1. A shame he delivered by satellite, or whatever it was. Looked hokey, sounded stilted. You don’t know when to applaud; if you’re the speaker, you don’t quite know when to pause. And it seems sort of condescending — like the Gipper talking to the anti-abortion people, who were freezing outside the Supreme Court, by audio hookup. (This was always in January, on the Roe anniversary.)

And did he have such important work to do in Washington? Isn’t the election of this Republican ticket important work?

Is that too partisan? “Grow up,” as Joan Rivers used to say.

2. I think Bush should have offered a broader acknowledgement of his differences with McCain — everyone knows this history, or has a sense of it; Bush could have done more to take advantage of it, rhetorically and politically.

3. “Human life must be defended” — nice, nice (despite the avoidance of the word “abortion”).

4. McCain will “not wait,” Bush said, until America is “hit again” — very, very good.

5. It was a fine little speech. But think what President Clinton did in Denver — he gripped the audience, and blew the roof off the hall. And President Bush was — you know: okay. (But he is still, I pronounce as a coda, a great man.)