i am totally addicted the the white house race right now. so much that, as much as it pained me to do so, i’ve watched all the prime time republican speeches out of fairness, just to see what they had to say.

i have to say, wednesday’s palin speech rubbed me entirely the wrong way with all its vitriol and hard-right pandering, but at least it went smoothly and seemed to be a hit with the people in the convention hall. but last night’s mccain speech was a little embarrassing to watch.

the first thing i caught was the sad sign someone held up reading ‘THE MAVRICK’, which was too bad for that person but pretty hilarious to see on national television. i mean, anyone can make a spelling mistake, but come on, it’s only one word, and this is not the time to be sloppy, republican guy.

then there was that big sprawling green lawn on the video screen behind mccain for a large part of the beginning of his speech. i tried to guess its significance but had no idea what it was until this morning. apparently, it was supposed to be walter reed medical center for US veterans. which i guess makes sense since mccain is so proud of his military service (despite the fact that he didn’t show up to vote on the new GI bill for current service members).

but again, a little mistake was hilariously appropriate. apparently the image was the wrong one, and is actually of walter reed middle school in north hollywood, california. oops! this one’s a little less forgivable to me. someone within the campaign had to prepare those images. and if the people working for him are that careless, and no one that knows any better is overseeing details like this, do we really trust his appointees to make good decisions down the line? it’s not just embarrassing but it shows some pretty weak control of your team.

and of course, my preoccupation extends to hopping on the internet to read all about the reactions, as well as religious watching of the daily show coverage. this clip sums up so perfectly the spin machine of the conservative talking heads, everyone voting should take a moment to consider it before listening to these people ever again.