8/04/00 2:30 p.m.
A Doubter's Report Card
A B-plus for Bush.

Robert A. George is an editorial page writer
for the New York Post------------------------------------RAGGEDmail@aol.com

o call me skeptical.

As political craft, George W. Bush's speech last night was "successful." In this writer's view, it was not as good a speech as the one his father delivered in New Orleans twelve years ago. Peggy Noonan's is the winner and still champion, in that regard. Hardly anyone could tell you one memorable thing from President Bush's '92 acceptance speech. Dubya's speech will be much better received than Bob Dole's four years ago — rightly so, actually. Bush had more energy. Though oddly, in retrospect, Dole was much more honest. But, then again, that was a bridge to the past.

This is not to say that Bush was deceptive in his address. It is just that it was delivered at a convention which was, in many ways, artificial. There's a not-so-old country song that goes, "Lord, it's hard to be humble." Well, after the Republican convention just passed, it's also real hard not to be cynical. Largely devoid of substance, it signals that we have truly reached the era of the virtual convention — and not because it was "streamed live" over the Internet. The political-convention format exists now solely as an infomercial — most of the time on cable companies, occasionally on broadcast networks.

Writing in the special-edition Daily Standard, David Brooks held out that this show was a prelude to something truly substantial — Bush's transforming the Republican Party in as essential a way as Bill Clinton did the Democrats in 1992. Brooks sees the GOP now moving from being a "work" party to being a nurturing "home" party. Well, that's one way of understanding what went on this week. But Brooks may be hoping for too much in that analysis. Time will tell.

Bush mocked Gore's penchant for calling any policy the veep disagrees with "risky." The day before, Dick Cheney said, "They'll call our proposals 'risky'; we'll call it progress." Yet, oddly, this was a convention almost devoid of risk, in the sense of trying to challenge the minds of the voting public, of discussing what is really at stake — such as the Supreme Court. Did it appeal to the public's never-ending need for sentimentality and emotion? Oh, most definitely — and perhaps that's just learning a certain lesson of the last eight years.

But is that the right lesson? It's difficult to accept that Bush wishes to give the nation a bold new vision of leadership when the entire four days have been devoted to showcasing the lives of people — rather than giving audiences an insight into something more than just people. This convention proves, not that the GOP has been Clintonized, but that the politics of sentimentality holds sway in both parties and will likely continue to as long as the baby-boom generation stands dominant.

"We are the party of ideas and innovation, the party of idealism and inclusion," Bush declared. Well, to paraphrase Meatloaf, three out of four ain't bad. The Republicans are idealistic, yes. This convention demonstrates that they are innovative — somehow managing to take all considerations of politics out of what is essentially a political event. And, yes, they are indeed inclusive. There's no way one could forget that. To prove it, George W. Bush even "included" a minority child in his speech. We know this because Bush imagines the young person saying, "Do you, a white man in a suit, really cares what happens to me?" Bush may be sincere in wishing to take us beyond the Clinton era, but this rhetoric shows he has definitely learned certain lessons from this moment in time.

But hey, that horse has left the stable. On its own terms, Bush's speech was good. The first third, in particular, worked well. It would have been nice to have had a couple more punchy phrases such as, "They had their chance. They have not led. We will." That's action-oriented and was a fine call to arms to the people in the First Union Center (and other Republicans across the nation). Of course, Bush's delivery always seems a bit herky-jerky, and he frequently steps over his applause lines.

But there was no doubt that Bush looked confident. More importantly, he looked like a leader, which is the necessary transition that he must make to accomplish the final sale to the public. His smile, though looking wry at times, did not seem as smirkish as it has in the past. "We vow to our nation we will seize this moment of American promise. We will use these good times for great goals." It's an excellent passage.

This reviewer gives the governor a B+ on his speech. However, the political trap that he has put Al Gore in is worth an A+. How does Gore respond now without sounding even more nasty and petulant than usual?

Los Angeles awaits.