Last night at the RNC

The second evening of the Republican National Convention ended with two powerful speeches. The first was by former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson, who energized the crowd at the Xcel Center by telling stories about his friend, John McCain, emphasizing his strong--and his rebellious streak.

And the same character that marked John McCain's military career has also marked his political career.

This man, John McCain is not intimidated by what the polls say or by what is politically safe or popular.

At a point when the war in Iraq was going badly and the public lost confidence, John stood up and called for more troops.

And now we are winning.

McCain the maverick sometimes riles members of his own party, Thompson added.

It didn't always set too well with some of his colleagues.

Some of those fights were losing efforts.

Some were not.

But a man who never quits is never defeated.

As it did several times during his speech, the crowd stood up and cheered after that last sentence. Off and on during Thompson's address, there were chants of "Country First," the McCain campaign's official slogan, and "U.S.A"

Thompson had some words about the Democrats:

To deal with these challenges the Democrats present a history making nominee for president.

History making in that he is the most liberal, most inexperienced nominee to ever run for President. Apparently they believe that he would match up well with the history making, Democrat controlled Congress. History making because it's the least accomplished and most unpopular Congress in our nation's history.

A couple of minutes later, Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) addressed the crowd, and he devoted the early party of his speech, as Thompson did, to asking Americans to remember the people on the Gulf Coast impacted by Hurricane Gustav.

John understands that it shouldn't take a natural disaster like Hurricane Gustav to get us to take off our partisan blinders and work together to get things done. It shouldn't take a natural disaster to teach us that the American people don't care much if you have an "R" or a "D" after your name. What they care about is: are we solving the problems they are up against every day?

"What you can expect from John McCain as President is precisely what he has done this week: which is to put country first. That is the code by which he has lived his entire life, and that is the code he will carry with him into the White House. I have personally seen John over and over again bring people together from both parties to tackle our toughest problems we face.

Lieberman has an "I" after his name, although he told the audience at the Xcel Center he is a Democrat, although, he quipped, not Michael Moore's favorite one, which brought out hearty cheers from the crowd. Eight years ago, Lieberman was the vice presidential nominee for the Democrats. Four years ago he ran for president--as a Democrat. Last night he addressed the Republican National Convention, because of his confidence in the leadership abilities on John McCain--his close friend.
But as Thompson did, Lieberman spoke of McCain's steadfast belief in the cause of victory in Iraq:

Especially at a time of war, we need a president we can count on to fight for what's right for our country - not only when it is easy, but when it is hard. When others were silent, John McCain had the judgment to sound the alarm about the mistakes we were making in Iraq. When others wanted to retreat in defeat from the field of battle, when Barack Obama was voting to cut off funding for our troops on the ground, John McCain had the courage to stand against the tide of public opinion and support the surge and because of that, today, our troops are at last beginning to come home, not in failure, but in honor!

That brought the crowd to its feet.

Rabbi Ira Flax, a retired military chaplain from Alabama, offered a prayer to the audience, and the second night of the Republican National Convention ended.

Earlier, President Bush spoke via video link to the crowd ad the Xcel Center. He was to speak to Monday night in person, but that day's events were cancelled as Hurricane Gustav struck the Gulf Coast.

Technorati tags: Politics Chicago RNC St. Paul twin cities Fred Thompson Lieberman Iraq Democrats Obama Barack Obama