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Lott: McCain 'Not a Great Orator'; Speech Won't Top Palin's

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September 04, 2008 3:22 PM

ABC News' Jennifer Parker reports: As Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., prepares to deliver his acceptance speech Thursday night, at least one longtime GOP colleague says the Republican presidential nominee's speech won't hold a candle to Gov. Sarah Palin's speech last night.

"Look, John is not a great orator," said former Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott, who often clashed with McCain over policies in the Senate while serving as majority leader.

"Even in the Senate, when he used to heckle us for doing stupid things, which we usually were, it was not with Shakespearian flair," Lott said. 

Lott was pressured to step down from his post as Senate Republican leader in 2002, following remarks he made at South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party. Lott suggested the country "wouldn't have had all these problems over the years" if the country had voted for Thurmond, a segregationist, for president in 1948.

Lott, who resigned from the Senate a year ago, and is now a lobbyist, spoke openly about the problems some conservatives have had getting behind McCain's candidacy.

"A lot of Republicans were, you know, not enthused," he said of McCain. "A lot of the traditional evangelical conservative Republicans were not perfectly sure about their level of enthusiasm for John."

Arguing Palin's speech has fired up the Republican base of conservatives, Lott said, "Now, I sense that there is an elevated sense of electricity.

"I just don't think he can top her," Lott said of McCain tonight. "She just did a magnificent job, actually. But they won't be comparable."

September 4, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (36)

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I swear I have heard the word 'shrill' today more than I had ever heard it in my 40 years... She must have really gotten under the democrats skin...

Go McCain/Palin!!!

Posted by: Guy | Sep 4, 2008 5:13:56 PM

McCain is not a talented speaker like Obama but........ what he says he means. He is not a Ricky Suave like Obama but I would rather have a not so great of a speaker for president who knows what he's doing then a smooth talker who has no idea what the hell he's doing.

Posted by: Jackie | Sep 4, 2008 5:16:12 PM

Jackie - Oh crap, if he means what he says, we are going to bomb Iran and occupy Iraq indefinetly. Sheisse!

Posted by: Ben Straub | Sep 4, 2008 5:22:19 PM

Hip shoot McCain will be in his element on the made over staging. The RNC convention has been a drag, observing the drawn faces withing the partially filled 14,000 seat arena. The Rovian directed campaign minions have had their spin machine working overtime to create an image of Sara Palin which simply a mythology; when the statements are put to the test the surrogates have failed to back-up their claims--this "packaging has become a farce. During this time Palin was unavailable to the media but the handlers do not care as long as their story is told; the truths about this person are unimportant--mask, hide, cover-up. So Republican it is disgusting.

Posted by: Lou R | Sep 4, 2008 6:04:13 PM

Just watch McCain blink! He does it every time he lies!

He also has a habit of winking like you and him are on the same page, agreeing with each other.


You'll see!

Posted by: Yawn | Sep 4, 2008 6:43:03 PM

Posted by: latinovoter1 | Sep 4, 2008 6:47:03 PM

McCain is going down. Palin is already on her way out. Last night she claimed once again she said 'thanks but no thanks on the bridge to nowhere'. Every major newspaper in the country has already reported that she very much supported the bridge to nowhere when she ran for governor. Also, there is now a very compromising photo of Palin showing her support for the bridge and the town of Ketchikan where it was supposed to be built. Check SarahPalinExposed. It's all there. Plus, don't forget her association with the Alaskan Independence Party, which favors "secession" from the U.S. She's on video expressing her support for that party.

