Rick Davis, McCain campaign manager: "John McCain stood in front of the delegates of the Republican National Convention and said we got to be different. Now what nominee of any party has ever gone into that stage, you know, on the night that he has to secure his nomination to the party's presidential nomination and said, we are not good enough?"
George LeMieux, former chief of staff for Gov. Charlie Crist: "It was phenomenal. I think he demonstrated that it's not about a speech, it's about service."
Michael Gerson, former Bush speechwriter: "The policy in the speech was rather typical for a Republican. Pretty disappointing. It didn't do a lot of outreach to moderates and independents on issues that they care about. ... I think that was a missed opportunity."
Tim Pawlenty, governor of Minnesota: "The ending, where he talked about his time as a POW and then had that rallying call, was extremely powerful and emotional in the hall. You could sense it. You could feel it. You could see it. And for somebody who doesn't normally give an emotional speech ... that really touched an emotional chord. That was a very effective way for him to end the speech."
Michael Dukakis, 1988 Democratic presidential nominee: "I've been kind of disappointed with John McCain from the beginning of this campaign. This is not the John McCain of 10 or 12 or 15 years ago. ... You know it's nice to hear this talk about bipartisanship, but when you put (Rudy) Giuliani and (Joe) Lieberman out there and they're out there to trash your opponent, it all sounds a little hollow to me."
McCain's speech by the numbers
38.9-million
Approximate number of people who watched it on TV, according to Nielsen Media Research. That's a half million more than the 38.4-million for Barack Obama's convention speech
53
Duration in minutes
32
Use of the words "fight" or "fighting" or "fought"
11
Use of the word "change" or "changing" or "changed"
6
Mentions of Obama by name
1
Use of the name "Bush," and it was first lady Laura Bush. Otherwise, he referred to the "president of the United States" and "to the 41st president"
Sources: Times wires, Congressional Quarterly Transcripts Wire
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