McCain's nonparty

Republican presidential nominee John McCain will not be elected on his oratorical skills — compared to his opponent, they are weak and flat. He may, however, win over voters with the power of his personal story.

So it went in his acceptance speech. His words lit up the Xcel Center in Minneapolis, and he himself grew noticeably more enthused as he talked about his experience as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, how he fell in love with America and became a more humble man while held in Hanoi.

The Republican National Convention started out as a bust, with a hurricane aimed toward Louisiana and an unpopular president who, mercifully, could only attend by satellite. The convention will give McCain some post-convention bounce because he and his vice-presidential pick, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, successfully changed the subject.

If this election is a referendum on the George Bush presidency — and Sen. Barack Obama certainly hopes it is — McCain and Palin cannot win. Eighty-two percent of the public believes the country is headed in the wrong direction, especially on the economy.

But in the course of a convention, and in a masterful Madison Avenue sort of way, McCain transformed himself into the un-Republican, even though he votes with Bush and his party most of the time.

The most striking thing is that McCain reverted back to the politician he was during the 2000 presidential election.

He was no longer the man who worked in tandem with Bush on the misguided Iraq war and failed strategies for ending America's dependence on foreign oil. He became the gutsy outsider who would change Washington, D.C.

How McCain became a member of the out-party is one of the all time magic acts of the 2008 campaign. McCain and the Republicans hardly mentioned the word Republican. They failed to offer specific steps they would take to help a struggling middle class, except for offshore drilling, which would take years to make a difference.

They are the new change agents — wink, wink — if only the voters are gullible enough to follow along.