Senator McCain struts down the reassembled stage at 7:03 EDT. Directly in front sit Jack, Meghan, Jimmy, Bridget, and Cindy McCain and next to the family Governor Palin and just behind her the New Hampshire and the Iowa delegations—swing states get the good seats—and behind them a chant echoes. “John-Mc-Cain, John-Mc-Cain.” If only the whole country were like this, Mr. McCain must think. And he swerves his head mechanically around, waving at the fans to the left of him. “Thank you,” he says, flashing a smirk. “Thank you all very much.”

As Mr. McCain speeds through his speech the Republican crowd activates and the vagaries of that for which he has fought tend to show themselves. The next day Senator Obama will respond to this speech, accusing Mr. McCain of avoiding his policy proposals and saying “if you don’t have any issues to run on I guess you want it all to be on personality.”

Mr. McCain should know better than anyone that political nuance is no substitute for straight talk. Just as Mr. Obama’s pledges for bi-partisanship smell of hypocrisy, Mr. McCain’s transient policies on the economy and immigration contradict his rhetoric; he now endorses limited government spending and increased tax cuts to stimulate the economy, while firmly insisting a wall must be constructed on America’s southern border before immigration policies can be reformed. Former Senator Fred Thompson attacked Mr. Obama on Tuesday night, stating “change is not a destination.” For Mr. McCain, neither is reform.

Not long ago, Mr. McCain thought differently. In 2000, he voted against President Bush’s tax cuts in the Senate, and as recently as two years ago he opposed erecting a wall along the Mexican border and endorsed amnesty for illegal immigrants. The theme of the Republican National Convention’s first full day, “who is John McCain?” has become the fundamental question asked of his opportunistic candidacy—a question more aptly put as “who is the real John McCain?” Judging by the convention, nobody knows.

-David LambDigg!