Ezra Klein on McCain's acceptance speech

The full post here:

Of course, you must say this much: McCain's recounting of his experiences as a prisoner of war remain powerful. But that was 40 years ago. He has now been campaigning for president for the better part of a decade. He needs more than a story. He needs a vision.

Yet tonight's speech was all about him. The policies are his qualities, the vision is his story, the vice president is his understudy. For all that he mocks Obama for being "the one," it is McCain who has rested the weight of a presidential candidacy atop his person. He is skilled at deflecting that perception, recasting one man's candidacy as an expression of every man's patriotism. But the common denominator in these humble asides remains McCain himself. "I've been an imperfect servant of my country for many years. But I have been her servant first, last and always," McCain says. "My country saved me," he recalls, "and I cannot forget it." The signs wave. "Country First," they read. And then, below: "John McCain." Such public declarations of patriotism are not about why John McCain loves this country. They are about why this country should love John McCain.

When you stepped outside of McCain, however, there was very little to the speech. Over the course of nearly an hour, he managed to detail exactly three policies. Taxes, which he will push lower. Education, which he will make more competitive. And high energy costs, which he will solve with a drill and a dream. Where policies would ordinarily have gone, McCain instead substituted qualities. He's a fighter, he said. He's a patriot. He admitted to being humble and selfless and tested and independent and confident. Maybe that will be enough. Those are, undoubtedly, some good qualities. But no man is an agenda. No past is profound enough to stand in for the future. McCain didn't look self-assured on that stage. Not in comparison to Barack Obama or Joe Biden or even Sarah Palin. He looked fragile. And tired. And understandably so. John McCain's whole campaign rests atop his shoulders. And it is a heavy load.

I thought a bit of the same listening to McCain... so much of his entire convention has been focused on the past. His story of surviving imprisonment as a POW is inspiring... but it's not enough to justify a move to the White House. So many of the speeches this week made reference to it. What exactly is the point? What are you telling us, John McCain, by leaning so heavily on something that happened so long ago? Are you unable to fill even a three-day convention with your thoughts for the future?

It was a week of looking back and slinging insults. Heartbreaking, really, because this really is an important election. And not because of 9/11... there's far more at stake.