McCain staff leaves him high and dry

Poor staff work is at the core of John McCain's dreadful televised speech last Tuesday night from New Orleans. The speech itself was not exactly a work of art, plus the green backdrop behind McCain was ghastly, making McCain look like a ghost in front of it. Professional makeup and staging would have made all the difference.

But the fact is that McCain is not very good at delivering a scripted speech. To place him in that setting at the same time Obama is speaking to 20,000 in St. Paul, MN declaring victory over Hillary Clinton, was dumb, dumb, dumb. McCain is best in Town Hall meetings and debates, and that's what should have been showcased opposite Obama reading off a teleprompter. The ultimate objective is to remove the teleprompter, where Obama falls flat without the script.

McCain's staff told the media they had written a great speech, but McCain did a lousy job of delivering it. How's that for throwing your own candidate under the bus? Who's paying your salary, buddy?

Tragically, Michael Deaver is deceased (many called him Michael Devious), but he was the pro who made Ronald Reagan look good. Much of the time Reagan was older than McCain is today, and yet he looked good, was provided with soaring, inspiring speeches and in a television setting that complimented his looks and delivery. Surely there's a Deaver disciple around somewhere, who could be drafted to clean up McCain's television act.

McCain is in the Big Time now, for all the cherries. His staff still acts like he's still back in Phoenix.