Was McCain’s speech great?  No.  Did it come anywhere close to Palin in terms of excitement?  No.  But was it decent/good?  Sure.  Did he do what he needed to do?  I think so.

Everyone knows that McCain is not the greatest orator, so he went into last night with rather low expectations, which works in his favor.  In terms of energy, he started out a little slow.  He addressed the economy and oil prices, which he needed to do.  At times, it seems a little awkward, but I think a large part of that was having to deal with the protestors who tried to storm the stage and the crowd trying to drown the protestors out with their chants.

But I have to say the speech really picked up in the last 15 minutes or so.  When McCain started talking about his personal history, how he used to be a selfish young man, how his imprisonment changed him, and how his faith in his country got him through that ordeal, that was pretty powerful.

McCain then went on to talk about his approach to foreign policy, war, and diplomacy, which was also great.  And, with him saying that he hates war and doesn’t take it lightly, I think he probably appealed to independent voters who are hesitant about Iraq and how it was handled.  I think he also appealed to independents and fiscal conservative when he bashed Republicans and Dems alike for letting Washington change them and letting spending get out of control.

And the build-up at the end of the speech, with McCain talking about all the things worth fighting for, reinforced the image that he is a powerful leader, someone who will stand up for us, and not be easily intimidated.  In short, it made him seem presidential.

With Palin and the former GOP candidates having already thrown all the punches needed, McCain was able to portray a positive, optimistic message, which is how a convention is supposed to work.  (The Dems really screwed that one up, with the tribute to Hillary taking up three days and Biden wussing out, Obama had to do the heavy lifting all himself.)

McCain didn’t ace this test like Palin, but he did pass it.  Now onto the debates, where McCain is usually pretty strong (and Obama doesn’t have a teleprompter, so he is much more weak (get ready for a lot of "uh’s".)

This should be an interesting ride.