... for Democrats. Let me explain.
Last night, I was in contact with a variety of friends who span the spectrum from far-left liberals to far-right conservatives. We are all political junkies, were all watching the RNC speeches. We were discussing our thoughts on the RNC and the speeches.
Overall, up to Rudy's speech, the discussion was cordial and the same old standard comments. From the left, most were saying how it's amazing how often these guys lie without the media calling them on it and were hoping that someone, anyone would slip up and go off message for a while, if only for giggles. To them, the convention was simply boring and repetitive tripe.
To the ones who recognize themselves as independents, they found the convention to be pretty dull. The most common point they brought up was that there was nothing new or useful coming of it and it was the same old talking points they've heard for over a year now more or less. Even the stuff on Palin was the same old talking points ("Old" as in within the last 3 days it's been repeated 50 times at least).
To the guys on the right (far right), this was pure heaven. The most amazing thing they've ever seen and they ate it up. Especially a Mormon friend of mine when he saw Romney support McCain.
Then Rudy started speaking...
The discussions suddenly took a turn for the worse and became considerably less cordial. In fact, I imagine it was similar to tossing bloody chum into a pool full of sharks. My far right wing friends went completely rabid -- ready to tear into anyone that disagreed with them. They even turned on me at one point for saying that I felt Rudy's speech was a bit rough edged and not likely to appeal to anyone but the most hardcore. They called me a God-hating "lieberal" who obviously hates America, if I remember correctly. However, I must point out that these guys were the most right-wing of my friends.
A significant section of the moderate right-wingers went completely silent in the chat rooms and on MSN. I tried to rile them into saying something or anything, the best I got was a "I need to sleep on this." This morning, I found out it was because they were quite turned off starting with Rudy's speech and are seriously reconsidering their support for McCain. Especially if he is taking such a deep reactionary position as was seen last night.
Of the people I know who are independents, a lot of them were swayed by the DNC from last week and felt that Obama genuinely looked like he'd be a good president. Well, after last night, a significant number of them were actually so offended by Rudy's speech, and Palin's speech that they not only said they are likely to vote for Obama, but donated for the first time to his campaign.
Of the people I know who already support Obama, they have been completely re-energized and are ready to fight McCain all over again. They can now see the importance of beating McCain/Palin and a good number of them signed up for volunteer time in their respective communities to give cold calls.
Of the people I know who are left-wing, but support people like Nader... Well, they are still mad about the telecom immunity and a few other picky things. They didn't donate and aren't volunteering, but they definitely noted that if the polls are close they will vote for Obama to keep Palin and company out of government. The community organizer ones, however, completely changed their opinion about the matter and are ready to use their organizational skills towards helping Obama.
So, in the end, I wouldn't be surprised if the only people the RNC gained support from last night was the people who never have voted for Obama in the first place. Amongst the people who may have voted for McCain, they simply frightened them off that much more so with their reactionary rhetoric.
As my father said last night, "Let's say McCain is actually going to change things in Washington. After hearing Rudy and Palin, you need to ask "What kind of change are they really promising?""
Now, here is the time I do my little part to try and help out: To those reading this who haven't already maxed out their Obama donations, I encourage you to go to this diary and donate in response to the hatred and vitriol you saw last night. To those who have maxed out, I encourage you to try to find some time to go and volunteer for your local Obama office, even an hour of time can be incredibly beneficial.
We all saw last night the kind of dirty and dangerous governance that will happen with McCain/Palin in office and previewed the disaster it will likely be for Americans at home and abroad.
They didn't offer anything but hatred, fear and anger because they don't have anything to offer but hatred, fear and anger. That's not a good way to run a country.
Crossposted on my personal blog.