All the puffed up chests in that hall and on that stage fluffing the self-sacrifice theme for "something larger" than themselves look absurd from outside the convention hall. "What have you people ever sacrificed?" asks the independent cynic. McCain never sacrificed anything; he was abused in Hanoi. I just cannot see "Country First" having any real traction.  2002 jingoism and bloodlust aren't exactly the passions coursing through the body politic today.  Everything about this Republican convention seems archaic. Yet, even as they look and sound like Bush warmed over, I have a slight concern if "More of the Same" stays the dominant attack line through October. It remains incredibly effective, but I have to trust that there will be other lines of attack to build on that in the days and weeks to come. Temperament wasn't the issue tonight. We shall see if it effectively emerges in the debates. And finally, before signing off, I still think McCain looks feeble next to his pistol-packing side-kick. Her enthusiasm for herself in her position is too intense and I suspect that McCain has already gotten tired of her on a personal level.  There is no chemistry between them--how could there be? And, I think that will make McCain feel what Gore and Kerry say they felt: alone. Palin is NOT going to be strategizing with McCain and company. She is the strategy.  Thus, I suspect that the next 60 days are going to feel like eons for the old guy.