The Bizarro GOP The first real night of the Repug Convention was all about contradictions.

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The Bizarro GOP The first real night of the Republican Convention was all about contradictions.
By John Dickerson
Posted Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008, at 12:37 AM ET

The first official night of the Republican convention was one for contradictions. Party stalwarts gathered to celebrate both members of their ticket for bucking their party. The man who waged one of the most desultory campaigns for president in recent memory gave the most rousing speech. And the night ended with a call for loyalty from a member of the opposition party.

John McCain was celebrated for bucking entrenched interests, even in his own party. He was praised for standing up to Republican icon Ronald Reagan just after Reagan had been heralded with a video. Sarah Palin was also cheered for bucking her party. The crowd roared to hear that McCain would change Washington, D.C.—even though that same crowd had just cheered loudly for George Bush, the leader of their party and the person most responsible for the situation that needs changing.

Contradictions aside, the actual theme of the first night was "putting country first." At times in the hall, it felt as if we were all in a Discovery Channel special. In video tributes to pilots George H.W. Bush and McCain there was lots of black-and-white footage of explosions and planes in formation. In the audience crowd members waved signs with "Service" written on one side and "Country First" written on the other.

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