Well, to quote Paul McCartney, it was a long and winding road as Senator McCain meandered and took his time getting to the highlights of his speech Thursday night. The senator spoke for close to an hour, and it was mostly standard stuff like this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN MCCAIN: I've been called a maverick, someone who marches to the beat of his own drum. Sometimes it's meant as a compliment; sometimes it's not. What it really means is I understand who I work for. I don't work for a party. I don't work for a special interest. I don't work for myself. I work for you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OK, I'm buying that. I do think Senator McCain has looked out for the folks over his career. And the senator continued speaking generally about why he would make a better president than Barack Obama. But then he took a turn and got emotional.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else's. I loved it because it was not just a place, but an idea, a cause worth fighting for. I was never the same again. I wasn't my own man anymore. I was my country's.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Now that was very effective. Americans admire John McCain's service and sacrifice, and to state that his suffering led him to public service is a powerful point of view. Following that, McCain finally revved up the crowd.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: Fight with me. Fight with me. Fight for what's right for our country. Fight for the ideals and character of a free people. Fight for our children's future. Fight for justice and opportunity for all. Stand up to defend our country from its enemies. Stand up for each other, for beautiful, blessed, bountiful America. Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OK, I'm ready to go. That was the highlight, of course, of John McCain's speech.
Now a couple of things to wrap up both conventions. We have a race now that's not only about issues but about strong personalities. Obama, McCain and Palin are all very vivid people. Their personalities will sway millions of votes. Governor Palin especially has injected a new spirit into the election.
"Talking Points" thinks that's a good thing, but I also want the very important issues to be considered and debated as well. That's why we did the Obama interview Thursday. That's why we will continue to demand specifics from all the candidates.
And that's "The Memo."
Pinheads & Patriots
Everybody who attended the political conventions in Denver and St. Paul in good faith are patriots.
On the pinhead front, the media, as I said, has really taken a beating this week after attacking Sarah Palin. And I say good, because the media is generally biased against conservative Americans.
Now, listen to this report by James Rainey of the Los Angeles Times. He's writing about my interview with Obama:
"In a much-anticipated interview with conservative nemesis Bill O'Reilly..." He goes on to say, "O'Reilly has not always been courteous to Senator Obama... O'Reilly later attacked Obama's ties to his controversial one-time pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright."
Are you getting the picture here? This hack Rainey wrote this article with the help of Media Matters, the far-left propaganda outfit. Rainey didn't do his own research, but he didn't tell the Los Angeles Times readership that he used Media Matters. What a guy, huh?
Now, Rainey is insignificant, but what he does happens all the time in the newspaper business. This guy is supposed to be a reporter, yet he obviously has an agenda, which was to make me look bad. Nemesis indeed.
Rainey is a pinhead, and so are all the other left-wing zealots masquerading as reporters.
— You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" and "Pinheads & Patriots" weeknights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET on the FOX News Channel and any time on foxnews.com/oreilly. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox