Listening In: Gerson and Waldman on the First Night of GOP Convention Speeches

NEWSWEEK contributor Michael Gerson helped craft some of President George W. Bush's most memorable speeches. Michael Waldman, executive director of the Brennan Center for Justice, did the same for President Bill Clinton. Throughout this week, the two former presidential penmen will preview the big speeches at the Republican Convention in St. Paul, Minn., and analyze what worked-and what didn't-after the fact. First up: The Bushes, Fred Thompson and Joe Lieberman:

MICHAEL GERSON
Arriving earlier today at the Republican convention, I was reminded how cruel is the passage of time in the political world.  Four years ago, I stayed at a suite at the Waldorf; this afternoon I taxied between hotels in search of a misplaced reservation.  At the Xcel Energy Center, I was escorted to my nosebleed, "special press" seat with a close view of the acoustical tiles on the ceiling, and a distant view of every speaker's backside.

On the first real night of the Republican convention, the speakers were varied, to say the least.  Mrs. Bush, with perfect appropriateness, talked about her husband, laying special emphasis on his historic AIDS and malaria initiatives (topics close to my heart).  President Bush, with perfect appropriateness, talked about the nominee.  It was a memorable line to say that McCain has the "heart of a protector."  And with mock exasperation about McCain's independence, the president generously gave McCain permission to emphasize his disagreements with the administration. Apart from the brief mention of the "sunny side of the mountain"--reprise from his own first convention speech--Bush was unsentimental. I noticed he spared few words for Sarah Palin, but those duties seemed to fall to Mrs. Bush, who was warm about the vice presidential nominee.

The speech of the night was given by Fred Thompson, who will never be president, but should play one on TV. He is an enormously effective storyteller, weaving humor and moments of quiet intensity. And McCain has a story worth telling--a story of broken bones and rope torture and solitary confinement and defiance still shocking in its courage. Some personal stories get smaller the closer you approach. McCain's story gets larger. Thompson gave a narrative to McCain's life--a "mixture of rebellion and honor"--that made sense of McCain's entire career. And it was a strong relaunch for a Republican message drowned out, to this point, by high winds and soap operas.

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