Posted by: David | Sep 4, 2008 7:59:50 PM

As far as 'Change' or reform goes - The Republicans will leave you with even less change in your pocket. Palin is a seething more eloquent George Bush and McCain should be the VP nominee on their ticket. The Republicans love war and don't care if they chose the wrong country to invade. They only want to win even if their is nothing to win in Iraq. Iraq has a surplus of money and oil now -we have increasing debt. Thanks to the Republicans who once again ruined Bill Clinton's accomplishment of balancing our budget, helped cause the mortgage crisis, and then turn around and blame the Democratic party for not fixing the economy fast enough. They are cannibalistic in all matters of turning war into big business, out-sourcing American jobs, & keeping us dependant on oil (Drilling in Alaska is a small band-aid and their method to stall advancement in alternative energy). Before they attack Obama the Republicans should remember they brought us a B-Movie Actor (Reagan), and the missing-link, Curious George, who has the lowest IQ of any American President. Don't let them fool you. They are not the party of family values, religion, or small town values. They are the party of Big Oil, War at all costs, Tax breaks for Big Companies, and the out-sourcing of your job. If we continue on this Red is Right path - the English language will take a backseat to Mandarin Chinese in about 15-20 years time. While we rattle primitive sabers of war they are laughing and building their economy. And the sad joke is, we are helping them surpass us. Let's wake up before it's too late!

Posted by: Louise Finley | Sep 4, 2008 8:14:38 PM

Palin would be another Cheney in a McCain WH. With their brash and impulsive attitude she can make him take decisions that will cost this country dearly. Invading any country at this time will not make Russia or China bend to our will especially since the GOP/Bush team has made us a debtor nation to both of them big Time.
Palin builds consensus alright, she fired a librarian and a state police director for not agreeing with her.

Posted by: all | Sep 4, 2008 11:45:22 PM

Well, I guess Palin wants to be VP so she can help Alaska gain its independence! How devious!!!

Great...now it looks like we're going to have Sarah supporters like the Dems had the Hillary supporters-actually looking forward to McCain dying so she can take over as President?

That's pretty sick.

Posted by: Grand Old Party | Sep 5, 2008 12:41:20 AM

All we'll remember of this convention is that the runner-up beauty queen Grandma read the teleprompter better than the Grumpy POW Senator.

Both speeches were written by the same failed regime which turned a surplus into a multi-trillion dollar deficit.

If you're happy with the direction the country has been going in for the past eight years then vote for Grumpy and Grandma. You'll have all the old players for another four years.

Posted by: PrinceKeith | Sep 5, 2008 7:18:11 AM

I am a 75 years old republican; but what I am seing and reading worries me. It is ridiculous to exalt Palin from a first speech; there are many days to come. The media will do its scrutiny on her as they did on Obama; she has a lots of garbage and let's see how it ends and not how it started.

Mccain is not genuine in his speech. Mccain is running a hidden agenda; he was not on issues. He spent all his time promoting his Vietnam tale; we do not survive on that. The fact is, it is too dangerous to hand this nation to MccAIN AND PALIN.

AS A MATTER OF FACT, THOUGH AM AN EX-MARINE, I AND MANY OF MY EX-COLLEAGUES WILL CHOOSE TO VOTE OBAMA 08.

Posted by: Pete | Sep 5, 2008 8:08:37 AM

Pete says:

"The media will do its scrutiny on her [Palin] as they did on Obama"

No offense, Pete, but HAHAHAHAHAHA. There's a TON we don't know about Obama's past. The media "vetting" of Obama is an absolute myth.

Posted by: Jim in OH | Sep 5, 2008 8:26:22 AM

What Barack Obama learned from the Communist Party

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/07/what_barack_obama_learned_from.html

Inside Obama’s Acorn

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NDZiMjkwMDczZWI5ODdjOWYxZTIzZGIyNzEyMjE0ODI=

READ and LEARN about your "media-vetted" Messiah. See the networks doing much talking about these details? Are the anti-American influences and radical associations of a potential U.S. President less important than Palin's private family matters? Has everyone gone insane?

Posted by: Jim in OH | Sep 5, 2008 8:42:37 AM

This will absolutely blow your mind. One more reason why you never hear the details of Obama's "community organizing" activities in the mainstream media. People, we are being duped on an unimaginable level.

Michelle's Boot Camps For Radicals

http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=305420655186700

Posted by: Jim in OH | Sep 5, 2008 10:30:24 AM

Posted by: newme234 | Sep 5, 2008 11:01:49 PM

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