposed to be too old ended up in triumph. Wait, what’s that you say ESPN senior NFL writer Len Pasquarelli?

In that sense, Gibbs failed, and here’s why: Because the same 67 years’ worth of life experience that served him and the Redskins so well at their lowest point this season — and, in the cases of some, the nadir of their professional careers — essentially betrayed him when it came to football.

He was, simply, too old to handle his players, to understand their perspectives, to push their buttons in this era of salary-cap football (remember, Gibbs didn’t have to worry about the salary cap during his first stint). And the wear and tear of a season is hard on any coach, much less one who qualifies for senior citizen discounts at your neighborhood cafeteria.

Asked dozens of times in the last week if he would ever consider hiring himself as the Dolphins’ new head coach, Bill Parcells, who instead accepted the daunting challenge of overseeing the franchise’s renovation, made it clear he would not. His stock reply: “It’s a young man’s game.”

Parcells is nine months younger than Gibbs.

Great call, guys.

7:38: The party of peace? This just seems dysfunctional, as if they’re overcompensating for something.

8:16: Tom Ridge can do something Lindsay Graham: speak without sneering.

8:38: Cindy McCain is speaking, and for a second I thought she was reciting the lyrics to Jackson Browne’s “Stay” when she talked about what she thinks after the events are over and the vans have been packed up. I’m clearly burnt out on speeches, and she’s clearly killing time until the Giants-Redskins game is over, so I’m going to just take it easy for now. Also, I should note that Cindy looks like John got a bit frisky with her backstage. Good for him, I say.

8:59: McCain should thank Joe Gibbs; the disastrous state he left the Redskins offense in is going to allow the football game to end almost exactly on time. Maybe one minute over.

9:03: The convention has taken a page from the Burger King, except instead of crowns some convention goers are wearing cardboard Lincoln top hats. Seward rolls in his grave, his stunning primary defeat finally complete.

9:04: NBC is ready, so the McCain video rolls. It features his mother and obviously his biography. It’s well done, mostly because Roberta has eight timse the charisma of most politicians. And then they immediately suggest that God had future plans for him because he didn’t die in the horrific accident on the aircraft carrier. I can’t really get behind that in a political convention.

9:09: The rebuilt stage that has been touted with much fanfare reminds me of Bush in 2004. Allegedly done to make Bush give a more town hall style, it only pushed the podium twent feet forward. It’s much the same here. It may give the impression McCain is closer to the camera, but otherwise, yawn. And now the disembodied voice of Fred Thompson takes over, describing McCain’s torture. I’m half expecting the Law and Order chime.

9:16: NBC feels compelled to show a protestor trying to show a sign in the hall, and meanwhile McCain is speaking in front of … a green screen, which is actually the grass of some really nice house. Who planned the background, Stephen Colbert? Wow, that’s just awful. Also, he starts of by thanking Bush for actions after 9/11. I’m guessing he’s just getting these out of the way early?

9:19: I’m still stunned at the green screen and the mansion behind him.

9:21: McCain’s convention, live from Dagoba. Maybe he’s trying to come across like Yoda?

9:22: And now the background is all sky blue, which means it looks like McCain is either floating in the sky or in a studio soemwhere. This is just terribly distracting. There’s not been any substance so far, so don’t feel like I’m avoiding it. Oh, and another protestor tries to get involved, quickly drowned out by chants of USA. Just as McCain was about to segue into a discussion on the economy. He’s completely lost control of the crowd. He tries to joke about not being ‘distracted by the ground noise and the static.’

9:25: I think Donald Rumsfeld was in charge of RNC security.

9:30: McCain takes on earmarks. He also looks completely bald against the bright sky blue screen.

9:35: McCain blames both parties for expanding government and helping the oil companies, including hitting Obama for voting for the Energy Bill. He talks about what the party believes, but I think he’s being overly broad. He hits Obama on: taxes, trade, spending, spending cutting jobs, and says his plan will create better health insurance. He skips over it so quickly I can’t even tell what it is. He takes time to insult bureaucrats for deciding health care plans under Obama, though.

9:41: He’s trying to fram Obama as an old-style protectionist.

9:42: He says education is this century’s civil rights. Does he want to overrule San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez? No, he wants vouchers and to fire teachers.

9:44: He wants energy independence! Wonderful, how? New energy at home, but he emphasizes drilling off shore. Also he talks about ‘developing’ clean coal, nuclear, and the usual long list. He again says Obama is against nuclear - which just is not true.

9:48: We’ve reached the foreign policy section of the speech. He talks Al Qaeda, Iran, and Russia re-establishing the “Russian Empire.”

9:49: He’s not afraid of threats! He’s prepared! This is kind of silly, just him saying that he knows a bunch of things that are really vague. I’m just not a fan of this speech.

9:54: He wants to use the best ideas and share credit. This just seems way, way over the top is bipartisan, and not the least bit realistic. If he doesn’t care who gets the credit, why does he care who wins as long as what is done is right?

10:01: He talks at length about his imprisonment and torture, concluding that he will always fight for America. Much better delivered than the frankly underwhelming middle portion of his speech.

10:02: McCain gives a long list of good service possibilities: It’s shocking how many of them apply to community organizing, by the way.

10:03: He ends his speech like Brian Schweitzer ended his, calling on everyone to stand up. Definitely a bit underwhelming. B grade at best, C- at worst, with possible deductions for a terrible background and stage.