McCain's Bad Reviews Continue

From John Cole:

I keep coming back to this speech, and I really can not get over how bad it really was. If a student gave a speech this bad in a public speaking class, not only would he be failed, it would probably spark mandatory drug testing.

This is so awful, strained, and off-key, that it really does almost cause physical pain to watch. Did he even practice it? Hell, did he read it before he delivered it? I really had thought that Bush was one of the worst public speakers I had ever seen, but McCain seems to be lowering the bar.

Jesse Taylor:

The weird thing about McCain is that he seems much older than he actually is. Seventy-two, while certainly elderly, still leaves years of capable, mentally alert life barring significant disease or disability. And the issue with his age isn’t his mental capacity (he’s the exact same kind of cluelessly aggressive conservative demagogue that we see coming out of Young Republican groups on campuses the nation ‘round), it’s simply how he comes off - as a caricature of every crusty old meanspirited coot wondering about kids these days and their e-pods and the funny new athletes with the odd names like “LeBron” and “LaDanian” and “Albert”.

Jed Report:

Barack's like a fresh hot pizza from the best pizza place in New York...and John McCain is the cardboard box it was delivered in.

To be fair, John McCain is more comfortable and appealing when he is off-script. Making speeches just ain't his forte. Obama, on the other hand, is generally less powerful when speaking off the cuff (although there are major exceptions). But what's interesting is that even in town hall settings, where McCain is at his best and Obama is at his potentially worst, Obama is still more charismatic, charming and engaging that McCain could ever be.