McCain to do town-hall style acceptance speech

Per RNC e-mail, it looks like John McCain is going to go “conversational” with his acceptance speech tonight. I’m guessing that he may take a gander at giving the appearance, at least, of Post-Partisan Politics™ as part of that. I’m assuming that’s why his campaign blocked out a full hour of media time for the speech.

Anyway, here’s the details::

The podium used for the first three nights of the convention was modified to enable John McCain to deliver his acceptance speech from the center of the Xcel Energy Center. The new podium is a reflection of the town-hall style that has been a hallmark of McCain’s campaign. In the new forum, he will be surrounded by the delegates that nominated him the night before.

The new podium was constructed by removing the front corner sections of the existing platform and extending its midsection by 30 feet. The extension will be eight feet wide. Near the conclusion of tonight’s program, Sen. McCain will address the convention from a lectern positioned near the end of this newly-constructed extension. To accommodate the modified platform, delegates from the state of Ohio will be re-seated on either side.

So, maybe Democrats and other progressives should stay tuned.

It sounds like he’s playing down his weakness of not being the best stump speaker, and trying to go with a new, conversational angle.

This will also let him play off Palin’s speech in a way Obama didn’t with Biden. She clearly is going to play bad cop/attack dog, while Schmuck Talk Express™ will set himself up as the “kinder, gentler” avuncular presidential candidate.

IMO, Dems weren’t tough enough in some ways at Denver, nor did Biden get set up enough to be the attack dog. (See Edwards, John, and 2004 vice presidential nominee, along with Lieberman, Joe, and 2009 vice presidential nominee.) Dems need to remember we’re at two months and counting now.